July 2010 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7. TES VISITS MYSTIC SEAPORT FOR TUG EXHIBIT


TES (The Tugboat Enthusiast’s Soci- ety) held their first annual Gathering at Mys- tic Seaport at Mystic, CT on 22-23 May since the Portland, Maine Gathering in 2006. This event coincided with the official opening of the Seaport’s newest exhibit, Tugs! Blast, which will remain open until May 2011. A number of TES members offered assistance on the exhibit and TES was a sponsor. Twenty-four TES members gathered in the lobby of the Hyatt Place in Mystic for a full day of events at the Seaport. The members headed to the Seaport and met Seaport staffer and TES member Chris Freeman at the en- trance. Freeman played a major role in putting the tug exhibit together and also assisted TES Gathering organizers with local logistics for the Gathering.


The first thing that captures everyone coming to the Seaport is the small work tug KINGSTON, owned by the Seaport, which was placed up at the entrance. This has paid dividends as many passer bys have stopped in to see this new exhibit.


Freeman gave a small briefing on what activities were taking place at the Seaport before taking everyone over to view the new exhibit at the R. J. Schaefer Building. Inside the entry way was a brief introductory film on tugboats and then inside, the building was filled with a historic presentation, which took you from the beginning right up to the tugs of today. The important role tugs and barges play in America’s economy is well explained. High on the wall is a comparison of how much cargo a truck, a train and a tug can carry and yes the tug won by a huge amount. The walls were covered with historic photographs and captions, a log book or two, a number of receipts and other memorabilia showing some of the changes over the years. There were also a number of models, some of the different types of tugs, but one of an old steam engine and examples of several tug items such as ropes, bitts, and shackles. A small booth with two benches allowed people to select and watch several short movies. There was also a replica tug wheelhouse where a viewer could operate a “tug” while a flat screen depicted the tug’s progress through a busy harbor. The tug exhibit was designed for all ages and quickly captured the attention of hundreds of people. It has also brought new life and members to the Seaport.


Outside the Schaefer building was a just completed wading pool, which was being used for radio-controlled model tugs. A gentleman was there with several different types of tug models and this captured the eye of many, young and old, passing by. In the courtyard were examples of heavy steel hard- ware such as cleats and bollards, all loaned and trucked in by the Wronowski’s Thames Shipyard.


This exhibit was designed for all ages and has already captured the attention of hundreds of people. It has also brought a much needed new life and members to the Seaport.


TES members then wandered the grounds. Most made their way to Chubb’s Wharf where there were several small tugs tied up for viewing. The Wronowski’s Thames Towing Service of New London brought over the ADAM and JOHN PAUL and Gwenmor Marina had their GWENDOLYN there. Nearby, for easy com- parison with the real thing, were several tug/ yachts of the Nordic Tug variety. Members then headed over to the dock for a ride on the small steamer SABINO. She was built as the TOURIST by H. Irving Adams of East Boothbay, Maine in 1908. Her dimensions are length 45.2, beam 15.3, depth 5.4 and displaces 24 gross tons. She operated out of Damariscotta, Waldoboro, Rockland,


Bath and Portland, Maine until 1966 before heading to Gloucester from 1966 to 1973. Her name was changed to SABINO in 1922. In 1973 she was then brought to the Seaport and on a trial lease agreement began running on the Mystic River to make sure that she could pay her way. Over the years she has been totally redone and is an excellent example of the small steamships, which ran all along the New England coast. The cruise took members up and down the Mystic River so as to view the Seaport and her exhibits from the water. The most impressive part of the trip is viewing that steam engine underway.


At 1245 hrs. many members attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the Schaefer Building, which officially opened the Tug exhibit.


The remainder of the day was spent wandering the grounds of the Seaport. Some made their way over to the shipyard to see the whaleship CHARLES W. MORGAN. She has been hauled up for an extensive bottom job. Also there was a small exhibition of small steam and diesel engines at the shipyard. Others gathered and listened to artist Steve Cryan of Deep River and Essex, Connecticut give a talk about his love of tugs. That evening everyone gathered at the Latitude Restaurant, which is located right next to the Seaport, for dinner and guest speaker. This was a great time as everyone got to meet others and discuss the day’s events and catch up on the past. After a fine dinner, TES’ Robert Hill of Ocean Tug and Barge Engineering, of Milford, Massachu- setts gave a power-point presentation on some of the ATB tugs he has designed over the last several years. As usual, Bob was instructive but never dull! Hill is the designer of the ATB tugs being built at Washburn & Doughty in East Boothbay.


Sunday morning we were met at the Hyatt Place parking lot by a large bus, which took us over to the Thames Shipyard and Repair Co., owned by the Wronowskis, lo- cated just above the U. S. Coast Guard Acad- emy in New London. This yard has been in operation for more than 100 years. We toured the historic buildings, some in operation and others not. One interesting building housed the winch for a 3,000-ton railway, which stopped being used in the 1960s. We then made our way out on to the docks between their two dry-docks, which could handle boats up to 400 feet in length and a 10,000 ton displacement. They both were in use, one was being used to repair a large ferry and a smaller high speed catamaran ferry was in the other. Down on the dock were two of their tugs, PATRICIA ANN and THAMES SHIP. We got a guided tour by Adam Wronowski of the 101-foot PATRICIA ANN, which was built as the YTB-758 PADUCAH by Southern Shipbuilding Corp. of Louisiana in 1960. She worked at the Navy base in Norfolk for years, but in 1999 was stricken from the Navy and sold to Thames Towing in 2001. They made extensive repairs and modifications. Some of the changes included the addition of bow and stern thrusters, which allows her better ma- neuverability for ship docking.


This concluded the tour of the shipyard and then the bus took us over to the ferry dock in downtown New London. However, before heading out on one of the Cross Sound Ferries, we toured the PAUL A. WRONOWSKI. This historic 1980-built ASD was one of North America’s earliest tugs with azimuthing drives. She was designed by John Gilbert with assistance from Bob Hill. She was built by Thames Shipyard and Repair Co. and there is a controversy as to whether she or SALLY of Newcastle, DE, was the first Z- drive tug in the United States. For those that read Virginia Thorndike’s book “On Tug- boats: Stories of Work and Life Aboard,” will


Adam Wronowski centre, surrounded by family and degnitaries opens Mystic's Tug exhibit.


The Wronowski tug TOW MASTER under way in the Connecticut River.


remember the story of a young, 11 or 12 years old, Adam Wronowski gave the Navy brass a demonstration of ASD maneuvering in 1983 when he took a sub out into the River, turned it 180 degrees and docked it back at its pier. This tug is used for ship docking, especially at the submarine base and Electric Boat in Groton.


We then boarded the 122-foot catama- ran ferry SEA JET for a ride on the river. We first headed up the river and viewed the


Continued on Page 9.


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