The Tugboat Round up Day 2
I awoke the Saturday morning early on the First full day of the Tugboat Roundup. The organizers of the event had really put a lot of effort into making sure that this was a community-based day. There were lots of vendors lined up on the docks selling different products as well as the number of nonprofit organizations with information about the canal and local activities.Starting at around 9 a.m. it seems like the whole event got really busy with lots of people coming down to look at all the boats and participate in all the activities. The local fire department had setup a special area for children to practice with Fire Equipment go through a special maze. There were food vendors selling a number of different types of food and there were lots of other activities throughout the day.
Never having been to the tugboat Roundup before I was amazed at how many people came. The event is held at the Waterford Visitors Center which is the entrance and beginning of the Erie Canal East End. The docks were full with all sorts of invited boats ranging from extra large tug boats to miniature Tiny Tugs. There was a terrific Festival air about the whole event and the organizers had shown that they need so much effort into making us a great day for everybody involved. All of the participant boaters got welcome bags with special gifts and the visitor center showers and bathrooms were made available for all attendees.
At the end of the parade the night before they had lined up all the boats that were going to be staying, and we had been individually docked according to a pre-planned docking outline. I was in the middle of the event on a dock between two large commercial tug boats. People attending the event walked up and down the docks looking at each boat and a number of the boats welcomed visitors aboard. There was a large fire boat from New York City which was the Showcase piece for the event. There were also antique tugboats including one from the South Street Seaport which was taking people out short trips down the Hudson for a small fee. The whole event was so well planned out and there were so many activities throughout the day for both children and adults alike. Mid morning there was even a large flotilla of kayaks which came through the locks and paddled by the event. This was a fundraiser for a local charity. It involved hundreds of kayaks meeting up and traveling through the locks down the Erie Canal into the Hudson. Being an avid kayaker myself I was a little bit jealous and thought that next year I would participate in the event by bringing my kayak too!
The event is also an opportunity for members of the professional commercial Tugboat industry to get together. There was a lot of people meeting up different companies and industries to share this Day celebrating commercial tug boats on the Hudson and Erie canals. Some of the larger tugs even held events that were catered throughout the day and for the evening fireworks. I was hoping to be invited on but apparently looked to rough for the fancy events.
All of the event organizers were incredibly welcoming to me and all the other attendees. Throughout the day they would come and check on us, invite us to different events and make sure to let us know that our participation in the event was welcome. I met some incredible folks who had clearly put a lot of effort into making sure that the event with such a success. It seems like the whole Community gears up to make this special weekend for local people and travelers alike. Some of the days activities included a line tossing contest, a tugboat push off, as well as lectures on the history of the Erie Canal and tug boats themselves. There are also a number of vendors selling different craft items as well as a farmers market that day.
Among the group of people that were organizing the event I met John Callahan -who I would find out later was a driving force in keeping the Erie canal running for both commercial and recreational vessels. I had an opportunity to sit with John and have a beer at the end of the event and he told me a number stories about the canal, its history, it's challenges and the work he put into keeping the canal going. He gave me his business card telling me to call him if I needed anything For my future trip in the ensuing weeks on the canal I would mention his name to several people in the canal business and they would all say such great things about him. It was nice to see somebody committed to keeping the Erie Canal operating and to keeping events like the tugboat Roundup such a success.
I spent a good portion of the day sitting on my boat since the weather was so nice.If you are the owner of a ranger 21 you will known that the boat attracts all sorts of attention.I spent the day talking to so many people about the boat and inviting people to come on board and see the interior. Children and adults alike were enamored with the boat and I had so many questions about the boat and where I was headed. It was great to meet so many different people and find out so many different stories. Before the event I had been in contact with Larry and his wife - fellow Ranger 21 tug owners who I had met through the tugnuts forum- who had traveled out without their boat to visit the Roundup. Larry is an incredible resource for anyone who owns a ranger 21. He has shared number of modifications that he's made to his boat and was a great resource for me to talk to. Larry and his wife spend some time on the boat with me and enjoyed the day visiting the other Tugs.
The highlight of the evening was an incredible fireworks display that lasted almost 30 minutes. The local fire department put on what was the best fireworks display I can ever say I have seen. It was launched from a beach across the canal less than a hundred yards away and the fireworks launched directly over the event. Thousands of Spectators lined the docks as well as a number of boats which rafted up in the Hudson River to watch the event. I was able to sit on the stern of my boat with a beer watching fireworks launched directly over the boat. It was an amazing and to a very special day on my Ranger tug. At the end of the evening, tired from a day full of excitement, I tucked myself in for a well-deserved night of rest. This was to be only the second time that I've ever slept on my boat.
