PARRY SOUND—There are a hardy group of boating enthusiasts who take on (mostly) retired tugboats, converting them into vessels more suitable to civilian and recreational life. A large group of those tugs will be coming to the Port of Little Current on the weekend of August 16 to celebrate Tugfest, or the Georgian Bay Tug Boat Festival as it is now officially known.
The Expositor caught up with Captan Bob Corrigan, a longtime tug enthusiast who helps to organize the annual Tugfest gatherings.
“Tugfest all started back in the early 80s, when a couple of tugboat owners were sitting having some refreshments, mainly out of a dark bottle with a Captains picture on it,” said Mr. Corrigan. “The topic was how much power and how fast their tugs could go. As the brown bottle got lighter, the topic got louder and the challenge for a race was on.”
“The first race was here with a distance of just three miles, out in the big sound,” he said. “The next year the challenge came from Penetang and more tugs joined the group. This went back and forth for about five years, then one of the founding members passed away.”
Interest dropped off at that point, he explained, as there was no one willing to organize Tugfest.
Fast forward a decade. “The topic came up and again over another one of them brown bottles with the Caption’s picture on it,” chuckled Mr. Corrigan. “Someone asked ‘what happened to the tug races you guys used to run?’ and that someone was me. The room went silent and then there was a low raspy voice that said, ‘been waiting for you to run it.’ ‘But I don’t have a tug,’ said me, and the answer was, ‘good you will have more time to organize it’.”
And the race was on.
“So now we’re in the 90s and TugFest was on officially with Parry Sound as the host,” said Mr. Corrigan, “with tugs from the Soo, Port Dover and around Georgian Bay. The next year it was in Penetanguishene.”
Every year the numbers continued to build up until they reached around 25 tugs in the group. “The rotations went on until about 2005 and again interest dropped off,” said Mr. Corrigan. “In 2009, I purchased the 60-foot tug Cambrian from Captain Jack Kennedy, who was in fact one of the founders of Tugfest and was part of the original group that took the challenge to race. We would get together from time to time and just raft out somewhere and enjoy the moment talking tugs and viewing the upgrades going on each tug. During this period we got a flotilla together and attend the Great Tug Races in the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie), stopping in Little Currant enroute—also a trip to Owen Sound was enjoyed.”
In 2013 the group received an invitation from Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the swing bridge.
“We were treated with open arms and the captain’s still talk about the great time they had,” said Mr. Corrigan. “That kind of rekindled the spirit of Tugfest. The captains were again up for new adventures when an offer came from Midland in 2014 to host Tugfest. We have been going there every year since. Midland has been good to us, with free docking and hosting our awards dinner.”
“This year we couldn’t have our usual date because the tall ships were there, so it was decided to reach out for a new location for this year and Little Currant won hands down,” said Mr. Corrigan. “We have tugs coming from Port Dover, Parry Sound, Owen Sound, Midland and the Sault and are looking for it to be a fun-filled weekend. The tug captains and their families all looking forward to showing off their tugs to the viewing public.”
“Last year we turned Tugfest over to some younger captains, Darin Lortie, Ryan Carson and Richard Ferguson are now at the helm and after all these years I can sit back and enjoy the moments,” laughed Mr. Corrigan. “It’s been a joyful time for me and I cherish all the memories from over the years.”
This year there will be new memories made to cherish, unfortunately, Mr. Corrigan will not be among those attending as he slipped while working on his tug and broke his hip.
Attending the festival will be tugs of many different types and power.
Most are converted working tugs, some originally designed for fishing, while others are of the ship and barge hauling powerhouse variety. All will be on display and inviting the public to come and share in the tugboat enthusiasm of their owners.
