Cartoon sized tugboat a favorite at Marion boat yard
Small and scrappy, it’s hard to imagine a better name than Popeye for a 14-foot tugboat.
Many Marionites will remember the Barden’s Boat Yard’s little red boat from Fourth of July parades past, and while it’s currently out of service, carpenter Paul White said Popeye will be likely be back in action soon.
White, a longtime member of the Barden’s team, built the tug from scratch in 1989 using plans from boat designer Jay Benford.
Although no one can remember which came first, the boatyard also had a wooden tug named Brutus, the cartoon nemesis of the spinach-eating Popeye. Brutus was sold several years ago; however, another tug named Sweet Pea and a small boat named Jeep Jeep are still in the Barden family.
White said Popeye has been a particular favorite of the boatyard and the boating community.
“It’s really cute,” said White.
Around 20 years ago, Barden’s Boat Yard owner Fred Coluslon took Popeye to the Boston Tug Muster competition where the tiny tug was somewhat dwarfed by its 100-foot relatives. But Popeye held his own.
“They had a parade and they let him lead the parade,” said White. “When he went down into the swell you couldn’t even see him.”
Popeye’s other parade appearances have been at the Marion July 4th parade where White said kids always get a kick out of it. New Bedford’s Working Waterfront Festival also invited the tugboat several years ago, where it went nose to nose with full-sized vessels (they let Popeye win.)
“It’s been a fun thing all through the years,” said White. “Originally it was designed just as a plaything, but we really used it.”
After Hurricane Bob in 1991, Popeye was called into action. Unlike larger tugboats that require 10 to 14 feet of water, Popeye only needs four.
“It was really handy for the hurricane because it didn’t draw much water, so we could pull boats off the beach where big tugs couldn’t get in,” White said.
Since then, no other natural disasters have taken such a toll on Sippican Harbor, so Popeye hasn’t been needed for rescue missions, White said.
Last spring, the tug’s engine was put into the launch for the boatyard, but White said Marion hasn’t seen the last of Popeye.
“Rust is getting to it now. It’s time to refurbish,” he said. “We just bought a new launch so I’m assuming it will go back in.”
