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Growing up in proximity to his tug-loving grandfather Clyde,
certain unique ideas took root in Ben Fogg–such as that it
would be great to have a tugboat for a home. The average man experiences
a few such ideas during the course of a life, usually letting
them flit in and out of his head. But Ben has never been one to
let a dream slip away.
So at the end of May Ben, his wife Sarah, 9-month-old daughter
Elsa (who stayed with Grandma for most of the trip-except for
the last leg), and good friend/engineer Derek Rietman (Tiny) drove
to New York to complete the purchase of a 95' working 1950-era
tug: the Huntington, a sturdy steel behemoth that was dwarfed
in the busy waters around Staten Island by the abundance of even-larger
tugs, some towering ten stories high. It had everything Ben wanted:
thick plating, a nicely-humming 1200 hp (at 700 rpm) Fairbanks
Morse diesel engine, plenty of equipment, and an upper deck that
could be expanded into a Great Room with a panoramic view of the
water. Once the paperwork was complete, the Ben Fogg family andTiny,
plus a few friends to help, began the trip back through the Erie
Canal. Able to cruise at 10 ½ mph, the trip might have
been completed in a week. But a few things happened, such as encountering
a sand bar in the Erie Canal that prevented the tug, with its
12’ draft, from passing until a dredger could remove the
obstacle. At least while she sat still the 30 gallons/hour fuel
consumption rate went way down. Then it rained–and rained
and rained, so much that the canal rose 5.5 feet, stopping the
locks from working and creating extreme currents. The crew considered
tying up and not returning until the water subsided. The tug's
20' 6" height would not slide under a dozen or so bridges,
which had a clearance of 20' 0", unless the bilge was pumped
full of water–putting her at risk until the ballast was reduced
on the other side of each low-hanging impediment. Not to make
things worse, but when heavy ballast was taken on, she began to
scrape the bottom and risk getting stuck.
All the obstacles were behind them when they hit Detroit, but
there they learned of something else that would turn into a delay:
a tugboat race set for June 19th, with 25 tugs already enrolled.
A tugboat race! Who could resist? So she was entered, and raced,
and performed well against competition whose captains had spent
five, ten, even twenty-five years learning the fine points of
handling their temperamental craft. No one gave her a chance to
win, and they didn't. They finished third, leaving several hard-working
machines in their wake.
She stopped at Beaver Island for fuel the morning of July 21st,
and then was off for her home in Saugatuck. Now the real work
of converting her will begin, which Ben and Sarah intend to do
themselves. First there'll be a renaming ceremony in which she'll
become the Spartacus. Some people would be daunted by the
multiple difficulties awaiting them, but not Ben. After all, he's
been planning this for the past seven years.
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