Nearly every harbor has a fleet of tugboats to help large ships navigate the narrow spaces of anchorages and docks and moving barges around. I grew up watching New York’s once-numerous fleet of Hudson River tugs shuttling along the West Side piers.
My childhood idol, Scuffy the Tugboat, grown up and at work…
These days, with most shipping arriving at container ports at the edge of the city, the best place to see tugs is from a boat, and in New York we’re lucky to have the Staten Island ferry for that!
Little boat, big water…
Above, the W. O. Decker, a wooden tug, steam-powered, built in 1930. It’s now part of the South Street Seaport Museum and is on the National Register of Historic Places. In safer times, she runs visitor trips around the harbor.
