LNVT OWNERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

TUGGERSWinter 2009 Thirty-eighth Issue

LNVT Yahoo Forum:groups.yahoo.com/group/LNVT/FREE website on Yahoo.A place to ask questions, get adviceand have discussions on all thingsLNVT.1. Click on “join this group”.2. You will be given the opportu-

nity to open a Yahoo account.Select “traditional” if you prefernot to have pop-up ads.

LNVT Wiki Website:lnvt.wikidot.com/Augments our Yahoo forum.A place to view and add to our col-lective knowledge on each of the 87boats and how they came into being.Now with “Members Only” section.

Tuggers Newsletter:Published quarterly PDF or mail.Send additions/corrections for Cap-tain’s List and Roster, or items forpublication to Editor by-DEADLINE FOR FALL ISSUE:April 6, 2009

Association OfficersPresident: Dave Howell

dbhowell@hotmail.comTreasurer: Bill Rothert

billrothert@msn.comWebsite Moderators:

Macy GalbreathLNVTugs@q.comPhil de l’Etoilepdeli3@gmail.com

John Howelljhowell@jhowell.com

Editor: Macy Galbreath214 Eagle View LanePort Ludlow, WA 98365LNVTugs@q.com (new)

IN MEMORIUM

It is with sadness we note that Richard H. Hutchinson’s wife Ann passed away after a longillness. Hutch is co-owner of J. EDGAR MOSER #76 , Jamestown, RI. We extend our con-dolences to him and his family.

LNVT Resources FROM THE BRIDGEDave Howell, NELLIE D #63

So, exactly why and when did the tug-as-trawler concept occur? In 1980,when the U.S. was coming off an economic recession and a fuel priceshock, the boat industry badly needed some good news. They got it in theform of a new, innovative boat design which was unveiled at that year'sSeattle Boat show. No cruising boat had ever made such a big splash--54sold within two weeks. The 26 Nordic Tug appealed to both men andwomen, it sipped fuel, and it fired the cruising imagination. The NordicTug spawned a whole industry in tug look-a-likes: Sundowner Tug in

1982; Victory Tug in 1983; and, American Tug in 2000.

Each year, beginning way back 2008, the Tug Trek Trophy (T3) is given in recognition of anextraordinary cruise. This past year's T3 goes to Joe and Arvilla Glinski, OUR VILLA #56, fortheir 11 month, 6,801 mile, Great Loop circumnavigation. Their daily blog, with pictures andreal-time position reports, allowed us armchair cruisers to tag along too. Congratulations Joeand Arvilla.

This past October, and for the first time ever, LNVT’s rendezvoused on the east coast of theU.S. Tugs came from 3 states while owners came from 11. It's hard to go wrong when thevenues include Ego Alley, the Annapolis Yacht Club, the Naval Academy, and the Fleet Re-serve Club. Thanks to Jeannie Niccolls, Knock Off #66, Heather Laird, Whistle #42, andAndy Mutch, Loon #57, for all their hard work putting the event together.

Keeping it simple and having fun,

Welcome Aboard!

Rich Sellers from Discovery Bay, CA recently joined the Association. He is a wannabee andhas his eye on a LNVT in the future.

brrrrr . . .Winter Cru is ing

Nellie's New Year's CruiseDave & Vicki Howell, Church Creek, MD

On 13 December Nellie D., loaded with Christmas gifts, decorations and a month's provisions, pushed away from the dock. Herdestination was Washington, DC, some 140 nm away. It was a leisurely departure as we planned to stay out until after the newyear. The Potomac is awash in history but docking at Mt. Vernon and touring the Washington's plantation stands out. Alexandria,Georgetown, and the new National Harbor look completely different when approached by water. Our DC anchorage was only amile from the White House and we spent two wonderful weeks walking the National Mall and visiting many museums and galler-ies. We got to visit with some Tuggers too: joining us for a night aboard were John and Jeannie Niccolls, KNOCK OFF #66 andpast owners Garry and Carol Dominsse, YELLOW ROSE #47. Additionally, we had two fun days with Bob Allnut, VICTORY #2,while moored at his dock--which, by the way, is just up the Potomac and only 12 nm off the ICW. Winter weather created somechallenges but the many advantages of off-season cruising far outweighed the discomforts. The ice breaker NELLIE D. made itsafely home on 4 January 2009, 56 engine hours and 325 nm later.

Christmas Cruise in AlaskaTim & Dana Grams, Anchorage, AL

We decided to take a last minute trip to Cordova for Christmas on the longer winterferry. After an 11 hour ferry ride, we arrived in Cordova shortly after midnight. It hadbeen snowing most of the afternoon and over a foot of snow had accumulated. Beingit was Christmas, no road crews or harbor folks were working, so none of the snowhad been plowed or removed. Needless to say, it is a good 300 yards from the car tothe boat, so the bag drag was quite interesting. Couldn’t resist taking some photos of ourChristmas adventure.

We had planned to remove the back deck cover that had been added at one point, butafter our trip up the inside passage and across the Gulf of Alaska, we decided it wasquite functional, so we opted to keep it on for the time being until we could have one cus-tom built for us. Knowing the cover probably would not last through the snow, we added

some reinforcement to it, giving it that real “Alaska” look. So far so good.-2-

Special Thanks from Vicki and Dave Howell

We want to thank all of the attendees of the first East CoastLNVT Rendezvous for the wonderful gift presented to us forhosting last October's event. The original colored pencildrawing of Nellie D. #63 in Glacier Bay National Park by

Northwest artistNancy Nelson is justbeautiful. It's a giftthat instills memo-ries of our manyadventures aboardNellie D. #63 butmost of all it re-minds us of theamazing friends wehave made throughthe LNVT Associa-tion. We cannotthank all of youenough for yourthoughtfulness.

Our salty, bronze handholds are easily overlookedeven though they're strategically located in thepilothouse and salon. According to Loren Hart,the handhold's provenance is from an 1840's

Scottish schooner. While touring the ship he admired thehandhold and although not knowing where he could possi-bly use it decided to procure one none the less. Years laterwith LNVT about to go into production Loren rememberedthe Scottish handhold and gave it to Tommy Chen. Therest, as they say, is history. Except for minor modificationsin late 1983 or early 1984, when the flange's diameter wasincreased and the handhold's length decreased, the samehandhold was used throughout the Victory Tug's productionrun.

IN THE DETAILSCruising NewsBack Home in Californiafrom Bob and Sandy White, RENEGADE # 72

As you may know from past experience, trucking a LNVT crosscountry is a laborious task. Getting everything snugged up for the3,500 trip home from Maine to California was time consuming.Fortunately, we had Key Stage’s (TITAN #31) help during the de-commissioning in Rockland, ME. After arrival in San Diego, re-commissioning gave me the opportunity to refurbish/reconditionitems mounted on the pilot house roof.

We cruised during the Christmas holidays to Oceanside (44 mifrom current slip in San Diego) to visit family— beautiful weather,although cold by our standards - low of 40 one night. The Esparkeep us comfortable.

We're looking forward to marina hopping this summer prior tospending time in the Channel Islands before final destination ofSanta Barbara. It will be relaxing after the previous 10,000 mileswith RENEGADE since 2000.

(Editor: Bob’s and Sandy’s travels have been written up in previous Tug-gers as they cruised all over the US and Canada.)

Eventful Trip Heading South for the Winter!Bill and Mimi Sharpe, Richard H. HutchinsonJ. EDGAR MOSER # 76(Editor: Bill, Mimi and Hutch were at the Annapolis Rendezvous. Theyheaded south on October 27.)

The J. EDGAR MOSER is now resting out of the water at TigerPoint Boatworks in Ferdinina Beach, FL. We had a somewhateventful trip South. Near Georgetown, SC. Hutch got the wordthat his wife's poor health had taken a very serious turn for theworse so he hurriedly flew back to Rhode Island. A neighbor inRhode Island flew down to complete the trip with Mimi and me. Afew days later we pulled up the Danforth HiTensile anchor to findone of the flukes bent in a nice curve, nearly 90 degrees. A day orso later as we approached a marina in Hilton Head, I found thatthe throttle control had become inoperative. Broken cable forwhich we were lucky to find a replacement. Then on to Tiger Point.

Next step is to start South toward Vero Beach on January 30. NewForfjord anchor has been ordered. Early in April, we start backnorth, and as in the past we will leave the boat in Deltaville, VA.Mimi is lobbying to bring her back to RI so maybe we will do thatlater in the summer.

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J. EDGAR MOSERleaving Annapolis in

October.

Tug Talk at the Annapolis 2008 Rendezvousby John S. Howell, Jr., NELLIE D. #63

The Annapolis Rendezvous “Tug Talk” session delivered as promised…camaraderie with fellow Tuggers and nifty ideas and infor-mation on keeping our little Tugs safe, dry and running in top form. The brief notes below will give you a flavor of some of thethings discussed:

“Always keep some extra socks aboard. ” Andy and Alice Much from LOON,started our session with a hair raising story…one minute they were runningalong smoothly and the next minute…for no apparent reason, utter chaos aswater started gushing in at the point where the bow thruster shaft penetratesthe hull. The three electric bilge pumps aboard LOON could not keep up, soAndy wisely decided to run her aground to keep from sinking. The water flowwas finally stemmed by stuffing socks (yes, the kind you wear) into the gapingholes that had opened up fore and aft of the bow thruster shaft. The discussioncentered around speculation about what caused the leak (vibration, poor instal-lation, who knows) and what one should do in the case of taking on water rap-idly (have a plan in your mind before hand, stuff things in the hole from the out-side, run the boat aground, keep a set of wooden dowels aboard, etc.).

Lesson learned: Check your bow thruster installation. Practice what you would do if taking on water.

LOON’s incident led to a discussion about how to keep your boat out of a “salvage” situation (in the legal sense) whichpotentially would force you to pay a percentage of the boat’s value to the salvage company. Lesson learned: If offeredassistance (a tow, a pump) try to clarify the terms of that assistance before accepting it – especially if you are adealing with a towing service.

An injector pump failure on a Cummins engine cost LOON $4k to replace.

Ward Dunning from LADY HAMILTON reported that she had very little use in the 10 years before he acquired her, and asa result her six fuel tanks were so full of gunk he was replacing filters every 10 hours! This led to a more serious incidentin rough seas (which caused the gunk on the bottom of the tanks to mix with the good fuel more than usual) where theengine shut down while underway in the race near Stonington, CT. Ward dropped the anchor in 100’ of water and waitedfor a 3 hour tow back to safety. Lesson learned: Clean out your fuel tanks regularly!

Bill Sharpe from J. EDGAR MOSER, reported that he rewired his DC power to the instrument panel and installed a sepa-rate alternator to supply the house · batteries for increased reliability. He has also installed a high brightness display atthe helm linked to a computer below which runs his navigation software.

Joe Sass from Cummins Chesapeake Power was the featured guest speaker. Joe is a certified Cummins mechanic whoclearly knows his diesels and has a wealth of experience. He generously provided much time and some great tips ondiesel maintenance for Cummins owners - only a few are listed below:

Use 10 micron fuel filters. Use Stanadynetm marine fuel additive to increase the octane level (12 pints / $39)and extend the life of the injectors. Change fuel filters annually. Use a fuel stabilizer to keep fuel from turning tosludge (once per season). Use algae killer.

Change coolant every two years. Correct engine temperature is about 180 degrees. 205 degrees wide open.Change the thermostat on the engine regularly because they always break closed.

Recommends 15/40 API oil. Change the impeller and adjust the valves annually. The worst thing you can do is start your engine and leave it running at the dock to warm up. The best way to

bring your engine up to running temperature is to start it just before you are ready to cast off, and then bring thetemperature up by pushing the boat for 5 -15 minutes at slower RPMs. If you are not using your boat, do notstart the engine once per week at the dock to exercise it!

(Continued on page 8)

Tug Talk

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Andy Mutch shows the bow thruster shaftremoved from LOON.

Jeanne Niccolls, Knock Off #66

In spite of a little rain the inaugural East Coast Rendezvous was an enjoyable time forall. Boats tied up along the sea wall at the Annapolis Municipal Marina on Friday. Anevening potluck gathering gave everyone a chance to mingle and partake of varioustasty dishes, including Sue Fahndrich’s, CONCINNITY #17, homemade tugboatcookies. During dinner Steve and Julie Sell’s cell phone rang with the good newstheir contract on GROWLER #33 had just been accepted!

Tug Talk took place the next morning at the Annapolis Yacht Club (see pg. 4) Weducked in and out of rain showers to visit one another’s boats, answering questions andhumbly accepting admiring comments from folks strolling by.

Our evening progressive dinner was elegant, fun and dry! It began with appetizershosted on board six of the boats and accompanied by bottles of wine with the CON-CINNITY label, a gift of Sue and Joe Fahndrich. Then folks proceeded in their fineryto the Annapolis Yacht Club for an elegant dinner and program hosted by our es-teemed President Dave Howell and Vicki Howell, NELLIE D. #63.

Awards went to Phil de L’Etoile, BRAVE DUCK #67, John Nic-colls, KNOCK OFF #66 and Tom Blackwood, THISTLE DEW#46 for their respective practical and eminently useful inventionsof a fuel tank gauge, window lock and chart magnet. Ward andRenee Dunning, LADY HAMILTON #12 received awards for tugging the longest distance (400+miles) and best dressed tug. The award for boat with the most work done on it went to Jo andKey Stage, TITAN #31. LNVT officers Macy Galbreath, LADY #8, Phil de L’Etoile, and JohnHowell, NELLIE D. #63 were recognized, along with Treasurer Bill Rothert, LADY and pastPresident Tom Blackwood. Thanks went to Rendezvous Committee members Andy Mutch,LOON #57, Heather Laird, WHISTLE #42, John and Jeanne Niccolls.. Cheers, whistles and abig round of applause went to Dave and Vicki Howell for all their work in organizing the event.The Silent Auction followed, ending with coffee and dessert aboard host tugs.

On a glorious sunny calm Sunday we paraded around the harbor,then seven boats chugged down the bay in more or less statelyfashion and followed NELLIE D. to her home dock on ChurchCreek. We disembarked to find a grand outdoor party in the works,complete with bonfire, Chesapeake Bay crab and oysters, shrimp,burgers, and more. Lucky for us, we were joined by several Howellneighbors, who baked the oysters just right, gave crab picking les-sons to the uninitiated, served a fabulous warm crab dip (see thewiki for the recipe) and fixed personal omelets the next day.

Early the following morning VICTORY #2, LOON and J. EDGARMOSER #76 cast off in “somewhat breezy” conditions (25 knots),while the rest of us lolled around the Howell’s breakfast table. Twohours later a call came from LOON reporting 4-5 feet waves and adecision to pull in. KNOCK OFF needed no other marine data todecide to stay put. The clay pigeon shoot was canceled in favor oftrips into St. Michael’s, frequent dock line checks, and more goodconversation, food and drink.

The next day was even windier! An unusually low tide put the de l’Etoile rental boat aground. The Blackwoods kindlytaxied folks to land destinations. The Dunnings elected to leave LADY HAMILTON’S engine issues in the capablehands of an Eastern shore mechanic. The house party at the Howell home continued for several nights until the

(Continued on page 7)

First LNVT East Coast Rendezvous a Hugh Success

ANNAPOLIS, MDOctober 24-27+ plus cruise out

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Potluck on the sea wall.

Tug talk at the Yacht Club

Best dressed tug!

Dave Howell presents agiant “tank sounder” toPhil de L’Etoile. WalterLaird enjoys the joke.

Tuggers visit the Naval Academy

Tug parade leaving Annapolis

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Through the Hawse PipeTom Blackwood, THISTLE DEW #48

Galley Hand Pump & Annapolis Rendezvous, Phil de l’Etoile, BRAVE DUCK #67, Sacramento, CA

So we're all packed in a row along the Annapolis seawall. A display of really fine looking boats (you know the ones - see pictures elsewhere),and we’re going from boat to boat looking things over. Every once in awhile someone says "Hey, that's not really like ours", and so it goes,boat after boat.

I think most of us have come to realize that giving advice to other LNVT'ers about how to remedy a problem or modify a feature, has a higherthan expected likelihood of being only partially applicable. So as I wandered throughout Natalie Ambrose's beautifully decorated ALE-GRIA#19, I wasn't really expecting to find anything that might be useful to BRAVE DUCK. But, what do I know?

In the galley, I absent-mindedly put my hand on one of two galley hand pumps. "What the ...", I thought as I casually moved the handle down.Unlike ours, this thing worked as smoothly as could be. Both of the pumps did!

When I asked Natalie what she had done to her pumps, she said, "They've always worked like that". That certainly didn’t help! I had alreadytaken our hand pump apart once, and I had gotten it to work reasonably well, but nothing like this. A week later when we got back to Sacra-mento, I decided give our now completely frozen-up pump one more crack.

Here's what I found out in the end: 1) the 5/8" through-hull fitting along with the 5/8" pump barb were tightly secured to the 1/2" hose that con-nected them. 2) The "O" ring on the base of the plunger seemed a little stretched andwas a little loose. 3) There was no check valve on the line (other than the one withinthe pump), so it was always necessary to pull the water all the way up the dry line eachtime the pump was used.

After replacing the 1/2" hose with 5/8" hose and replacing the stretched "O" ring, ourpump worked as well as Natalie's. I also added an in-line check valve just above thethrough hull so that the water always stayed in the line and did not dry out. (The realproblem seemed to be the stretched “O” ring, which apparently was too big to slide upand down the cylinder without rolling over and causing a bind.)

I’ve enclosed a picture of the disassembled pump as a reference for any of you wishingto take on this project. As you can see, our pump comes with a chicken!)

(Continued from page 5)

winds died down. Eventually NELLIE D. floated alone at her dock. The first East Coast Rendezvous was over, but thememories live on – check out more photos on the LNVT wiki!

Vicki Howell & Jeanne Niccolls workedhard on the rendezvous!

Don Surratt, Ann Prentice and TomBlackwood (center) enjoy the day.

Peter Nordlie has the bar open onLAST CALL.

Key Stage, Bill Rothert, & Dave Howellclean up nicely!

COVER PHOTOAnnapolis photographer Bill Tongue surprised us with the cover photowith 5 tugs and a second photo (shown here) taken later in the daywith 9 tugs. He says, “Given the grey rendezvous weekend weather,the original photos were flat and lacked adequate color. These printshave been saturated and slightly texturized to "POP" the colors.” Ei-ther photo is available on Fine Art Museum paper or canvas. Inks arearchival pigment and will last for generations. Mounting on FoamCore is available. Each print will be signed and numbered. Turn-around time is 7 - 10 days. Contact Bill for larger proofs, prices andsizes at watongue@verizon.net.

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(Continued from page 4) Tug Talk

Pull the air cleaner to see if there is oil in there. Worn seals on the turbo could cause oil to burn. Occasionallyrun the turbo to 2k RPM.

Be sure the radiator cap is a closed system cap (has 2 gaskets). The plastic expansion tank should be half wayfull when the engine is cold.

Joe encouraged the group to call him with questions which he is happy to answer at no charge. His direct line is(443) 677-5469. When was the last time a mechanic offered you that?!

Lesson learned: An ounce of prevention……

Key Stage TITAN, replaced his black iron fuel tanks with 3 aluminum tanks and put in a fuel polishing system. The oldtanks came out without having to cut the boat. Cost was about $4.5k to fabricate the tanks with baffles and inspectionports. Uses a Heart tank tender.

Macy Galbreath talked about her findings on replacing window gaskets. (see her article in the LNVT wiki under hull #8LADY). Steve Cooper and Ping Zhao from LITTLE BOSS recently replaced their gaskets with material from a local glasscompany and replaced the vertical piece with weather stripping from Home Depot.

Walter Laird WHISTLE explained that the strange ‘gel’ most of us see in the water tanks is caused by galvanic reactionbetween the aluminum cam on top of the tank, and the stainless steel tank itself. Adding chlorine to the water just makesit worse! The solution is to change the O ring on the cover to create isolation between the two metals. (see story aboveregarding dissimilar metals problem)

Lesson learned from attending Tug Talk: Hang around other Tuggers if you want to learn useful stuff while having fun witha great gang!-8-

More on Solving the Water Tanks Dissimilar Metals Problem

In the last issue of Tuggers Craig Smith, ROSE BUD #34 told of his solution tothe water tanks' dissimilar metals problem. To recap, the problem is that alumi-num oxide forms when stainless, aluminum, and hard water are brought to-gether. Craig's solution was replace the aluminum lid pieces with stainless steel.Here's another solution as seen on Bob Allnutt's VICTORY #2, replace the alu-minum lid pieces with non-metallic parts. This can be a do-it-yourself project thatdoesn't cost a lot. In VICTORYs case the clear baseplate is made of Lexan. It'sheld in place with stainless fasteners and sealed to the stainless water tank withsilicone. Then a PVC round inspection hatch is attached to the Lexan withstainless fasteners and silicone. This solves the dissimilar metals problem whilestill providing a good seal for the water tank.

Half-Full or Half-Empty?Dave Howell, NELLIE D. #63

Since LNVTs didn't come with fuel gages it's a perennial problem determining how much fuel is aboard. Many owners use wooddowels, or the Tank Sounder as featured in last quarter's Tuggers, to 'dip' their tanks. Unfortunately the tank's irregular bottomshape complicates converting wet-stick length to gallons. However, the dowel gives another measurement which is most useful:inches of air in the tank or dry-stick length. So instead of knowing how many inches of fuel each tank has, we're measuring howmany inches of fuel each tank is missing. And, since the missing fuel is measured from the tank's top down we avoid, except invery low fuel conditions, the tank's bottom shape problem. For each tank the gallons per inch of dry-stick are easily and accuratelycalculated by the following formula: (tank width in inches) * (tank length in inches) / 231 inches3/gallon. Combined my port tanksaverage 7.6 gallons/inch while the combined starboard tanks average 7.2. Before fueling I measure the inches of air in the twoport tanks, add the numbers together, and then multiply by 7.6. I repeat the process for the starboard tanks but multiply by 7.2.Using this method for my last fill-up I estimated 129 gallons were needed; subsequently 130.6 gallons were taken on. I no longerthink about how much fuel is on the boat but rather how much fuel has been consumed. Certainly 'how full' vs. 'how empty' areopposite sides of the same coin, but by focusing on the consumption side I'm always aware of the engine's burn rate and howmuch fuel is needed to fill the tanks.

JANUARY 22-24 Trawler Fest Stuart, FL www.trawlerfest.com

FEBRUARY 7 Northwest Mid-winter Dinner Galbreath/Rothert homePort Ludlow, WA

macygalbreath@msn.com

FEBRUARY 26-28 Trawler Fest San Diego, CA www.trawlerfest.com

MAY 7-9 Trawler Fest Anacortes, WA www.trawlerfest.com

JUNE 26-28 Trawler Fest Greenport, NY www.trawlerfest.com

OCTOBER 2-4 Trawler Fest Solomons, MD www.trawlerfest.com

Meet Bob Allnutt, VICTORY #2St. Inigoes, MD

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Bob Allnutt lives on Church Cove in St. Inigoes, Maryland, in a home he moved into two years ago. Just 100 yards down a gentle in-cline is VICTORY #2 sitting proudly at her new dock. Bob selected this quiet tidewater area for retirement after 35 years working inWashington, DC for National Geographic. It was there, at the magazine known for its high quality photos, that he ran the photo lab.This also explains why you seldom see him without a camera around his neck. Like so many other Tuggers Bob is a former sailor.

His previous boat was a Pacific Seacraft Crealock 37. In 2005 Bob purchased SEDNA on Lake Union in Seattle, WA and renamed her VIC-TORY. She was trucked east but not before a cruise through the San Juan Islands. VICTORY was splashed in Port Clinton, Ohio. Bob re-ports that the 300 mile Erie Canal and its many locks were a highlight of his cruise back to the Chesapeake.

VICTORY was purchased with the goal of fixing her up. To that end Bob's tackled some very major projects--like replacing the engine.The160hp Yanmar 4LHA-HTP and Velvet Drive transmission were selected—the same used by ALAGRIA #19. He removed the BMW piece-by-piece and also did the majority of the Yanmar's installation. Unlike the BMW, the Yanmar turns counter-clockwise, so a new 24”x16, fourbladed, left hand prop was installed. Needless to say, Bob enjoys doing things himself and is a very 'hands-on' owner. He solved the perennialwindow channel problem in a unique way. Rather than force the existing 3/8” glass into an ill-fitting replacement channel, he elected to replacethe glass too. After several futile attempts he found not only a source of the auto glass but also one willing to cut the glass to size. Bob's gen-ius however lies in the fact that he got all this in exchange for several bottles of whiskey!

His new and growing wood workshop is playing an ever bigger role in Victory's many improvements. For example he's been able to install newFormica counter tops in the pilothouse and galley, install a drawer under the stove and, build a removable shelf which bridges the pilothousenavigation-table and the helm station.

Bob's a single-hander who likes to do two or three day trips on the Chesapeake Bay. He's a very gracious host who'd love to have you stop by.There is ample room at his dock for another tug and he's not far from the Intracoastal Waterway.

Calendar of Events 2009

Bob on VICTORY new countertops drawer under stove

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Transit on the Sea—A Golfer’s Daily LogBy Mel Ludovici on board WHISTLE #42Heather & Walter Laird, Richmond, VA

Day One”Annapolis or Bust” is what it says on my tee shirt. My regular foursome has just teed off back in Roanoke, VA and here I am at age 66, sittingin my “Annapolis or Bust” tee shirt. I am part of a two person “volunteer” crew to help my son-in-law, Walter, reposition WHISTLE from York-town, VA to Annapolis, Md. WHISTLE is a 25-year-old Lord Nelson Victory Tug now in tip-top condition. The other “volunteer” is my 32 yearold son-in-law and soon to be father, Darin Conti. That makes me a soon to be grandfather.

The plan today is to go to Deltaville but the weather forecast is doubtful. “Small craft warnings” the captain says. Books today, beer today butno boat today. I have been on a boat….once….and Darin has seen one in a movie. Walt has taken us through seamanship101 so we’reready, but not for small craft warnings

Later….The captain took WHISTLE out for a quick spin, found the small craft warnings to be un-founded, and we headed North. Birkenstocks, power cables and docking lines were left be-hind. Riding with both the wind and most of our stuff on the dock, WHISTLE is clipping alongat 9 ½ knots. The captain has taken his mulligan and instructed ground support (my daugh-ter Heather) to police up our belongings and meet us in Deltaville. We’re back on schedule.Annapolis or bust!

Day Two:No command decisions needed. Clear skies, calm seas, we’re off to Tangier Island. Thecaptain has assigned me to lunch and lines. Darin has been assigned to navigation. I amthinking the captain finds Darin to be more cerebral than me. The captain sailed off with allour stuff on the dock in Yorktown. I think I’ll be fine.

Tangier Island, like the crab population that serves it, is dying. It’s sad because the islandhas a wonderful heritage, great charm and huge potential. Settled by the Crocketts and the Parks, the population has dwindled from 1,000 to550, 549 of whom are either a Crockett or a Parks.

We are greeted by unassuming, scooter riding, dock-master, marina owner, Milton Parks: salt of the earth and owner of six cats. He won’t ac-cept a tip and is overflowing with free advice. Milton offers a tour of the island. Now understand, you can hit a five iron from the end of theisland to the other, and there are folks giving tours in golf carts. We opt to heel toe it on our own. A point of real interest is the museum. Everyable-bodied man on the island volunteered for service during WWII. A homemade plaque commemorates those lost at sea plying their trade ascrabbers. A recording plays Pentecostal hymns. I know all the words.

1600 Hours, Tangier Island, VA. The only open restaurant on the island closes at 1700 hours. Invoking the often used rule that “It’s fiveo’clock somewhere,” Jack Daniels and I spend about 30 minutes getting reacquainted. We head off to Hilda Crockett’s Chesapeake Housearriving just shy of the five o’clock deadline. Our table is waiting, filled with food. Quick introductions are made with Hans, a cancer doctorfrom Washington and David, his lawyer son-in-law. They too are sailing north. There’s little time for small talk as crab cakes, clam fritters,sweet tea and pound cake are coming from every angle. In at 5:00 pm, out at 5:30 pm-filled to the brim! Pay Hilda on the way out.

We waddle back to Parks Marina. Once again we are greeted by Milton who says the problem with the island is that young people won’t work.Employers are available, but employees are not. The few young people we saw seemed to validate Milton’s theory.

One more social event before calling it a day - meet the neighbors dockmates Kurt andSue. Kurt and Sue are from Fort Myers, FL-sort of. They explain that they have livedon their sea going vessel for 11 years: sailing north in the summer and south in the win-ter. I am not sure that ancient mariner routine would suit me, but it seemed to makeKurt and Sue happy. We said our goodbyes, watched a beautiful sunset and headed offto bed.

Day Three:No fishing from the fantail today as we plow northbound through four to five footsouthbound waves. The captain’s confident, the galley is closed and navigation hasn’t aclue. WHISTLE’s doing a great job. Two hours of serious sailing, and we get intodeeper, calmer water. It is smooth to Solomon’s Island and Spring Cove Marina.

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FOR SALE Winter 2009

Looking for a boat? Listing a LNVT? Be sure to utilize the following sites:

www.yachtworld.com Brokerages post listings on this website (YW)http://lnvt.wikidot.com/tug-index Boats for sale are highlighted in blue. Owners may post info on their boats.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LNVT Our website offers the opportunity for owners to post their boats for sale.

1983 Truancy # 1 (YW) 37’ 360-293-4945 (also fax) WA 163,0001983 Raven # 4 (YW) 37’ fax 208-862-3846 WA 225,000

northernstone@pmt.org1983 Jenny B # 7 (YW) 37’ michaelbahan@yahoo.com ME 163,5001984 Elizabeth Noble #16 (YW) 37’ bobrodman@bellsouth.net NC 139,000

bow thruster, chart plotter, BMW1985 Loretta May # 27 (YW) 37’ 706-669-4886 GA 129,0001985 Whistle #42 (YW) 37’ Walter or Heather 804-357-1870 MD 199,9001986 Annie #44 37’ Dick Behan, rwbehan@rockisland.com WA 172,5001986 Bodacious # 44 37’ 845-647-1390 NY 120,000

website: www.lordnelsontug.com, jgarofalini@mohonkpreserve.org1987 Mikfin #51 37’ nanmader@aol.com WA 189,0001987 Equinox #58 (YW) 37’ bmelliot@nwlink.com WA 149,0001987 Brutus #64 37’ 419-294-7043, fwhiteh@gmail.com OH 164,000

bow thruster, restoration work in 2002, freshwater boat, + more.1988 Nelson’s Lady # 9 49’ alnelsonslady@aol.com Turkey under 500,000

“Very keen seller. Delivery back to US is simple”

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(Continued from page 10)

A tale of two cities from day two to day three. Day two, check out the oily engine parts contaminating the water at Parks Marina. Day three,admire a Claude Monet print as I face the urinal at Spring Cove Marina. Day two, a 30 minute injection of Hilda Crockett’s family-style seafood.Day three, roast duck and white wine with the country club crowd. Only in America! Three down, two to go. Having a great time.

Day Four:We sail with tide at 0900. Calm seas, blue skies. It’s great to be alive. A revelation! I have double bogeyed the term “bilge”. I assumed thatthe terms bilge and head were one in the same. The captain had made it clear that if needed, we could use the head at sea but never in port.Before pushing off this morning, the captain appears with a five gallon bucket and announces his intention to “pump out the bilge”. “And dowhat with it I ask?” “Dump it overboard if it’s clean” says the captain. “Oohhhh! That can’t be a good idea”. Knowing my earlier contribution towhat I thought was the bilge, I question the captain’s wisdom. Along with his explanation of the two-and how they worked-comes a “you idiot”smirk from navigation. Who knew?! Bilge pumped, lines clear, galley secured-off we sail to Knapps Narrows.

Wait! Just when you think you’re out of command decisions, up jumps another one. The captain has decided to do a drive by Knapps Narrowsand continue on to Annapolis. Conditions are perfect and Annapolis is well within reach. We pause briefly at Thomas Point for a photo op, andthen press on to WHISTLE’s new homeport, Annapolis, the sailing capital of the world. The first thing I see is a striking blonde perched on thebow of a slow moving sailboat. I am going to love this place!

The 19th Hole:Throughout my life, I have had the good fortune to enjoy good things and good peoplebut none better than the past four days. I have totally enjoyed the time I spent with Wal-ter and Darin and even more the opportunity to meet the “boat people”. From those witha 40 ft. Schooner named “Ultimate Pleasure” to those with a 20 ft. crab boat named“Dog Bite”, boat people are a special breed. Perhaps it’s that they share common pleas-ures as well as common dangers. Perhaps it’s the universal need to return to oursource. Whatever the reason, they are a good bunch. A cut above the rest. As a non-boater, I am appreciative that they are part of the human mix. We are all better off be-cause of it.

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Ships StoresMake out checks and send to LNVT, 214 Eagle View Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365

LNVT Tee ShirtsNew supply—all sizes and colors. Available in red, green andblue, sizes S, M, L, XL XXL. Cost: $12.00 includes US postage.

“VICTORY TUG” CapsNew supply of caps have arrived! Available with red, green andblue bills. Cost: $16 includes US postage.

LNVT PinsWe have these great little (1 5/8 x 1 in.) pins in blue and off-white.Order them as gifts for family and souvenirs for your guests. Cost:$5.00 includes US postage.

LNVT BurgeeLNVT burgees are 22 in. long Cost: $25 includes US postage.

LNVT Drink KoozieKeep your beer cold and show LNVT pride with these new koozies.Available in green or blue. Cost: $3.00 includes US postage.

REMINDER OF WHAT IS AVAILABLE ON THE Wiki

For members of the LNVT Owners Association we've created a 'Members Only' area which contains: Every issue of Tuggers in PDF format LNVT 37' and 49' blueprints in PDF format LNVT Captains and Wannabe List (Sent only in the Spring) LNVT OA Financials

To enter the 'Members Only' area click on the LNVT burgee (like the one pictured here) which appears in the top left of mostof our Wiki's pages or point your browser to lnvt-oa-members.wikidot.com. The password, which is only needed the first timethe site is entered each year, is listed at the top of your Captain’s List which is only sent to members. NOTE: your editorcan’t get into the ‘Members Only’ section from MSN, but can from Internet Explorer. We don’t know why we are having thisproblem, but it appears to be a MSN related problem. We wanted to give others a heads up in case they are seeing thesame thing.

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LNVT Roster Winter 2009

LNVT 37

HULL # NAME OWNER HULL # NAME OWNER

1 TRUANCY Coram 39 MORNING MIST Sharp

2 VICTORY Allnutt 40 SEA TURTLE Giove

3 HIAQUA Payne 41 THEODORE BAYRE Shrier

4 RAVEN Mullard 42 WHISTLE Laird

5 CARLA B Butterfield 43 KEDGE Peterson**

6 BOLD EAGLE Mazure 44 BODACIOUS Garofalini

7 JENNY B Bahan 45 DUN WURKIN Barker

8 LADY Rothert 46 THISTLE DEW Blackwood

9 TUGBOAT ANNIE Yano 47 LAST CALL Nordlie

10 ALICE M Colabella 48 AFTER ALL Skinner

11 DRIFTER Brown 49 MOCKO JUMBIE Riggs

12 LADY HAMILTON Dunning 50 KATIE LYN Field

13 51 MIKFIN Leader**

14 MOBY Oates 52 MONKEY Bates**

15 TEDDY BEAR Reich** 53 MINOTS LIGHT Ludwigsen

16 ELIZABETH NOBLE Rodman 54 BRIGADOON Hugdahl

17 CONCINNITY Fahndrich 55 ECCO DOMANI Grams

18 ONEIDA Egan 56 OUR VILLA Glinski

19 ALEGRIA Ambrose 57 LOON Mutch

20 BLUE JACKET Portlock 58 EQUINOX Elliot

21 LITTLE BITT Eldred 59 SEMPER FIDELIS Bauer

22 TESS II Griffiths 60 PET TUG Steplock

23 LA SALLE Capitan 61

24 LE PAPA Findlay 62 TUG E BEAR Shann**

25 ANNABEL LEE Weaver 63 NELLIE D Howell

26 PUFFIN Surratt/Prentice 64 BRUTUS Whitehead

27 LORETTA MAY Oplinger 65 GEORGIA J Nusbickel**

28 ANNABEL LEE Geserick?? 66 KNOCK OFF Niccolls

29 DOREEN Benedict 67 BRAVE DUCK de l’Etoile

30 LITTLE BOSS Cooper 68 LARSHOLM Mackie

31 TITAN Stage 69 TORTUGA Gabriel**

32 PERSERVERANCE Mehrkens** 70 LORD NELSON van Dommelen??

33 GROWLER Sell 71 GREYMALKIN MacPhail

34 ROSE BUD Smith, C&R** 72 RENEGADE White

35 NEPTUNE Isaksen 73 TORTUGA Kelly

36 JOSEPHINE Goetz 74 CRUZ-IN Sterling

37 ELNORA Mitchell** 75 KUKUI Spatola

38 ANNIE Behan 76 J EDGAR MOSER Sharpe/Hutchison

LNVT 41

2 CAPT. MIKE Campanelli 6 CAROLINA Sousa

5 SHERYL ANN Toews**

(NOTE: hulls 1, 3 and 4 not finished as Victory Tugs)

LNVT 49

2 MARY K Smith, Ed 6 LADY JOANN Campbell

3 URSA Fogg 7 POLAR MIST Smith, K

4 VICTORY Markus 8 GUINEA RIDER Morris

5 SOUNDER Windecker 9 NELSON'S LADY Bayne

(NOTE: hull 1 was never built)

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** Original Owner?? Last known owner/boat nameBoats for sale in red.

LNVTNewsletterMacyGalbreath214EagleViewLanePortLudlow,WA98365

Photo by Bill Tongue, Annapolis, MDInformation about the photo on page 8