Our Minitug Fleet -

Mini tug photos from other tug builders


Many thanks to these two guys!

Berkeley Eastman, designer of the Berkeley Engineering series of minitugs, is on the left. Mike Twohig, the tireless organizer of minitug owners and information, is on the right. Our fleet of minitugs wouldn't be what they are today without their efforts and creativity.


Bob & Cindy Zimmerman's Minitug SAUGATUG

Leslie, Michigan, USA

SAUGATUG, built by Ken Cartier, was launched during the summer of 1996. Built from Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez minitug plans, Bob and Cindy's minitug has its home port in Douglas, Michigan, USA near the S.S. Keewatin. You can reach Bob and Cindy at czimmerm@leslie.k12.mi.us


Tony Bingelis's Minitug TUG-A-LUG

Austin, Texas, USA

TUG-A-LUG was built to Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez plans. It is powered by the 10 HP electric motor option.


Roger Balling's Minitug TOOT-N-TUG

Santa Ana, California, USA

Roger launched TOOT-N-TUG in December of 1996. It weighs 2060 lbs and took 1400 hours to complete over six months. His minitug is built to Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez plans and is powered with a 48 volt electric inboard motor. Roger says it has a top speed of six mph which draws about 80 amps from the battery bank. You can reach Roger at rballing@pacbell.net


Mike Twohig's Minitug DRUMMER HOFF

Smithtown, New York, USA

DRUMMER HOFF was built to Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez plans using an Universal Atomic Four inboard engine, one of the first minitugs built. Mike has put in many hours since then on a minitug newsletter. It's called LittleBitts and is a newsletter for and about minitug owners, builders and wanna-be's. It's an informal compilation of letters from various folks interested in the minitugs and is a wonderful source of inspiration. Mike publishes the newsletter about twice yearly for a small fee to cover reproduction and mailing costs. You can reach Mike at TwohigDM@aol.com


Charles Hoffman's Minitug LITTLE BILLY

Satellite Beach, Florida, USA

LITTLE BILLY was built to Berkeley Eastman's Perfect 10 plans and is powered by a 9.9 HP Mercury outboard motor.


Dick Fowler's Minitug BUMP

Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA

BUMP was built to Berkeley Engineering's Microtug 9 minitug plans.


Doug Crocker's Minitug CHUG-A-DOUG

Glastonbury, Conneticut, USA

CHUG-A-DOUG was built to Berkeley Engineering' s Candu-ez plans using the outboard motor well option. A 15 HP Suzuki four cycle is installed. Doug writes "I'm very pleased with the tug's performance. The biggest surprise was speed. She jumps up on a plane and I clocked her at 15 knots using my GPS. Kind of a bumpy ride in short chop. That should improve with more weight aboard. Low speed performance is fine." You can reach Doug at AMESHVAC@JUNO.COM


Jim Tuchscherer's Minitug EDNA

Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA

EDNA was built to Berkeley Engineering's Microtug 9 plans and is powered by a Johnson six HP outboard motor.


Ellsworth William's Minitug FROLIC

Noank, Connecticut, USA

Ellsworth's minitug FROLIC was built to Berkeley Engineering Candu-ez plans by Bob Champlain's Golden Era Boatbuilding.


Mike Hulburt's Minitug L-GATO

Tillamook, Oregon, USA

At 10 foot long by 5 foot beam with a 18 inch draft, L-GATO is powered by an eight HP air cooled vertical shaft inboard motor with electric start. Mike says "She does 5 knots and turns a lot of heads along the way." This minitug is a combination of a couple of Berkeley Engineering models giving it a smaller size with the rounded stern of the 14 foot version.


Peter Stanley's Minitug ALBERT

Taroona, Tasmania, Australia

ALBERT was built to Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez plans and is powered by a 9.9 HP Suzuki outboard motor.


Bryon Kass's minitug NAUSEA

Foxboro, Massachusettes, USA

Bryon describes his minitug, built from Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez plans, as "Radar, Loran, VHF, dig depth, speed; very cute, Not fast, but very strong. Model bow round stern, air horn, lots of character." Bryon can be reached at cusdn@ici.net.


Duncan Needham's Minitug Model

Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom

Duncan Needham built this mini-minitug - a model of a minitug. He hopes to power a full sized version with either a four cycle outboard motor or twin cylinder inboard.


Berkeley Eastman's Minitug Candu-ez

Fallbrook, California, USA

This is the boat that started it all, built by the Candu-ez designer, Berkeley Eastman. He tells us that "It's the most fun you can have in public without getting arrested."


Michel Leblanc's Minitug BIG DAVE

Sedro Woolley, Washington, USA

BIG DAVE was built to Berkeley Engineering's Candu-ez plans. It is powered by the 10 HP electric motor option.


Other builders with minitugs in progress

There are several more folks with minitugs in planning or in progress who also have email addresses. If you want to contact them in regards to their projects, there email addresses are:

John Boeckel at mogplus4@aol.com in College Park, MD, USA

Jack Emery at jaxoc@teleport.com in Oregon City, OR, USA

Wayne Harvey at w_harvey@sunshine.net in Sechelt, BC, Canada

Howard Hollister at captabb@aol.com in Seminole, FL, USA

Alan Locke at aslocke@halcyon.com in Seattle, WA, USA

Mike Marjanen at marjanen@cadvision.com in Airdrie, AB, Canada

Frank McLaurin at mc3@bellsouth.net in Gamer, NC, USA

George Weisensel at olesalt@juno.com in Rochester, NY, USA

Randy Hind at rankar1@idirect.com in Pickering, Ontario, Canada

Steve Cohen at VAILA@aol.com in Tierra Verde, FL, USA

Brian Kelly at lesliea@goldrvr.island.net in Gold River, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Michel Leblanc at michel@nas.com in Sedro Woolley, Washington, USA

Bob Champlain at boats@neca.com in Waterford, Connetticut, USA