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I n this Great Boats 2010 edition of MarineNews we review a year of first in class, one of a kind and otherwise innovative commercial boats. Despite uncertain economic times, work boat companies and government agencies continue to upgrade their fleets with more pow- erful, efficient and environmentally sound vessels. Among the most unique is the BRAtt, a collaboration between tug operator trainer Ron Burchett and naval architects Robert Allan

Ltd. I had the opportunity to go for a ride on this miniature tug on Lake Union while

Burchett had his creation handy for the SNAME Annual Meeting & Expo and the Pacific

Marine Expo in Seattle last November. Burchett explained how he plans to start his new training program using the BRAtt, his own son, and the young deckhand who was working the boat while I was aboard. Burchett’s goal is to have both young men trained as tug captains before they hit 25. Using these young mariners as a couple of lucky guinea pigs, Burchett wants to prove that if you can learn to drive a minia- ture tug that reacts immediately to your every command, then you can manage a larger vessel with much slower response times.

When I took a ride on the BRAtt, it was temporarily berthed at Fremont Tug Boat Company. In contrast to the minia- ture tug’s state-of-the-art navigational controls and the first wheelhouse door I’ve ever seen made entirely of glass, step- ping inside the Fremont Tug Boat Company’s office is like going back in time. Mark Freeman, founder of the compa- ny and long time tug boat operator, has turned the company’s office into a local maritime museum, housing a dozen or so metal filing cabinets filled with files on tugs and barges in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. He’s also filled every available space with hundreds of models, probably thousands of historical photographs and every kind of tug boat keep- sake you could want. It’s a hidden gem on the Seattle waterfront and if you can find it, Freeman said you have to prove you know something about tug boats to get in the door.

A far cry from Freeman’s first plywood-built tug, Barf, our Great Boats 2010 line-up features some of the most advanced vessels to come on the scene in 2010. Besides the BRAtt, a few others include the Three Forty-Three, New

York City Fire Department’s newest fire boat capable of pumping 50,000 gpm, All American Marine’s new eco-friend- ly commuter ferries, and Washington State’s newest ferry, the Chetzemoka.

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Online Resour ces 6 MN December 2010

EDITOR’S NOTE rainaclark@ marinelink.com