Gazing upon these fire breathing dragons moving effortlessly through the water, many would dream of someday taking the place of that kindly Engineer or Captain leaning up against the wheelhouse - taking a puff on his pipe, and giving a wave of his cap. Just about anything you could imagine was shipped on the canal. Tugboats were as common a sight as a man walking a dog, or a child riding a bike. Oh, how times have changed. A mong the still unique and increasingly eclectic range of vessels that navigate today on the canal system, tugboats are more and more the exception rather than the rule.
Folks living along the canal still wave to and chat with boaters passing by.
Well remembered, though, are the Bushey, Coyne, Kehoe, and Matton tugs that plied these waterways over the years. With so many others, these tugs helped form the makeup of our great state today, and also inspired many lives and careers. Often, childhood adventures centered around these tugs and their crews. Waterford native and self-described canal rat Mike Cicchinelli remembers his boyhood growing up on the canal. I knew the guys on the tugs pretty good.