Hand-built in Clinton, CT
Meet AWOOGA.
Small hull, enormous voice.
A 14′3″ mini tugboat built plank by plank over three years — from marine plywood and epoxy to a cartoon-eyed character with a foghorn that does not match her size. Welcome aboard.
Her first day on the water
AWOOGA in motion
Three years in the garage led to one held breath at the boat ramp. Here’s launch day in three acts — from splashdown to a proper wake. Tap any clip to play.
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Act I
⚓ Splashdown
Splashdown
Off the trailer and into the water — the very first time AWOOGA floats.
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Act II
⚓ Push-off
Push-off
The first push from the dock — AWOOGA floating on her own power.
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Act III
⚓ Making wake
Making wake
Out in the harbor under her own steam, throwing a proper tugboat wake.
Launch day · April 27, 2025
Live from Clinton Harbor
Is AWOOGA going out?
She's a 14-foot tugboat with the ego of an ocean liner and a shallow harbor to clear, so she's downright fussy about leaving the dock. Her demands: a weekend (she doesn't do Mondays), a morning high tide, light wind, over 60°, in season, and a dry sky — miss one and she'll sulk at the dock. Here are her odds, read live off the tide tables and the weather.
Reading the harbor…
Checking the tide & sky…
One moment while we pull live tide predictions and weather for Clinton Harbor.
The week ahead ·
A best guess from live NOAA tide predictions and Open-Meteo weather at Clinton Harbor, CT. AWOOGA — and her captain — always have the final say.
Receipts, plural
AWOOGA by the numbers
Three years of sawdust, one very loud boat — tallied up.
Years in the build
Garage to boat ramp
Photos logged
Every win and do-over
Length overall
Tiny tug, big presence
Tohatsu outboard
A relaxed ~5 mph cruise
Times in print
WoodenBoat & Small Boats
Enormous voice
Wildly out of scale
Want the line-item version? Every receipt is charted on the Cost page.
See where the money went →Pop quiz at the dock
How well do you know AWOOGA?
Seven questions, and this time there are wrong answers. Everything you need is somewhere on this site — no peeking (okay, a little peeking).
Plug into the tug
The Tug-o-Sphere
Connect to AWOOGA and get fully, gloriously immersed in tug. It’s a whole tugboat universe nobody asked for and everybody needs — beam aboard from anywhere on dry land, soak in the briny ambiance, and emerge a slightly saltier person. Citizenship is free. Leaving is the hard part.
TugFlix
Prestige tugboat television. It is not exactly award-bait, but every episode stars a 14-foot boat with the personality of a much larger boat — and the popcorn is free.
Message in a Bottle
Cast a note into the digital sea. AWOOGA fishes it out whenever she next surfaces — no postage required, only a faint smell of seaweed and mild barnacles.
Ask TugPT
The Awooga AI will answer anything — it is an artificial intelligence that thinks exclusively in tugboat. Wisdom not guaranteed; foghorns extremely likely.
Earn Awoo-Gold
The realm’s finest fake currency, minted for the noble act of simply hanging around. Redeem it for genuine swag, bragging rights, and the warm glow of nautical wealth.
Chart your course
Where would you like to go?
Everything aboard AWOOGA, all in one place.
First time aboard? Start Here → — a short, guided route into everything below.
The main event
The Build
Three years of construction — the full timeline and a live photo portfolio, with every win and do-over left in.
Start exploring →Boat Anatomy
Tap AWOOGA part by part — the foghorn, the eyes, the cabin, the motor.
Take the tour →About AWOOGA
The story, the inspiration, and how a tiny boat got such a big name.
Read the story →The Lineage
The TooT TooT bloodline — the little tug that started it all.
Trace the family tree →Leave your mark
Sign AWOOGA’s hull
Every boat worth her salt collects names — scratched in the paint, scrawled below the gunwale. Pick your handwriting, choose a paint color, and slide a note exactly where it belongs on her hull. It sticks there for the next visitor to find.
How’d it get that name?
A 14-foot boat with a foghorn voice
Picture a giant “BWAAAAA” erupting from a hull barely taller than you — that’s the whole name, explained. And like any proper boat, she speaks in blasts. Go on: sound her real horn signals.
👈 Tap to hear her