Mystic, Connecticut, 2010. I came across a little Candu E-Z named TooT TooT at the Wooden Boat Show. My wife Taylor took one look and said, “You can build that next.” I tracked down her builder, Mike, bought the plans, and in September 2022 I finally started cutting plywood.
The Build · 2022 – 2025
Plank by plank,
AWOOGA took shape.
Three years. A two-car garage. Twenty-four sheets of marine plywood, eighteen gallons of epoxy, and a heroic amount of tears. This is the full construction story of a 14′3″ mini tugboat — from bare bottom panels to a boat with her own pair of eyes.
3 yrs
In the build
300+
Build photos
24
Sheets of ply
14′3″
Of attitude
A Berkeley Engineering CANDU E-Z
A real boat, built by one stubborn human
AWOOGA was built from Berkeley Engineering’s CANDU E-Z plans using marine plywood, fiberglass cloth, and epoxy — learning curve, mistakes, do-overs and all. Every photo below is part of the real story, captions and dates exactly as they happened.
The big moments
Milestones worth a foghorn blast
The turning points of the build — tap any to open it full size.
From the keel up
The build, stage by stage
AWOOGA came together in roughly nine chapters. Here’s how a stack of plywood became a tugboat.
Aug – Oct 2022
The Bottom
Marine plywood delivered, bottom panels cut and faired, seams taped with fiberglass, chine logs and bulkhead bases set, and the water side glassed.
Nov 2022 – Apr 2023
Keel & Side Keels
Keel frame built and foam-filled for flotation, dry-fit, then sealed and glassed — “not a fun task,” in the builder’s words.
Nov 2022 – Aug 2023
Hull Assembly
Hull skins laid out and cut, interiors glassed, port and starboard sides bonded on, stern skinned, and the fir rail cap fitted.
May – Sep 2023
Structure & Systems
Stem installed, motor well fabricated, trailer bunks rebuilt, deck stringers and the forward deck added.
Sep 2023 – Aug 2024
Exterior Finishing
Two layers of cloth on the outside hull, fairing, primer and paint, scuppers — “some lipstick on this pig.”
May 2024 – Apr 2025
Cabin & Helm
Cabin walls, roof beams and visor, helm station with wheel and throttle, window and door frames, and vinyl flooring.
Sep 2024
Motor & Mast
20 HP Tohatsu hung and wired, steering and throttle run, and a clever lever-action folding mast (a TooT TooT tip).
Apr 27, 2025
Launch Day
Decals and registration on, custom bow pudding from Mystic Knotwork, a launch ceremony — and she floats. Mike, who built TooT TooT, came to watch.
Sep 2025
Full Cartoon
Perforated eye decals, stadium seating with the AWOOGA logo, a bubble-blowing smoke stack — and a feature in WoodenBoat Magazine’s Launchings.
Straight from the garage
In the builder’s words
The honest version of how AWOOGA came together — pulled straight from Adam’s build notebook. A few pages here; the rest are in the notebook itself.
More than you’d think. I bought 21 gallons — used roughly 16 building her and, if I’m honest, wasted close to 5. Estimating epoxy is harder than it looks.
Cutting the motor hole, hands down — the scariest cut of the whole project. Then the fiberglass cloth I’d bought had a finer weave than I was used to: if I didn’t wet the surface out first, the epoxy just wouldn’t soak in. I learned that the hard way — laid the cloth, watched it refuse to saturate, then ripped it all off, sanded it down, and did it over.
Three years in one slider
Watch her come together
Drag the slider to explore every photo in order — or hit Play highlights for the whole build in about thirty seconds, milestone by milestone.
Every nut, bolt & brushstroke
The full build gallery
Filter by stage, then tap any photo to open the lightbox.
Curious what a boat like this costs?
We tracked every receipt. See the real numbers, run your own estimate, or read the story behind the boat.
