A Great Lake Tug

Not every boat is given the opportunity to boat on all five Great Lakes, but one particular tug boat not only has done so, but has the battle scars to prove it.

The 1926 tug boat was originally custom built out of Thunder Bay on Lake Superior for a Canadian paper company. The boat worked as a logging boat for 50 years before being sold to someone on Lake Ontario who used it as a dive boat off Toronto. The rust-covered abandoned vessel was in poor shape when Captain Rick Brill came across her in 2002 and after three years of hard work he was finally able to make it seaworthy again.

“The boat had been on Superior, Ontario, Erie and Huron and we were able to take it to its fifth Great Lake,” enthused Brill.

Docked at Eagle Pointe Harbor on the St. Joseph River not far from Lake Michigan, Brill is once again trying to get the boat moving after the engines recently gave up the ghost.

“Right now she’s just a liveaboard,” said Brill. “Hopefully she’ll be sailing again soon.”

The Atticus Finch

Before Brill got his hands on the old boat, he’d always known he wanted something like an old tug boat so he could enjoy fixing it up. However, he knew it would be difficult to manage such a project while raising his young family, so he waited until his kids got a bit older and then started perusing the Internet.

After sorting through a myriad of boats he felt were too expensive, Brill finally found the perfect one near Niagara Falls in Port Dover, Ontario. Neglected, with rust flaking off every surface and no windows, the tug boat was stationed at the back of a lagoon off the Lynn River near Lake Erie.

“I looked at it and I thought, ‘Boy is that a cool tug boat!’” remembered Brill.

To others the boat was an eyesore, but to Brill it was brimming with potential. He called about it and was further delighted to find the exchange rate from US dollars to Canadian was favorable, resulting in his spending a lot less than he initially thought he would when he first laid eyes on the promising boat.

He took the plunge, buying the 28-ton tug boat and spending the next three years fixing it up. The next question was what to name the remarkable vessel. Growing up, one of Brill’s favorite movies to watch with his brother was To Kill a Mockingbird, based on Harper Lee’s classic novel. The movie had inspired him as a kid and aided him in choosing a name for his boat.

“All of a sudden it hit me: Atticus Finch,” recalled Brill. “We always saw him as a great and strong character.”

Finally, after three years of repairing the boat, Brill was ready to set sail with two of his three sons on the Atticus Finch.

Making Every Lake

Brill’s sons Jackson and Todd were both in their 20s and ready to accompany their dad on this great adventure in 2005. Brill’s dad dropped the three of them in Ontario so they could drive the boat home to Michigan. The entire journey was around a thousand miles and took the crew about 10 days.

They took their 52-foot, all-steel tug boat through Lake Erie, the Detroit River, the St. Clair River, through Lake Huron, then through the straits of Mackinac all the way to St. Joseph, Mich. The trip completed the journey and it has now been on all five Great Lakes since it was originally on Lake Superior, then Lake Ontario, then Lake Erie when Brill picked it up and drove it through Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

“It made them all,” laughed Brill.

Brill and his sons were able to make such good time because they drove for long stretches, sometimes even traveling for 24 hours straight. Brill’s main concern was not to endanger any other boats and he always picked his ports carefully since his tug boat was a bit of a larger vessel.

Brill and his sons took a path running down the middle of the lakes pretty much all the way because it was the straightest shot. The crew experienced three storms while on the lakes, but they were always able to make port before the worst of the storms hit them.

“It was a scary trip in the sense of being new to it,” shared Brill, “but boy, the feeling of not having land anywhere in sight!”

The Brills also enjoyed their stays at the different locations, especially Mackinac Island which Brill described as a real treat.

Canadian Warship

The trip did not come without excitement. Far from it. After all, it was on their very first night aboard the boat when a puzzling radio announcement came on, demanding to know the identity of an unknown vessel and identifying itself as a Canadian warship.

Brill and his sons took shifts sleeping and Brill was behind the wheel at the time. He was kind of new to radio when he heard the signal, so he simply kept driving since he was unsure what they meant or if he could even help.

A few moments later the same announcement came on. Brill looked out into the distance and all of a sudden he realized that a whole row of lights he’d previously assumed was a city was in actual fact an enormous ship.

Brill realized the Canadian warship was referring to their tug boat as the unidentified vessel so he clambered to report. Once he did, the warship was satisfied and told him to have safe trip.

“That kind of made our hair stand up for a little bit,” chuckled Brill.

Later when Brill got home, he looked up the warship and learned the Canadian Ship Toronto was patrolling the shipping canal there at that time during some festivities on the lake and that they were being extra cautious since it was post 9-11. All in all it made for an exciting first night aboard the Atticus Finch.

To The Rescue

Not only did the Brills brush up against a Canadian warship, but they also rescued a couple of girls on Lake Huron.

A storm was moving in so the Brills were heading into Port Saranac to get out of the turbulent weather when they noticed two girls on a Jet Ski waving their arms wildly in the distance. They had gotten out in deep water off Port Saranac when their engine suddenly cut out and it wouldn’t start again.

Brill was hesitant at first because he’d never rescued anyone and he didn’t want to hurt them by getting too close with his tug boat. Unsure of how to proceed, Brill called the Coast Guard to tell them the situation. The Coast Guard was all tied up rescuing other people because of the storm so they asked Brill if he could make the rescue.

Knowing he was their only option, Brill managed to successfully rescue the girls and haul them in, narrowly escaping the storm just before it hit.

Meant To Be

Now that the trip is over and more than a decade has gone by, Brill looks back on the trip fondly. He’d always meant to take a big trip and he’s proud and happy he was able to do that with his sons on the Atticus Finch. Some things are just meant to be.

“I knew I wanted to sail it and I thought it would be a great adventure,” said Brill.

In the end, he’s glad he took the leap and bought the tug boat and took the trip. He’d done plenty of research before deciding to go, so his mind was at ease. He took full responsibility on buying the boat and getting it home, never regretting the highlights of his great adventure.

“Sometimes it makes me shudder to think if anything went wrong,” admitted Brill. “I mean, financially it could have been a disaster, but it just seemed like the thing to do.”

Now Brill is working to put a new engine in the boat. Hopefully this remarkable tug boat that has braved all five Great Lakes will be able to set sail once again and embark on another adventure soon.

For More Information

Eagle Pointe Harbor

www.lakemichiganmarina.com