Historic tugboat makes appearance at Oyster Bay fest

WHEN Michael DiNapoli, owner of an Oyster Bay marine towing firm, decided to go shopping for a used tugboat last year, he wasn't expecting to end up with an artifact linked to his community's history.

But he did. And this weekend, he will bring the well-preserved relic back to Oyster Bay for display at the annual Oyster Festival - the boat's first return since it was built in the community in 1957.

DiNapoli, the owner of Breakwater Marine Construction, already had several smaller tugs berthed in Glenwood Landing when he decided he needed a larger, more powerful vessel to tow a big barge. He heard Boston Towing and Transportation had five boats for sale, so he went to Boston to take a look and chose a 105-foot tug.

"I had not really known the history of the boat other than that it had been made at Jakobson's," he said, referring to the Oyster Bay shipyard known for building sturdy tugboats before it ceased construction in 1984 and closed in 1993. The property is now the WaterFront Center, one of the sites where the Oyster Festival will be held.

After making his deal at a price he termed "top secret," DiNapoli delved into the tug's history. He learned it was built for the Virginian Railway Co. to dock coal ships at its piers in Norfolk, Va., and was named for William R. Coe, who became a member of the railroad's board of directors in 1912 and served for 31 years. Coe is better known as the builder of the Planting Fields estate in Upper Brookville that is now a state park.

The Coe, originally painted yellow and black, was part of the 1959 deal when the Virginian was merged into the Norfolk & Western Railway. The tug was repainted maroon and in 1974 renamed the R.B. Claytor for another railroad executive.

In 1983, it was sold to the Boston firm, repainted signal red, buff and black and renamed Karen Tibbetts, for the wife of the firm's president. In 1996 it was renamed for his mother, Ethel Tibbetts.

The vessel had been so well maintained, DiNapoli said, that "we didn't have to do anything to her. Everything's original," from the 1,750-hp. diesel-electric engine to the mahogany paneling in the pilot house. "If you take care of her, she can really last forever," he said.

The new owner did make one change: renaming the tug for his wife, Deborah Quinn. Eventually, he plans to repaint it his company's color scheme: signal red, black and white.

DiNapoli contacted Oyster Festival organizers because "I thought it would be a great idea to have this boat there because it was built there and the connection with Coe."

Paul Rosen, Oyster Festival co-chairman, said "a big part of the Oyster Festival involves bringing Oyster Bay history to life. So the opportunity to present a tug built right here at Jakobson Shipyard is a source of enormous local pride."