From: "Kim Boyce and Eric Thoman" <kimeric@seanet.com> To: "Trawler World" <trawler-world-list@samurai.com> Subject: Site Visit - American Tug Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 16:22:10 -0700 Last week I got the opportunity to sneak out of a company retreat in LaConner, WA (with a co-worker) long enough to drop in on the guys at = Tomco Marine, the new company that is building American Tugs. Kurt Dilworth = and Tom Nelson gave us the royal "red carpet" despite our unscheduled = visit. They are extremely proud of their new boat, as they should be, = and let us crawl all over the boats in the shop and see and ask questions about everything. The 34 foot boat takes the tug to a new platform. You cannot believe = the amount of space inside. The layout is generally similar to a Nordic = Tug but it felt like a much bigger boat than our old 32 foot Nordic. Most impressive was the forward cabin with a full walk around queen berth. Tom and Kurt were working for Nordic Tug when we had our 32 built so it was great to compare notes on what was done then and what they are doing = now. =20 My favorite improvement is the use of the space in the stack. We used = to frequently "field" the question: What's in the stack? Answer: Nuttin', honey! American Tug actually uses the space as the head room from the pilothouse step down to the saloon. It is open to the living space = below. Plus, they put an oval hatch on top for a skylight effect. Very nice. Sorry to sound like a boat ad...we had fun! Check 'em out at www.americantugs.com No connections. Eric Thoman Abyssinia www.seanet.com/~kimeric

> From: "Kim Boyce and Eric Thoman" <kimeric@seanet.com> > > Last week I got the opportunity to sneak out of a company retreat in > LaConner, WA (with a co-worker) long enough to drop in on the guys at = > Tomco Marine, They are extremely proud of their new boat, as they should be, = > and let us crawl all over the > boats in the shop and see and ask questions about everything. > Hi Eric, How was the fit and finish on the boat(s) you looked at? A friend of mine in LaConner told me he toured Hull #1 just before it was shipped east (for the boat show circuit I assume). He agrees with you that the American Tug 34 is spacious and well laid out but he was somewhat disappointed with the fit and finish on the boat he toured. I'm guessing that it's just a case of hull #1 needing a few bugs to be worked out and that they'll get better as the factory gets a bit more practice. It also should be noted that my friend is a self avowed extreme perfectionist. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the tour. I hope to drop by Tomco one of these days but it seems that we only go to LaConner on Sundays. Is Tomco next door to Pacific Mariner's shop? Rubberneckingly yours, Alex