"Godzilla" Diesel Powered 22' Harbor Tug

This 22 foot long harbor tug is well under the 26 foot length limit that requires a Masters License for operation as a true tug. The finish was purposely intended to be simple and work-boat-like with no shiny fancy paints but just good old paintbrush-type ones that you apply by hand and take joy in her annual maintenance.

For her engine the "Godzilla" has a used, but rebuilt, Sabb (not related to the car and aircraft manufacturer Saab) diesel engine, a big, single cylinder beast with a large heavy flywheel that makes a reassuring chunk-chunk-chunk noise when she is running. These little engines are made in Norway and find themselves into the most interesting boats, almost all of them as eccentric as the engines themselves. They don't use a normal reduction gear with forward and reverse shifting but instead, have a feathering propeller that, with a lever, moves the blades of the propeller back and forth and with rotation all the same direction, gives you forward, reverse or stationary all without a clutch shifting. Getting used to this kind of an engine and drive takes a couple of hours but in time becomes second nature with its capability of going from forward to standstill to reverse all without changing the rpm and all uncannily calm and smooth. With the Sabb engine, she runs out at a top speed of almost 6 knots with a flat and very unnoticeable wake (this is a good type of boat for running around marinas or places that have a restricted wake zone). Top rpm on the Sabb is 1800 rpm and she seems happy at almost any revs including the 300 rpm idle.

There's lots of deck space on the "Godzilla" with twin port and starboard opening doors on the pilothouse and a short, 6 inch step down into the house. The deck is walk-around, self bailing and deeply bulwarked. There is excellent visibility through the nine windows in the pilothouse, all of simple, laminated glass construction and when it gets too hot, you can open one or both of the pilothouse doors for some air. A large bench seat, the full width of the pilothouse, can seat up to 3 adults. There are tow bits forward and aft, substantial things of heavy wood construction with grown knees for reinforcement at the decks, a mast with the required 3 white towing lights shown.

She is located in Olympia, Washington.

Call Sam Devlin at (360) 866-0164 to arrange to view this fine boat.

Click here to see exterior, interior and construction photos of this boat.

• Length: 22'-0"
• Beam: 8'-10"
• Draft: 2'-2"
• Displacement: 3,000 lbs.
• Construction: BS 1088 Marine plywood, wood epoxy composite Construction
• Engine: Sabb diesel
• Max speed: 6 knots at 1,800 rpm
• Designer: Sam Devlin
• Builder: Devlin Designing Boat Builders
• Year launched:

• Depth sounder & knot log
• VHF Radio