As you recall from part 1 of this reportage, this event has gone on for more than a quarter century, and is going strong. Compare this image below from TBR 2010 with

TBR 2025.

For 2026, lots of excitement still awaits, like pushoffs between mini tugs,

midsize boats and troats, and epic

pushoffs involving horsepower in the several thousands.

Competition in tugboaters skills like throwing line will be back in 2026; in fact, practice for next year has already begun.

Awards are passed out, and the best reportage listing all the winners can be found here.

Tugboat of the year 2025 is . . .

Thomas X. Grasso, the newest tugboat ever to win this award. Click here for all her specifications.

Of course, after all this effort, fireworks enhance the celebration.

As the TBR site states, this is a “a gathering of tugboats, workboats and barges to celebrate the maritime heritage of the Northeast Inland Waterways.”

Photos by Michael Bopp and Will Van Dorp, who salute the tireless efforts and contributions of so many folks. See you at the TBR next year, and for now, please consider becoming a member of the Canal Society of NYS here. And, last but certainly not least, get your cameras out to document the passage of the Seneca Chief replica from Buffalo to NYC later this month and early October; Dispatches would love to have you as a correspondent.

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