Name Waterdog

WATERDOG was built in East Yorkshire in 1876 and initially known as ‘Flyboat 81’. It has been suggested that WATERDOG was built by the Baltic Engine Works Company. Her hull is made from iron and is riveted not welded. She was originally fitted with a steam engine and, towing dumb barges, would trade between Hull, Goole, York and Rotherham, carrying many varied cargoes, including coal, manganese ore, linseed oil and bales of cotton.

The steam engine was removed in the early 1900’s and a marine Gardner 4LW was fitted in 1950. The new owners, British Waterways, renamed the barge ‘WATERDOG’ in 1963 and they used her together with 3 sister boats, ‘WATERREEL’, ‘WATERDEER’ and ‘WATERBIRD’. WATERDOG came out of service in 1979, when she was converted to a house boat and moored in York.

The current owners have owned WATERDOG since the 1990’s and have totally refurbished her, inside and out. In 2007, they had a Ford 6 cylinder Dovertech engine (Mermaid Mariner) installed, together with a PRM gearbox, to go with the existing 29 inch propeller. In 2008 the vessel crossed the North Sea from Goole to Dunkirk and cruised Northern France and Belgium until 2016, when it left Nieuwpoort, Belgium, to return to the UK, this time to moor in Woodbridge, Suffolk.