Name Tortuga

TORTUGA ( Formerly known as DENNIS) renamed by her current owner after the Island Tortuga a Caribbean island off the coast of Haiti. It is known for its pirate history. with a lawless, freewheeling atmosphere that attracted many of the most notorious figures of the time. Tortuga was home to a large and diverse population of buccaneers, corsairs, and privateers, who all participated in the lucrative practice of piracy. Because of this there is a theme of piracy throughout the boat and it’s construction while still in keeping with traditional narrowboat styling.

TORTUGA was originally built by Canal line for use as a hire boat. Believed to have been constructed in the late 1960’s Originally constructed with a welded steel hull with a GRP cabin top. She was taken out of the water by her previous owner and put on a hard standing on a yard north of Cambridge in 2019/2020. While on hard standing the original GRP cabin was removed and work began on changing the steel cabin structure but due to the pandemic and lack of funds she then fell into disrepair and was later abandoned.

In January 2021 TORTUGA changed ownership to her current owner and was sympathetically converted into a traditional style narrowboat tug by J.Walsh at Hillingdon Narrowboats Association in Harefield on the southern grand Union. This consisted of new stern deck rails, modified steel substructure, a welded steel cabin and a 2.8m tug fore deck. A refurbished three cylinder lister engine was fitted in the engine bay below the rear deck. The interior has been fit out for living on board with a double bed under the fore deck and a range cooker in the open plan kitchen/ lounge. TORTUGA is currently moored in Northampton and frequents the river Nene and grand union canal