The layers of rust didn’t deter them from seeing the possibilities for this 35 year old vessel and in spring 1997 family and friends were helping to scrape and paint her bottom when she was hauled out at Silva Bay in preparation for the family’s first voyage a month later.

Deb suggested they drop their old tent trailer on the back deck of the tug in order to accommodate their three kids plus two more along for the ride. A small crowd gathered at the rickety hoist in Nanaimo Harbour to watch the trailer being lowered and cheered when it came to rest on the deck of La Fille. 

For the maiden voyage, the crew of seven headed for Mansons Landing on Cortes Island and although the ice in the five coolers melted in about four hours on the steel deck, and Deb and Drew had to sleep on the wheelhouse floor, a grand time was had by all.

Back in home port in North Vancouver, the first step in renovating this old tug was to reinstate her original name — “La Fille”. Soon after major structural modifications ensued and resulted in the installation of a smaller and more efficient engine, the addition of an 18’ long main cabin, a curved staircase, two heads, a shower, a double cabin and a five-bunk room that the kids loved.

Those first years the family used a roughed-in galley with painted plywood table and counters. In recent years they have finished the inside of the tug in warm coastal woods with the assistance of two wonderful shipwrights. 

La Fille has hosted friends and family both on the dock and on the coast: an engagement, a wedding, writers from around the world (Deb owns 32 Books & Gallery in North Vancouver), scuba divers, the Hornby Island Festival crew, photographers, book clubs and the Blackberry Boys to name a few.