Recycling... big time!

While vacationing in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin we toured the restored tug boat John Purves. The John Purves was built in 1919 as a steam powered tug. It was used primary in the Great Lakes and was the most powerful tug in it's day. The John Purves was used for many jobs in the Great Lakes. One of the most interesting was timber hauling. Logs would be rolled into the Great Lakes then the John Purves' cable would be lassoed around the whole log pile. Then the John Purves would tow it's load of timber very slowly to it's destination.
Now for the recycling part...
During WWII the Purves was used for the war effort. After the war the tug was returned to it's owner. The tug was later sold to John Roen. In 1957 Roen decided it was time for an upgrade. Roen decided to retrofit the tug with 2 diesel engines that were part of WWII surplus. The whole top of the tug was cut off, the steam mechanism was taken out and two diesel engines where installed. The top was replaced and the tug continued to work the Great Lakes till 2001. A team of eight dedicated volunteers worked for five years restore this tug. Our tour was given by one of these volunteers who gave us interesting glimpse of hard work and commerce on the Great Lakes.