Now that fuel economy has become a hot issue, boat owners are looking favorably again at heavy duty engines but there are not many to be had and their size does present mounting problems in most boats. If there is no problem, then a slow turning engine can be a great benefit to an owner providing he has a good engineer to keep an eye on things. On the UNION JACK the engineer has to oil the rocker arms and valves every 2-4 hours and adjust thermostats and engine temperatures manually.

The most famous and common engines found in tugboats on the Pacific Coast were  the Union, Atlas, Enterprise out of San Francisco and Seattle, Washington and Vivian from Vancouver. Many other companies created smaller engines for fish boats and pleasure but the big, slow turning, heavy duties were the choice for the tugboat fleet. These engines resembled in some ways their steam counterparts and the early diesels were very much a manual hand operated engine. From hand oiled rockers and valves to manual operation of cams and starting gear, the engineer was very much in control as in the steam era.

The first diesels came without a gear box and were direct drive and reversible when the engine was stopped and restarted. This was accomplished by shifting the camshaft which has 2 sets of lobes: one for ahead and another identical for astern. After the engine is stopped, the cam was quickly moved onto the new lobes usually with the assistance of air and then air is injected into the appropriate cylinder to make the engine rotate in the proper direction and start when the fuel is applied. Even though this sounds awkward it was amazing how quickly the engine could be stopped and started again in the opposite direction. The engineers were quick to respond once the telegraph command was received. Later with the introduction of wheelhouse command using cable or air controls, the skipper was in charge which eliminated the longest delay and made operation very agile and simple. The direct reversing engines peaked about World War II when the first high speed, light weight diesels were built to accommodate the war effort. With smaller dimensions and higher RPM resulting in a more compact engine that was cheaper to build it wasn't long before the heavy duty engines were out of business."

The PARRY has a 1941 Vivian diesel built in Vancouver the same year as the UNION JACK.

This engine is slightly more modern because it incorporates a newer fuel delivery system and has enclosed rockers and valves which almost eliminates hand oiling. The shifting of the camshaft with air is the same procedure and the operation is practically identical with even better fuel economy due to the smaller diameter pistons - 9 inch versus 12 inch. The engines on the PARRY and UNION JACK are estimated to have over 200,000 hours of service each which is phenomenal today but not a record by any means. The 90 ft. vessel, WESTWARD, was built in 1926 and has its original Atlas engine and been around the world 3 times

Rebuilding and refurbishing these two vessels proved to be the right move and made these heritage vessels very popular and an attractive sight. No modern vessel can compete with the charm and ambience of these two vessels with their classic lines and solid, quiet comfort for passengers. Modern updates, like cozy lounge with fire place, tiled showers, hair dryers, bathrobes and the fantastic aroma of fresh baked bread and coffee coming from the direction of the galley make it hard to resist a trip on these tugboats.

Westwind has re-created a romantic experience on the Inside Passage with these two heritage tugboats and a true adventure awaits their lucky guests who have chosen to travel with North America's only tugboat cruising company."