Author Talk: Lisa Nickel- Tugboat Sand Man

Lisa Nickel, author of the new local history book, Tugboat Sand Man, will be hosting a presentation with the Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum. She will show unique photos and tell stories of Olympia’s beloved tugboat, Sand Man, from its birth in 1910 to the present. This is the story of the little tug that could and did!  Books will be available for purchase and signing.

For over a century, the Olympia harbor tugboat Sand Man has worked on Puget Sound waters. Built in Tacoma in 1910, Sand Man towed such commodities as sand, gravel, oysters, logs, and more to and from Budd Inlet. The tugboat was owned by three commercial companies and one private owner. In 1997, the Sand Man Foundation formed, took ownership, and placed Sand Man on multiple historic registries. Through fundraising efforts, the deteriorating Sand Man was miraculously saved and rebuilt after three sinkings. Over the years, the vessel participated in many Olympia Harbor Days activities and vintage tugboat races and was the festival’s first logo boat in 1983. Sand Man, a workhorse and survivor, is known as “Olympia’s Tugboat.”