Saint John Welcomes Theodore Too

Iconic harbour ambassador, Theodore Too will be travelling to Saint John, New Brunswick, to deliver tours throughout the 2018 season. The announcement came today from Ambassatours Gray Line, owners of Theodore Too, in a joint release with New Brunswick partners.“It’s been awhile since Theodore has ventured out of Halifax but we know he has a huge fan base in every province across the country”, said Dennis Campbell, CEO, Ambassatours Gray Line, “When the opportunity came up to have him go to Saint John to meet new friends and ‘work’ in their busy harbour this season, we wanted to make that happen for him.”Theodore Too has previously spent time in several Canadian and U.S. destinations as a tourist attraction and water safety promoter, including Montreal and Quebec City, and he has also undertaken a 50-city tour along the eastern seaboard to Tampa Bay and back through the Great Lakes to Chicago and Toronto.“We are excited to welcome Theodore Tugboat to the Saint John waterfront this Summer and Fall.  Visitors and residents will have the opportunity to experience new water-based tour product this year. The Bay of Fundy Cruise Partnership, which includes Discover Saint John, is at the core of making this possible and we thank our partners and Ambassatours for working with us on this project,” said Jim Quinn, President & CEO, Port Saint John.While in Saint John, Theodore will host Gray Line-quality daily family and public harbour tours, as well as cruise excursions, from early June through to the end of cruise season in October.Theodore will also be available for groups, for private charter, and on several occasions will go to the mouth of the harbour to welcome cruise ships on their inaugural visits. He will be moored at Pugsley Slip on Water Street.“We are delighted to be working with our partners to support Theodore’s ‘new job’ in the Saint John harbour,” said Victoria Clarke, Executive Director, Discover Saint John, “His iconic red cap and friendly face will animate our port and will create great memories for our #SaintAwesome guests.”Theodore Too is a life-sized passenger-carrying tugboat, with a capacity of 49 guests. He is based on the title character of the popular children’s television show, Theodore Tugboat, which aired on CBC in Canada, and PBS in the USA.

Tour tickets for Theodore Too are now available online through Ambassatours.com and will be sold on-site from a custom-built kiosk adjacent to the Coast Guard Station on Water Street once Theodore arrives in early June.  Tickets will also be available at Barbour’s Store in Uptown. Ambassatours Gray Line is developing custom tours for Theodore, and will be hiring local captains and guides to deliver the experiences.

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SOCIAL MEDIATheodore posts on Facebook as /TheodoreTugboat.PHOTOS & BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGEAvailable upon request, from Ambassatours Gray Line.MEDIA CONTACTSOrganization: Ambassatours Gray LineContact:          Terri McCullochTitle:                Communications ManagerPhone:            902-499-6725Email:              tmcculloch@ambassatours.comOrganization: Port Saint JohnContact:          Paula CopelandTitle:                Director, CommunicationsPhone:             506-650-5288Email:              pcopeland@109.199.110.97 ABOUT THEODORETheodore Too is a full-sized replica of the main character in the popular TV series, Theodore Tugboat. Theodore Too was built in Nova Scotia and launched in the Spring of  2000. The ocean-going boat made a 50-city tour down the eastern seaboard to Tampa Bay and back again through the Great Lakes to Chicago. Theodore Too became the Ambassador of the U.S. National Safe Boating Council and mascot to the U.S. Coast Guard, participating in several tall ship events over the years. Murphy’s On The Water (now owned by Ambassatours Gray Line) purchased Theodore Too from its originators, Cochran Entertainment, and has been operating it as a touring vessel ever since.Theodore Too’s  hull and wheelhouse are made entirely of wood, with a red fibreglass hat and smokestack. He has a 'face' on the funnel, with large, realistic eyes. The boat displays a number of realistic tug boat features such as working winches and towing bitts, which are inspired from real tugs. The vessel’s specs are: 105 tones, length of 65 feet, beam of 22 feet, draft of 7 feet 3 inches, and it is propelled by a 400-horsepower engine ABOUT THE SHOWTheodore Tugboat is a Canadian children’s television series about a tugboat named Theodore who lives and works in the Big Harbour with his friends. The tugs work together to resolve problems in the big harbour with other tugs or vessels. Theodore is a kind little tugboat who is always welcoming to other ships in the harbour. The main objective of Theodore and is friends is to work hard to ensure that they each do their part in making the Big Harbour is the friendliest harbour in the world.The show aired in Canada on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) from 1993-2001, and in the USA on PBS from 1996-2001 The show was also  broadcast by Qubo into the late 2000s. It was distributed by NBC Universal Television. The show was a co-production between the CBC and the now defunct, Cochran Entertainment. There were 130 original episodes produced. The show was narrated by The Harbourmaster, who was portrayed by the late Denny Doherty, formerly of The Mamas & The Papas.