The Ghost of an Old Louisiana Tugboat. This abandoned wooden tugboat is one of the last survivors of a vanished Louisiana tradition. Built by hand in 1953 by Joseph ‘Yep’ Dufrene, it once worked the marshes and oil fields for nearly three decades, pushing barges and hauling supplies through the bayous from 1953 to 1980. After retirement, it refused to fade away quietly. It sank more than once while tied up in the bayou, brought back to the surface each time by the family who couldn’t let it go.