Itty bitty ship ahoy!

Cruising over from Shelter Bay for scoops of ice cream at O'Neil's Confectionery and Soda Fountain seems the perfect way to end a Labor Day afternoon in La Conner. And what better way to putter over, literally, than in a bright red mini tugboat complete with to-scale tire fenders? That is what Keri and Michael Palasz did about 5 p.m. Monday. Rum raisin was her first choice while he was planning on mint chocolate chip.

Keri was piloting their recently acquired boat, bringing it into La Conner's public dock at the foot of Benton Street, between the former Lighthouse Restaurant and the Ginger Grater and the Olive Shoppe building, with Mo's Eclectic Gifts and Apparel behind, facing the channel.

Michael tied the 11-foot vessel to the dock. The couple were proud as parents of a newborn. The boat, a recent purchase ("I just got it," Keri said), was quite the find when he was on another mission, seeking coffee and donuts in Poulsbo, Washington and "found by dumb luck." A retired Seattle policeman had two, built from Berkeley Engineering plans (that is Berkeley Eastman, who started designing mini boats in 1986 and whose company is in Arizona, not California). It is a kit boat, Michael stressed.

Keri said she was learning how to drive it. The couple are boaters, though, from their time living in eastern Pennsylvania and taking their boat out on the Delaware River. They did not say if they went out into the Atlantic Ocean.

She did say the boat "is a magnificent 11 feet in length with a 6-foot-wide beam; runs on gas, not diesel; has running lights and a horn; and has tire fenders." It seats two. They plan to haul it out this winter and work on it.

They asked not to state the boat's name. Keri explained that it will be renamed by them later, with a ceremony and a rechristening. It sounded quite elaborate and ritualistic, with more details than were recorded.

The couple are already having a lot of fun with it.