LOOKS LIKE A GASOLINE MOTOR TO ME , if we the public cannot use a gas motor such SHOULD be the businesses !!!
After a long voyage from Boston and 18 months of renovation, the Savannah River's newest tour boat is almost ready.
"It's got new carpet and new skin," said Capt. Jim Bradshaw, who, with his wife, Cathy, will operate the 51-foot vessel, The Patriot.
The tri-hulled, enclosed boat will accommodate 85 passengers and will have permanent mooring behind the Augusta Marriott Hotel & Suites on 10th Street, he said.
The Coast Guard -- which by law must inspect and certify commercial passenger boats -- is scheduled to evaluate The Patriot on April 3.
Soon after, Capt. Bradshaw said, it will be available for tours of the Savannah River from downtown Augusta to the New Savannah Bluff Locks.
Capt. Bradshaw, a 1970 graduate of Cape Fear Maritime College in Wilmington, N.C., came to Augusta three years ago to pilot the Augusta Canal Authority's Petersburg tour boats. He and his wife live on Lake Murray, near Lexington, S.C.
"You have almost 500,000 people in a 20-mile radius of Augusta," he said. "To have that many people, and a resource like the Savannah River with no tour boats, it was a shame."
The Patriot, he said, will make regular daily tours of the river and also will be available for charters, weddings and events.
The boat was built in 1997 and has ferried tourists in the Boston area. Capt. Bradshaw trucked the boat to Augusta and has been renovating it for 18 months at the Riverfront Marina Warehouse.
On Tuesday, a crane hoisted the 16-foot-wide Patriot into the river for its inaugural tests.
"It's going to do fine," Capt. Bradshaw said.
Augusta had a tour boat in the late 1980s and early 1990s -- the Princess Augusta -- but its owners closed the business and leased the boat to a Jacksonville, Fla., firm in 1995.
Reach Rob Pavey at 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.
BY THE NUMBERS
51 - vessel length, in feet
85 - maximum occupants
Comments
LOOKS LIKE A GASOLINE MOTOR TO ME , if we the public cannot use a gas motor such SHOULD be the businesses !!!
The last tour boat was fun, but disappeared. I hope this one does better.
all for it as long as no public funds or services-in-kind're involved,,, hope they make lots of $$$,,, expect the engine's diesel,,, why's the choice of fuel significant ? ? ?
I cruised on the Princess Augusta a few times for their Sunday Brunch Cruise and Dinner Cruises, I really wish they would have something like that again. It made for a very nice experience and was really a lot of fun.
I am really glad that Augusta is starting to realize the potential the river gives us as a city. I have only lived here for 5 years and liviing downtown makes me wonder why Augusta does not do more with the river
It would be even nicer if this boat could go farther downriver. Isn't it time we dropped the big one on the locks? No one wants to man them, they're now closed for repair. What good are they except to discourage river use? Maybe some genius at the Army Corps of Engineers could answer this question without the usual b.s.
Are they going to serve alchol?
Ole school, what are you talking about????? I fish the river all the time with my gas motor.... who told you you can't?? lol Everyone i know used a gas motor. I havent been past 5th street though.. looks kinda creepy past there lol I think maybe you are thinking of the canal. The canal and ponds are the places you can't use gas motor. The river and lake are fine. =)
this will be a nice addition to downtown augusta. I hope these folks are successful.
What will it cost to tour the river (non-Masters-week price)?
Ole School anyone can use gasoline engines on the river, what you are referring to is that you cannot use gasoline on the canal. This boat is on the river not the canal.
I'm delighted. We enjoyed the Princess Augusta. Also last August we really enjoyed the Petersburg tour of the canal with Captain Bradshaw. The tour was BYOB.
This should be pretty neat. Its good that Augusta is getting more activities.
The captain let my elementary age oldest son steer the Princess Augusta, when my parents took him for a ride on it. He was so proud of himself! One of his favorite memories. Thank you Captain, wherever you are. I had always hoped to get a ride on it one day, glad to see someone else is providing a similar experience.
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