New tour boat gets OK from Coast Guard

A new tour boat that will operate on the Savannah River was certified by the Coast Guard last week and may begin commercial operations sometime next week.

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Jim Blaylock/Staff

The Patriot, an 80-passenger tour boat on the Savannah River, is scheduled to begin commercial operation next week.

"We were happy to learn we passed everything," said Capt. Jim Bradshaw, who spent 18 months renovating the 51-foot Patriot, which originally ferried tourists in the Boston Harbor area.

Because the boat will transport passengers, it requires Coast Guard inspection, testing and certification before going into service. The Patriot was designed to hold 85 passengers and was certified for 80, Capt. Bradshaw said.

The capacity test involves using barrels filled with water to simulate the weight of people, then evaluating the boat's stability when it is fully loaded.

"They had 14 55-gallon drums filled with water and shuffled them all around the boat," he said. "It came in with an approval for 80 passengers, which is really good."

Capt. Bradshaw said the Patriot will have a permanent dock at 10th Street. Tours will be offered daily, with special charters available for groups or events such as weddings.

The shorter tours will go upstream from Augusta to the river's navigable headwaters at the Fall Line, he said, and the longer outings will include a voyage downstream to the locks at New Savannah Bluff.

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.