Harbor Towns’ new paddle-wheel dinner excursion boat left Bradenton Beach, Florida, last week on a 1,000-plus mile trip to its new home in the Albemarle, a spokesman for the economic development group says.
The Anna Maria Princess, which Harbor Towns recently purchased, will cruise across Florida before turning northward to travel the Intracoastal Waterway, Peter Thomson said in an email. With a top speed of 6 mph, the vessel is expected to arrive in Edenton within two to four weeks, he said.
“It’s a true paddle-wheeler: the first one to be on the Albemarle Sound in 100 years,” Thomson said. “We are happy to have a historic kind of boat that can service the five historic towns of the Albemarle.”
Thomson said the Anne Maria Princess, which Harbor Towns plans to rename the Albemarle Queen, features an open top deck, is capable of carrying more than 100 people, and can serve 80 for dinner. Harbor Towns plans to rent the vessel to groups for dinner cruises.
Once the paddle-wheeler arrives in Edenton, where it will be based, Harbor Towns plans to repaint it, clean it up and “fix some minor amenities” before putting it into service, Thomson said.
In addition to the Albemarle Queen, Harbor Towns plans to operate two fast-ferry vessels, the Penelope and the Moses Grandy, on the Albemarle Sound, offering passenger service between five waterfront towns — Hertford, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Columbia and Plymouth — as well as Manteo. Harbor Towns said on its Facebook page Thursday that it’s still on pace to launch the ferry service on May 1.
Harbor Towns decided to buy the Anna Maria Princess from its former owners after determining that continuing to make repairs to the Eagle I, its former dinner excursion boat, to meet U.S. Coast Guard standards would be cost-prohibitive, Thomson said.
“A professional assessment by the USCG and our expert determined that the cost to meet new USCG standards was too high,” he said.
In an interview late last year, Thomson said the Eagle I is seaworthy but needed work to meet strict Coast Guard standards before it could be put in service carrying passengers.
“We had a major Coast Guard inspection and they found things they don’t like,” Thomson said at the time. “When you abandon a house and then bring it back into service, you have to do it based on the newest regulations. Some of it was not up to the newest standards of the Coast Guard. So, we are working with the Coast Guard because we know it has to be safe and it has to meet their standards.”
Thomson said Harbor Towns is now looking to sell major components of the Eagle I like its updated engines and rudders. He did not have dollar figures on how much Harbor Towns expects to make from selling the components. He also didn’t have the purchase price for the Anna Maria Princess.
In looking for a replacement vessel for the Eagle I, one Harbor Towns priority was finding a boat that can serve all five Harbor towns. Harbor Towns’ original choice for the dinner excursion vessel, Anticipation V, was capable of serving all five towns but its deal to buy the vessel from its Maryland-based owner fell through.
While the Eagle I was an upgrade from the Anticipation V — it offered seating for 140 passengers compared to roughly 100 — it was too large to dock in Hertford, sparking criticism from the town’s officials in February 2023.
Hertford’s town manager and a town councilor both questioned the Eagle I’s purchase, pointing out it couldn’t dock at their town’s waterfront because its draft is too deep. A boat’s draft is the distance between its waterline and deepest point.
Harbor Towns officials acknowledged that the 140-passenger Eagle I’s draft was 6 feet, which also happens to be the depth of the Perquimans River at Hertford’s waterfront, meaning the vessel would have run aground if it tried to dock there.
When Harbor Towns learned revamping the Eagle I wasn’t going to work out, it hoped to find a replacement vessel whose draft was shallower, allowing it to dock in Hertford, Thomson said.
“We already wanted a boat that could serve the Hertford area, so when we found that out (continuing upgrades to the Eagle I would be cost-prohibitive) we had professionals up and down the coast looking while we put Eagle I on hold,” he said.
The Anna Marie Princess fit the bill, he said.
“It’s a lovely boat, and we’re proud to say it can get into Hertford,” Thomson said. “It’s both low enough to get under the (Perquimans River) bridge and (has a) shallow enough draft to dock.”
Thomson said Harbor Towns hopes to have the Albemarle Queen docked at the Elizabeth City waterfront for the city’s annual three-day N.C. Potato Festival scheduled for May 17-19.
Thomson said residents can follow the Anna Marie Princess’ voyage across Florida and up the Intracoastal Waterway at Harbor Towns’ Facebook page. The boat is captained by Dustin Daniels of Wanchese and its crew include Shannon Lassiter and Da’Shawn White, who will stay on when the vessel is put in service.
Most Popular
Comments / 0