Harbor Town Cruises’ excursion-dinner boat, The Albemarle Queen, arrived at the municipal docks in Edenton last weekend.
Harbor Towns purchased the 99-foot paddle wheeler, formerly named the Anna Marie Princess, from its Florida-based owners, after deciding it was cost-prohibitive to continue making repairs to the vessel it had planned use as a dinner-excursion boat, the Eagle I.
Harbor Towns said the Anna Marie Princess was built in Pickwick, Tenn., in 2003 and features “signature paddle wheels” and advanced maneuvering capabilities, including stern and bow thrusters. Most recently it has plied the waters near the Bradenton Beach Marina in Florida, where it was based.
According to Harbor Towns, The Albemarle Queen features an open top deck, is capable of carrying 120 people, and can seat 80 for dinner. After a new paint job, spot treatments for rust, and installation of new carpet, Harbor Towns plans to use the paddle wheeler for group bookings and dinner cruises.
Harbor Towns said the vessel will be the “first paddle wheeler to grace the waters of the Albemarle in over a century” and is “ideal for scenic tours, private events and unforgettable dining experiences.”
Captained by a local crew, the Anna Marie Princess left Bradenton Beach, Florida, the last week of March made its way north along the Intracoastal Waterway on a 1,000-mile voyage at a top speed of 6 mph, Harbor Towns board member Peter Thomson said.
While the ship lacks the high speed and flash of Harbor Towns Cruises’ fast-ferry vessels, Harbor Towns Senior Captain Tex Gallop said he is more than impressed with her.
“She was great — drove good,” Gallop said Monday. “I enjoyed her, and everything really handled well, considering she’s a paddle boat. She’s like a big sailboat, you know. But she’s a great boat.”
The Anna Marie Princess is also in good condition.
“She’s clean, had a good taking-care-of and everything,” Gallop said. “I think it will be great and fit in with the area really well. I think people will want to go on her and eat just because she’s a paddle boat.”
The boat is a real paddle wheeler, not a propeller boat with a decorative paddle on the back. As such, it moves slowly but is actually powerful, boasting two diesel Cummins engines.
“They turn hydraulic pumps that work the paddle. Most boats now have propellers down there, but she doesn’t,” Gallop said.
Gallop said the Anna Marie Princess lost its water pump during the trip, but that has been fixed. In addition, he said the vessel will undergo three weeks of cosmetic refitting and painting to become The Albemarle Queen. When that work is finished, the boat will be put in service and operate with a captain and two deckhands.
Thomson said The Albemarle Queen will be in Plymouth June 1 for the town’s annual Black Bear Festival and then in Edenton the following week for stage five of Major League Fishing’s 2024 Bass Pro Shops Bass Pro Tour tournament on the Chowan River June 4-9. It will be available for bookings starting June 10, he said.
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