Passengers rescued hours after being stuck on the Colonial Belle

FAIRPORT, N.Y. (WROC) — The Colonial Belle stopped on the Erie Canal for hours due to a mechanical issue on Tuesday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

A neighbor said the tour boat stopped for about two hours and appeared unable to start up again, as bystanders collected gasoline from other boats.

A News 8 crew saw a number of first responders on scene, including the Fairport Fire Department and MCSO.

The Colonial Belle has served as a Fairport staple for 35 years and has entertained generations of passengers from near and far. The captain says what happened Tuesday night was a first in their history.

“We train for a lot of things, which are Coast Guard requirements, but we kind of go above and beyond. Thankfully we had no injuries, no fires, no major issues, no damage to the vessel, and no problems with passengers,” Captain Tammee Poinan Grimes said.

As Grimes explains, a tampered fuel valve was to blame. She says at some point, someone unscrewed one of the boat’s valves which then poured the gasoline into the water.

Just before 10 p.m., deputies found the Colonial Belle tied to the dock without engine power. Investigators said the boat lost power and came to a rest at that location — six to seven feet out from the dock.

Grimes says the boat regained power and the crew tried to carry on along the Canal, but power was lost a second time near Perinton Park. Crews spent the day Wednesday towing it back to its home dock about a mile away.

Firefighters helped passengers and crew off the boat around 1:15 a.m. In total, 59 people were taken off of the boat. Firefighters said it took them two-and-a-half hours to get everyone off.

“We’re hoping when people see this kind of thing, they’re not worried about coming with us because we have been operating for 35 years and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” Grimes said.

Grimes says it’s a lesson learned, but also a test in preparation.

“We train for possibilities in case something like this were to ever happen. It’s kind of a strange scenario, but we will work to come up with ways to prevent that from happening ever again,” she said.

The Colonial Belle crew plans to resume tours once the vessel clears an inspection with the U.S. Coast Guard.

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