We have been traveling the country since 2018. While we have been traveling the lower 48 states, we have always sought out water and boat tours. On January 9, 2024 we posted a blog called Enjoy Local Tours by Boat, Trains and Wagons about our previous boat tours. This blog is about our boat tours in just 2024. You might be interested in going on some of these tours, too!

Our 2024 Boat Tours

Florida

Frisky Mermaid Dolphin Tours (Pensacola Beach) have year around 2-hour boat tours in and around Pensacola and the Pensacola Beach area. The Frisky Mermaid is a 52’ boat and holds about 40 people. There are so many options to choose from: sightseeing, sightseeing with beach stops, fireworks viewing, Blue Angels viewing, snorkeling trips, you name it!

Our Impressions: We took the 2-hour sunset cruise and saw many, many pods of dolphins! The Frisky Mermaid captain seemed to know exactly where to go to see many varieties of dolphins. We would definitely take this boat tour again!

Maine

Acadian Boat Tours (Bar Harbor) has multiple options for exploring the waters around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. The nature cruise we chose was the 3.5-hour puffin, lighthouses and seabirds one. The M/V Eden Star cruises Frenchman Bay and the Gulf of Maine. The cruise includes three island lighthouses, including Petit Manan (where puffins and other off-shore birds are seen from mid-May through mid- August), Mark Island Light and Egg Rock Light. The tour also stops by Schoodic Island in search of eagles and other wildlife and the shoreline of Acadia National Park. Other wildlife includes seals, harbor porpoise, osprey and other seabirds. The M/V Eden Star is a 65’ vessel licensed for 123 passengers.

Our Impressions: This was a really great tour. Many boat cruises only include wildlife or lighthouses, but this was probably the best, most comprehensive trip we have been on. It was an amazing, smooth boat ride. One of the nicest parts was being able to spread out and not be crammed in a small space. While the boat is rated for 123 passengers, they never book more than 65 passengers!!

Moosehead Lake Boat Tours (Greenville) offers boat rides and experiences on the Steamboat Katahdin, or “The Kate”. The Katew was built in 1914 at the Bath Iron Works and is the oldest vessel till afloat that was built at BIW. The Kate is 102’ long and 28’ wide and carries 225 passengers. There are multiple tours, one to eight hours long, depending on where you want to go on Moosehead Lake! Moosehead Lake is approximately 40 miles long, 22 miles wide, and covers nearly 75,000 acres. This makes it not only the largest lake in Maine but also the largest lake east of the Mississippi.

Our Impressions: I have no idea why it took us so many years to take a boat trip on The Kate! I guess it is one of those things where you do not appreciate what is right in your own backyard (well, 2 hours away from home!). It was a very quiet, relaxing, enjoyable trip.

Maryland

Wm. B. Tennison (Solomon Islands) is the only Coast Guard licensed, log hulled vessel in the United States! The 60’6” Wm. B. Tennison was built in 1899 as a bugeye buy boat. It was uniquely built to go out to the oyster beds and collect fresh oysters from the fishing boats to bring back to the shore for sale. It was used in service for commercial use for several decades. When the oyster beds became over fished, and the Tennison fell into disrepair, the Calvert Marine Museum bought the Wm. B. Tennison. The Calvert Museum wanted to use the Tennison for public cruises on the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay. The Tennison has been completely refurbished and restored to pristine condition.

Our Impressions: We went on two different cruises on the Wm. B. Tennison: one on Mother’s Day that went up the Patuxent River and the other on Memorial Day which headed out to Chesapeake Bay. Both were very relaxing trips with lots of families aboard. It is one thing to explore a place on land and look out at the water and boats and another thing to look at the houses and land formations from the water!

Massachusetts

Dolphin Whale Watching Cruise (Provincetown, Cape Cod) has been in operation since 1975! The cruise boats are approximately 100 feet long and carry 250 people. The whale watching cruises leave from the tip of Cape Cod, or “P-Town”. Because P-town is the closest port to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a feeding ground for many whales, Dolphin Whale Watch actually GUARANTEES whale sightings! Trips to various locations in the area are 3-4 hours, but can vary depending on the weather and how far the boat needs to travel to see whales.

Our Impressions: Over the years we have been on many whale watching trips, but this one was by far the best! We probably saw more whales, closer to our boat, than any other tour we have been on! It was amazing!

Nantucket Ferry (Hyannis) is part of the adventure of getting to Nantucket, an island off the coast of lower Cape Cod. Except for a private boat, the ferry is the only way to get to Nantucket. The high-speed passenger boats offer year-round service from Hyannis to Nantucket. The distance between the two locations is approximately 15 miles and takes about an hour. The Hy-Line Cruises offers two passenger catamarans: the one we took, the MV Grey Lady IV, a 153.5-foot ferry (493 passengers), and the MV Grey Lady, a 144-foot ferry (300 passengers). The Steamship Authority runs a 230-foot ferry and a traditional car-and-passenger ferry.

Our Impressions: The day we rode the ferry to Nantucket it was clear a sunny when we left Hyannis, and when we arrived on Nantucket, but the ride between was filled with dark skies, with a horrendous thunderstorm with lightening crackling all around us!! The catamaran still provided a smooth ride. If we weren’t in the Captain’s View area of the ferry, we would not have known what was happening around us!

Ohio

Lorena Sternwheeler Riverboat (Zanesville) was an unexpected pleasurable experience! I always do extensive research about an area before we arrive. Nowhere in my research did I see anything about the Lorena Sternwheeler! Weighing 59 tons, the Lorena can carry 45 passengers and is 104 feet long, 17 feet wide and draws 2.5 feet of water. Lorena travels up and down the Historic Muskingum River Water Trail. Worldwide coverage came when the Lorena survived the “Blizzard of ’78”, coming within a quarter-inch of capsizing!

Our Impressions: We just happened to be in Zanesville the weekend they offered a fall foliage trip on the Muskingum River! Our cruise took us from Zane’s Landing in the downtown area to the Riverfront Park and back. It was a very nice leisurely cruise with the big sternwheel in the back moving rhythmically through the water. This is a relaxing boat trip we would highly recommend!

Summary

We would definitely go back and experience all of the boat tours and trips in this blog.

Boating is a very different way of seeing a geographic area. We find the rhythm of a boat on water to be very soothing and calming. It is also a pretty interesting way of seeing wildlife that you wouldn’t ordinarily see, for example, puffins, dolphins and whales. And sometimes these experiences, for example, whale watching in P-Town, were very up close and personal!

Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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