Lake Pend Oreille Cruises

Lake Pend Oreille Cruises offers a variety of public cruises and private charters on Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho's largest lake. Cruises run Spring, Summer, & Fall. History cruises, dinner cruises, eagle watching cruises, sunset cruises, weddings, family reunions, employee parties, and more are just some of the offerings. The spectacular scenery and variety of wildlife make this a "must do" attraction for visitors to North Idaho.

History

The Boat was built in 1966 in San Diego as a ferry to Coronado Island. It spent a few years on Lake Mead as a tour and fishing boat with a six pack license. At this point it had twin diesel engines mid ships with straight shaft & rudder. From there, it went to San Francisco as a crew boat taking crew personnel out to larger ships. It was also used to lay cable in the bay.

In the early 80's, it was stripped of all running gear, shipped up to Idaho as part of a settlement that one of the business partners had made when they sold out of the boat business in SF. It sat in his yard for about ten years waiting for the owner to make a personal yacht out of it for use on Lake Pend Oreille. That's when we found it. It was purchased for the hull only in 1992. It was hauled home to our yard on a make shift trailer, and placed with the stern facing the shop building and sat there for another 6 to 8 months waiting for us to design and get approval by the US Coast Guard. After the plan approval from the US Coast Guard, it took 2 more years to complete. On July 26, 1995, the hull got wet again.

This was the largest change the hull has gone through in its life time. This time it got only one engine, a diesel, with an out drive for better steerage, and it cruises at around 7 knots. It received a fully enclosed lower deck which it never had, an open upper deck, and a good sized wheel house. It weighs in at 15 tons of aluminum, wood, and metal. The hull and super structure are all welded aluminum. The interior was done in mahogany to give a softer and older look to the aluminum hull. All systems are new; engine, drive, electric, plumbing, electronics. So we have started out in our new venture with a new boat but an older look to it.

This vessel is US Coast Guard approved, and inspected once a year. A stability test performed by the US Coast Guard has certified the vessel for 36 passengers and 3 crew.

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