Captain Sonny has been boating here since 1985. After selling his crabbing boat business he purchased the SS Pelican in 1992 to begin a new venture providing dolphin and nature tours. With his knowledge of the Island, and the family oriented atmosphere that he provides, it wasn’t long that he had to purchase a larger boat. In 1996 he purchased the Island Queen. Today Captain Sonny and his first mate Ed provide a fun filled experience for all.
The SS Pelican is a ex-navy motor whale boat that was on board a destroyer tender named the USS Yellowstone and saw service in Vietnam and was sold off after being decommissioned. She was mostly used to get sailors back and forth between ship and shore and a life boat. She is 26 ft. long and is powered by a 60 hp Cummins Diesel Engine. She is a coast guard inspected vessel for 20 passengers.
In 1996 I purchased the Island Queen from an ad I saw in a boating magazine and went to the Fort Myers area of Florida and had her shipped up I 95 on a truck and had a crane come over from Savannah and sit her in the water. The Island Queen is 45 ft long, inspected for 40 passengers and is wheel chair accessible. Powered by a perkins diesel of 135 hp She was used as a fishing boat for about the first 25 years. We replaced the roof and the engine in 1998.
