Life’s a journey, enjoy the voyage! Come home to Classic Boat Rides, we are your family on the Sea.
Captain Dan has enjoyed boating since he was 4 years old and got his first ride on the family’s plywood speedboat on the Raritan Bay.
Lazy summer weekends at Lake Hopatcong with Aunt Myrtle and Uncle Chester fueled his passion for boating even more. His paper route money netted him his very first boat at the age of 10 or so, an 8ft wooden pram with a 5 hp Buccaneer outboard.
Ever since his first boat ride Capt. Dannie Schade has had a love of boats. It's been said by many that he suffers from MBD, Multiple Boat Disorder. It's a good thing, cause he loves boats. He even lived on one for 5 years. During that time he would say "I had a lot of friends in the summer but not many in the winter". The boat was called Summer Wind and it was a 1963 Wooden 37 foot Egg Harbor Convertible. When he sold the boat she made it to the Bahamas on her own bottom. It was right around that time, 2004, when he met his future wife and First Mate Vicky.
CLASSIC CREWSER: (the first boat-2004)
In 2004 Capt. Dan started Classic Boat Rides with a 1958 18ft Chris Craft he restored. He found the boat on a trailer under the old route 35 bridge on the Shark River in Neptune. When the bridge would open he would take the slip road under the bridge and look at boats. The Chris Craft received the spa treatment. New 283 V-8 Engine. All paint and varnish was stripped to bare wood and refinished.
Soon he was in business. First offering fall trip on the river hot apple cider from the Navesink Marina. (where he once lived on his boat). Chuck the owner of the marina was very good to Capt. Dan. Offering the first season free to get things going. Soon Capt. Dan discovered he needed to find a more touristy spot so he could benefit from foot traffic. He moved the Chris Craft (Classic Crewser) to Bahrs Landing in Highlands. Located right under the Route 36 Draw Bridge. When the bridge would open folks would head down the slip road and "look at the boats". By that time first mate Vicky was helping grow the business. She would happily sit under an umbrella by the boat selling 20 minute Classic Boat Rides to passers by. The price for a boat ride at the time was $15. The growth of the business was slow and steady. But soon they discovered that if they needed a bigger boat. It's difficult to make a profit with a 6 passenger tour boat in the Atlantic Highlands area.
LADY JILL:(the 2nd boat of sorts - restored over a 15 year period)
She was a 24ft Hubert Johnson Black Jack that we eventually put in to service for the summer of 2022 at the Molly Pitcher in Red Bank. More on her and the Watts Up later.
MUM RUNNER: (the 2nd boat-2008)
In search of a bigger boat Dan called John Olsen at Olsen Boat Works in Keyport. John was a very nice and well respected boat builder. John had a boat in the yard that as for sale by the owner. A 28 foot Olsen Skiff named Pick Pocket. Dan purchased the boat and began to redo all of the paint and varnish as he had done with the Chris Craft. He also thought "it would be great if we could carry more than 6 passengers and get this boat Coast Guard inspected". He started the long and arduous task of going thru CG approvals. With professional help from Rik van Hemmen at the staff and the marine consulting firm Martin Ottaway soon the Olsen boat would be "Coast Guarded". She was inspected to carry 12 passengers. She was soon renamed MUM RUNNER. An ode to the old Rum Runners of prohibition era and to first Mate Vicky's MUM. Vicky is from England where Moms are Mums. The MUM RUNNER had a good run for about 5 years and served Classic Boat Rides very well. But as those with MBD might now "we need a bigger boat".
MARINER: (the 3rd boat-2012)
In search of another "bigger boat" we found the 54 foot Chesapeake Bay Deadrise boat in Fortescue NJ. Powered by twin 471
Detroit Diesel engines and equipped with a generator. She had good bones but needed lots of work. Capt. Dan and first mate Vicky brought her home December of 2012 (just after super storm Sandy). Many of the local marinas in the Atlantic Highlands area were wrecked from the storm. But Jay Cosgrove, the owner of Bahrs Landing, gave us place to keep our new boat till we could find a winter slip. She eventually found a winter home at Leonardo State Marina, the town where Dan and Vicky lived. With the help of their neighbor and carpenter Glenn Collins. Dan and Glenn worked on the boat all winter. We had to "replace in kind" / rebuild the wheel house and overhead. We gave the MARINER (a former fishing boat) the Classic Boat Rides touch. Her decks were stripped to natural wood again. She got new seats and tables. and lots of paint and some new mahogany trim plus a new sound system and a full service bar. We then sold our beloved MUM RUNNER and concentrated on the Mariner which we moved to the Atlantic Highlands municipal marina. We had a good run with MUM at Bahrs Landing and they were very good to us a supportive of the business. But due to parking constraints we were unable to offer rides longer than half an hour. The Mariner could carry 40 passengers and that's a lot of parking spaces so it was decided it was best if we move. We could then focus on longer types of charters as opposed to just a boat ride and we began offering 2 and 3 hour trips for folks to celebrate birthdays etc. We also offered a "3 hour" narrated Mansion tour of the homes and rich and not always famous. Capt. Dan recalls "The Mariner served us very well until we sold her in the fall of 2023. She is now in Newport Rhode Island part the Pineapple Charters fleet. We went up to visit her this summer and she is making good trade running with all the pretty yachts in Newport"
NAVESINK QUEEN: (the 4th boat- 2019)
One cold and wintery day in early February 2019 Capt. Dan and 1st Mate Vicky were scrolling thru the commercial boat magazine called Boats and Harbors (affectionally called the yellow sheets). Dan said to Vicky "check out this paddlewheel boat up for auction of the front cover, you think we should put a bid in" Capt. Dan said with a wink and a nod. 1st mate Vicky, being the supportive wife and business partner (now also suffering from MBD, said "yes Dannie let's put a bid in". So they put a bid in online with the auction company to buy the boat. The next day Capt. Dan checked the status of the bidding and it seemed we were outbid. So we shrugged our shoulders assuming it was not meant to be. 6 weeks later Capt. Dan got a call from the auction company "YOU WON THE BID, CONGRADULATIONS!". Hmmmmmmm? Captain Dan said to himself "what about that bid that was much higher than our offer?" "Capt. Dan", replied the auction company, "that was not a higher offer that was YOUR bidder number!" Well that was a surprising conversation for Dan and Vicky. Not batting an eye Capt. Dan said to the auction company "how long do I have to pick up the boat"? Two weeks came the reply. "Honey we just WON a paddlewheel boat"! shouted Dan across the room to Vicky. "Great!" replied Vicky with a hint of reservation. Dan then called the owners of the boat, Hampton Roads Transit in Norfolk Virginia, and asked "I just won your boat the Elizabeth River Ferry III in the online auction, is the boat running?" "Yes it is, we were using it yesterday" replied the voice on the other end. "okay, Ill be down two weeks to take her home". So over the next two weeks the plan came together to bring the boat home to New Jersey from Norfolk Virginia. The loaded up the Ford Expedition with a crew of 3 plus a driver and headed south. The back of the truck was packed with a generator, inflatable life raft, Coleman stove, Keurig coffee maker. Special thanks to Jack Bevin's from the Sea Streak ferry company for all his help with loaned safety gear. Crew member Dan Smith drove them down, along with Ken Davis engineer and Capt. Jim Rivelli. When we arrived at the boat we were greeted by crew members Mr. Dion and Dave. While showing the boat to Capt. Dan he said "I look at winning this boat as a blessing". And according to all accounts by Dan and Vicky it has been. Everybody loves a paddlewheel boat. Mr. Dion and Dave took the crew for a short "show you how the boat works" ride and within two hours they were headed North. Up the Chesapeake Bay to the C and D canal in 30 hours. When we tied up at the Chesapeake City docks on the night of February 12th it was snowing at 23 degrees. After a fuel up and a courtesy ride (from the Marina owners) to Wall Mart for supplies the crew was "off to never never land". At first light the next day the crew was north bound to Jersey and the YANK MARINE Dorchester Ship yard. Upon arrival they were greeted with a smile from their ride home, 1st Mate Vicky. She said to Capt. Jim "Did we win?" and he said "yes you did". "And we have been winning ever since." says Capt. Dan.
While the Navesink Queen was at the YANK yard she had new to her holding tanks installed to compliment her new bathrooms (to be built). She also had her Coast Guard dry dock inspection as well as bottom and sides painted. Crew member Dan Smith would take the 2 and half hour drive to Dorchester a few days a week to help Capt. Dan get the boat ready to bring home. Good things very seldom happen fast, so on Memorial Day weekend of 2019 they were finally ready to bring the new boat home to Atlantic Highlands NJ. Two days later we pulled in to a fanfare of friends waiting for them on the fuel dock. It was time to pour the wine and break out the pizza. A few months later after a build out off the new bathrooms and new to zone inspection and Stability Test with the Coast Guard the Navesink Queen was finally ready to carry passengers in August of the summer of 2019. We got a few good trips in before the season ended that year. The next summer came COVID and things were very slow in the charter business as it was for almost all businesses. After COVID things got much better local folks embraced the paddlewheel boat Navesink Queen. She is a rolling billboard of sorts. People at area water front restaurants and homes sea her cruise by and say "I want to have my party on that boat!"
LADY JILL AND WATTS UP: (2021-2023-the 5th or 6th boats, depending on your math)
LADY JILL: During the summer of 2021 we had the 24 toot LADY JILL in service as a 6 passenger charter boat at the Molly Pitcher INN in Red Bank. She was the boat we had been restoring for over the past 15 years. Capt. Dan named her LADY JILL after his mom, Jill. Jill was a twin to her brother Jack. Jack and Jill were born to their mother Jenny much later in life. So as to add some humor to adding two more mouths to feed in addition to the 7 on hand, Jenny named the twins Jack and Jill at her age of 42. That was late in life to have babies at the time of their births in 1942. Lady Jill was found via a classified add in the Asbury Park press before there was Craigslist or FB Marketplace. When Capt. Dan found the boat in Brick NJ she had no decks, engine, seats etc. He had to replace a plank and some ribs. Over the years he and neighbor Glenn Collins installed teak decks and finished most of the restoration in the driveway at our home in Leonardo. We took the boat to Olsen Boat Works in Keyport to have a used engine installed that they got from a guy on Long Island. Since Lady Jill was a wooden boat it took her a long time to swell up or seal. She got very wet one day at the dock (we never use the word sunk) and we had her hauled out and taken to Wagner's Boat Yard in Leonardo. John and cousin Frankie at the boatyard did their magic and rebuilt the engine as well as took care of all the other stuff you need to do when a boat gets very wet. She was ready to go again, and so she did. We sold her to a man in Maryland and he has her on a floating dock behind his house. They say the best days of a boat owners life is when he or she buys the boat and when he or she sells the boat. Capt. Dan would say he was not very happy on the day he watched Lady Jill roll out of the driveway on her to her new home.
As mentioned earlier in the story it was not easy to make a profit with a 6 passenger boat but Dan and Vicky wanted to give it a go again. We hoped the hotel location would increase bookings but that never really happened.
WATTS UP: The 22 foot electric boat made by Duffy Electric boats of California. She was 22 foot with a full canopy cover with side curtains and a very nice u shaped seating and table set up. WATTS UP was in service for the summer of 2023 also at the Molly Pitcher in Red Bank.
We found WATTS UP via a Duffy Electric Boat vendor at the NYC Boat Show. As 1st mate Vicky would later recall "you should never go boat shopping after a glass of wine". After the boat show we found a well priced slightly used almost new 2022 for sale in Boston by the Boston Electric Boat Company. We had WATTS UP shipped down to NJ via local boat mover Filipe. WATTS UP was a fun little boat but she suffered lack of power to deal with the boat wakes on the Navesink River.
Both boats paid their own way but never really took off. Dan and Vicky hope to try again soon with a bit larger 6 passenger boat that would also offer occasional overnight accommodations for the couple with Multiple Boat Disorder / MBD.
MARINER (the 5th or 8th boat depending on how you are counting -2023)
After selling their beloved 54 foot wooden MARINER, Dan and Vicky had sellers remorse. We both agreed that we needed to find another boat to replace the MARINER. We hoped to find a fiberglass boat that would not be as much work as a wooden one. We found a 65 foot fiberglass boat for sale by the University of Connecticut. She was called Enviro Lab III. She was a research boat for the school. With 2 floating classrooms, a big open stern to drag fish nets up plus an overhead crane and two large live wells. She was not much to look at but she was she was basically a working girl fishing boat. The school took very good care of her mechanics but not much attention was paid to her cosmetics. Powered with reliable 671 Detroit Diesel engines (same as the Navesink Queen) plus a generator and top deck space, we knew we had found the NEW MARINER. As oppose to calling her Mariner II they decided to just call her Mariner. This way one folks saw her cruising by they might just say "wow the Mariner looks bigger". Either way it just seemed to make since to name the new boat Mariner. After all she was purchased to fill the void of the old Mariner.
Once we got the boat home from Groton Connecticut (a 14 hour steam 1600-0500), We got busy with the restoration. Oh before we forget the same Capt. Jim that helped bring the Navesink Queen home also helped bring the Mariner home. Since the boat was in very good condition mechanically all the had to focus on was the cosmetics. All of the paint and varnish inside and out were refinished. The rubber matts on the decks were removed as were the fish boxes or live wells. New wider and passenger friendly stairs were built and installed on the bow deck to access the top deck. A new man over board recovery platform was also installed (much like the one on the Navesink Queen - Safety first) We also built a bar and moved some of the tables from the main deck (where the bar now is) to the top deck. The tables fit perfectly up top. After all those modifications they had to do a new Stability Test with the Coast Guard and get a new to zone inspection. We were in service with the new Mariner early of the summer of 2024. She is Coast Guard inspected to carry up to 60 passengers.
Currently Capt. Dan and First Mate Vicky operate both they Navesink Queen and the Mariner out of Atlantic Highlands Municipal Mariner. We hope you will join them soon to celebrate a special occasion or to enjoy one of their public trips. Capt. Dan and 1st Mate Vicky want to remind you that "it's cheaper to charter" and there's no need for you to have MBD also.
Classic Boat Rides LLC. Specializing in celebration charter for family and business since 2004.