Excalibur’s long awaited Island Hopper ’30 finally arrived
at Anchor Marine on June 21, 2007. This highly specialized, fully wheelchair
accessible ADA compliant, commercially produced, U.S. Coast Guard licensed
and inspected passenger carrying vessel in the 30’ category, is a Maritime
sight to behold!
Before the new Richard A Smith is pressed into service, we
will be readying the boat with detailing, minor electrical and mechanical
modifications, boating and fishing equipment installation, sea trails and
vessel stability tests, USCG inspection and licensing in our Western New
York home port, and last, but not least, Agency Scheduling and Programming.
In the meantime, anyone who would like to take a sneak
preview of “ the best that’s yet to come”, may stop down to Anchor Marine,
1501 Ferry Road, Grand Island, New York 14072. For a detailed inspection,
contact us.
For photos of the construction of the Richard A Smith,
click HERE.
Excalibur's past program vessel, A Luhrs Main ship
Alura 30, had been
in service sixteen years, starting in 1989. Life expectancy for a vessel of this
type is 20 years under normal recreational use. The converted Excalibur
Program Vessel's usage since 1989 has been commercial:
4,763 trips (Average of 318 trips per season)
Over 9,526 hours (Average of 2 hours per trip)
Logged 34,275 nautical miles (Average of 2,285 miles
per season)
Operated by a score of different Captains since 1989
Provided dedicated service to the "special needs" of 41,725
Western New York Residents and its eight Counties (Average of 2,782 clients per season).
In 1999, through a $25,000 Grant from the NYSOMRDD Family Support Service,
the vessel had a total reconstruction, including its hull, drive line and
running gear as well as seating and a new top. Under normal, private
recreational usage one could expect 5 years of additional life; but due to the
commercial service Excalibur subjects the boat to, we could only expect 2 to 3
years of service... by 2004, it had reached its 5th and final year of
extended service.
The key features of the vessel, the two wheelchair lifts, are now obsolete.
Parts are no longer available. Additionally, the marine environment has taken
its toll after years of service, making them unreliable at best.
