It is not often a bright yellow, twin diesel-powered tour boat valued at $1 million is docked at Lock 31 in Wetumpka.
However, this same scene has taken place more than once at this location, according to the boat’s owner Andy Redmond.
Redmond owns and runs Sea Screamer, the boat’s namesake and a boat tour agency based in Panama City Beach, Florida.
He said this is the third boat he has purchased from Wetumpka-based boat builder Sentinel Boat Company.
“The guys at Sentinel are really top notch,” Redmond said. “It takes about a year to build the boat. By far, this is best boat they have built for us.”
The 2020 model Redmond and his crew picked up will replace a 1993 model he purchased from Sentinel.
“It is getting pretty old,” he said. “It’s coming up on almost 30 years old. We also have a 2005 boat they built that it is still running.”
Redmond said the boat’s maiden voyage will consist of running south down the Alabama River then east in the Gulf of Mexico to Panama City Beach.
“It will take about three days,” he said. “It is 355 miles from here to Mobile and 160 miles from Mobile to Panama City.”
He said it is possible to shorten the travel time but they do not travel at night to avoid logs and other obstacles commonly found floating in the river.
The 150-passenger tour boat is powered by two Volvo Penta D13 inboard diesel motors, each rated at 700 horsepower, and holds 700 gallons of fuel.
“It’s kind of fun to go to the fuel dock,” he said. “It’s $2,500 every time we fill it up. In the summertime, running four trips a day we can get around 18 to 20 two-hour cruises out of a tank. That lasts us about three days. About every three days we go back in and hand them another $2,500.”
Redmond said Sea Screamer is a dolphin tour and sight seeing company that has been in business for 28 years.
The Panama City native said making a living from the Gulf of Mexico has been in the family for generations.
“I grew up in a family of fishermen and boaters,” he said. “I’ve had my captain’s license for a little over 50 years now. I’m still capable of running the boat and I do run it occasionally, but I let the young guys do most the running now.”
He said the coronavirus pandemic will adjust the way the business operates this summer, assuming state mandates concerning crowd sizes are lifted.
“Everybody is extremely concerned about the virus,” he said. “We are too. We typically run this boat with 80 to 100 people every trip. This summer we are going to cut that number down so we have social distancing for our guests.”
He hopes to have the new boat in the water and serving guests come prime tourist season.
“We have the 100 days of summer at the beach,” he said. “It runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. That’s the time of the year you’re capable of making most of your living for the year at the beach.”
