The Volunteer moored on the Illinois and Michigan Canal at LaSalle, Illinois |
|
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Volunteer |
| Owner: | Canal Corridor Association[1] |
| Port of registry: | LaSalle, Illinois, United States |
| Builder: | Scarano Boat Builders, Albany, New York |
| Cost: | $993,840 |
| Yard number: | CCA4108 |
| Completed: | 2008 |
| Identification: | VIN: 1212447 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Passenger |
| Tonnage: | 57 GRT |
| Length: | 76.3 ft (23.3 m) |
| Beam: | 15.5 ft (4.7 m) |
| Draft: | 5.8 ft (1.8 m) |
| Notes: | Reference [2] |
The Volunteer is a 76-foot replica of a 19th Century canal boat which is owned and operated by the Canal Corridor Association. The Volunteer operates on a restored section of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at LaSalle, Illinois.[3][4]
Contents |
The boat was built in Albany, New York by Scarano Boat Builders at a cost of $993,840.[5][6] The Volunteer was designed to resemble an original canal boat; however, the hull of The Volunteer is constructed out of aluminum and the upper portion is built of rot resistant white cedar. The use of these non-traditional materials was intended to help make the boat easy to maintain and increase the vessel's life. [7]
The Volunteer takes up to 75 passengers on hour-long round trip journeys on a small segment of the 96 mile Illinois and Michigan Canal. While headed east from its dock at Lock 14, The Volunteer is pulled by two mules named "Moe" and "Larry", and a goat named "Curly" that walk along the adjacent towpath. The names are supposed to represent the names from the popular TV show, The Three Stooges. The captain steers the boat by hand with the large wooden rudder at the back of the boat. Along the way an interpreter, dressed in period clothing, explains to passengers the history of the canal and what travel was like in the year 1848. [8][9] Once the boat reaches the Little Vermilion River aqueduct, the mules are detached and the boat backs up using its twin 4hp electric motors.