Storied Lake Murray rental yacht to set sail again, with upgrades and new owners
You can’t keep the Spirit of Lake Murray down.
The 80-foot yacht that once sailed the waters of the Midlands’ biggest body of water became a recognizable sight to many people as it regularly ferried paying passengers on pleasure cruises across the lake for more than a decade, until it finally went out of service in 2019.
But when a new group of owners purchased the boat with plans to relaunch it, the Spirit sailed again — or was at least tugged from its retirement dock in Leesville to a new home near Ballentine to be refurbished. The fans that the yacht rental had built up over the years noticed.
“Social media filled up with pictures and people saying ‘why is the boat moving?’” said Rick Crout, one of four partners who plan to relaunch the Spirit of Lake Murray for a new series of cruises this month. “There are so many people who say, ‘I got married on that boat,’ ‘I had my anniversary on that boat.’”
Along with partners Norm Agnew, Steve Price and Tyler Ryan, Crout is working to upgrade the Spirit to make it a more modern and enticing option for parties that want to enjoy the lake from a luxurious vantage point — without having to purchase a yacht themselves.
For now, the nearly 30-year-old Spirit is in dry dock in a cove near Ballentine, where she’s receiving a top-to-bottom overhaul. A new paint job is being applied while old saltwater damage from the boat’s time in Florida is remedied.
“Once that’s done, it can float on freshwater for years without getting that kind of damage,” Ryan said.
Inside, the partners are adding a new bar and kitchen space, re-configuring the main gathering space to accentuate the forward view off the bow (the windows of which were previously behind the bar). Elsewhere, the deck will now be open air right off of a VIP area. Even the onboard bathrooms are getting an upgrade to make them more handicapped accessible.
Once completed, the ship will be able to hold around 100 people, Ryan said. The new Spirit of Lake Murray should hit the water in July, as soon as it receives its certificate of inspection from the Coast Guard.
The Spirit of Lake Murray plied these waters from 2001 to 2019 when it was owned by Ken Colton. It was hauled up the interstate from Charleston in pieces, coming from its former life when it was operated by a hotel in Jacksonville. The yacht became a favorite way for day-trippers to view the lake in style or host events on the waves.
Ryan said the group will host ticketed cruises around the lake while also renting the Spirit out for private events.
“If you want to go out at 7:45 a.m. on a Sunday for a bar mitzvah, we’ll crank it up,” Price said.
One benefit to the business the partners see is that the Spirit will now depart from a small cove near Ballentine, just minutes from Interstate 26, than from its previous marina near Leesville, on the opposite side of the lake from Columbia.
“To get to Leesville from Columbia, you would have to drive an hour,” Ryan said. “This is really the closest location to where most people will be coming from.”
Agnew said the proximity to the interstate will also give the business a boost. “With Interstate 26 right there, you’ll have more people coming locally and potentially from outside the area,” he said.
Price will be the general manager operating the “house” side of the business, overseeing the small service staff on board. Crout will be the “master captain” and Ryan the first officer, while Agnew will bring his experience working on his family’s rental cruise, the Southern Patriot, which overlapped with the Spirit’s time on the lake.
“I know there’s enough call for a boat out here,” said Agnew, noting Lake Murray has been without those kind of rental options since the Spirit left the water four years ago. “So when Rick said he wanted to buy (the Spirit), I knew there was a market for it.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
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