All aboard! The Edmonton Riverboat has new owners with big plans

Welcome back, everyone. Well, the Edmonton Queen Riverboat has new owners who local couples have purchased the vessel and hope to continue its legacy here in Edmonton. And we welcome the new owners, Eric Wonke and Rob Davey here this afternoon. Thank you both for coming in. Thanks for having us. This sounds pretty awesome. So just let’s start with your background both Eric, Rob, you’re both Edmonton entrepreneurs. A little bit about what you have been in business and then we’ll talk about how you came to own the Queen. Yeah, absolutely. So my partner and I, we own laser city laser tag. So we have for three locations here in Alberta. So we’re in the business of making memories right now mostly for kids birthday parties and sports teams and stuff like that. But this kind of seemed like a a natural jump for us. So we’re, we’re really excited. And how about yourself? Well, Rob and I met 1st 20 years ago working at local social network called Nexopia, OK. And I stayed in the tech sector and ran a couple different startups, one called Mover and then ended up at Microsoft. But for the last almost a year, I’ve been looking for something to pour my passion into. And because under some Microsoft then bought the company, they did. Yeah, yeah, OK, so we have it and laser and now we have water and boats. So how do you Totally neutral. Exactly right. Makes sense. So how did it all come together? Well, through the startup community in Edmonton, which is an amazing place to be. I have a friend named Matt and he is the GM of the boat. And so when it went up for sale, I immediately messaged him and said tell me more. And we just kept saying tell me more for less than a month because the season was coming quick and we ended up putting a deal together. Wow. OK. So do you have any experience or is this completely brand new from an entrepreneurial business perspective for you both the the, the marine stuff is pretty new to us. You know we’re we’re, we know a lot of things about a lot of stuff, but we’ve been learning a lot over the last few weeks about you know marine and regulations and crewing and everything like that. I’m still struggling with Starboard and the other one, but no, that stuff’s pretty new to us. But like how to run businesses, how to make sure people have a great time that we’re pretty well versed in. And we’ve got a really good team around us that know, you know, everything there is to know about boats and what, which is a lot. And you guys are getting going pretty quick, like you want to be up and running this summer, right? Yeah, our first sailing. We’re hoping to be June 1st. Tickets are on sale now, and yeah, we’re hiring the rest of our marine crew right now, food and beverage staff and whatnot. We’re lucky a lot of people are coming back, but we we still need a few. You know, the the Queen is a beautiful amenity, especially, you know, when you’re on the river, the sun is setting. It’s fantastic. But at the same time, it’s had some troubled waters over the years. Why take it on knowing the history of what this boat has been through? We’re we’re really, really lucky. The previous owner, he put a ton of time, ton of money into it. That boat is in amazing condition. We’ve had it inspected. We’ve talked to a ton of people much smarter about boats than we are. It’s in great shape because of all the work that they’ve done. So we’re ready now to, like, focus on making sure it’s great experience, making sure we get as many people on it as possible to get down into the River Valley and experience it. But yeah, no, the boat is the boat is awesome now. Thank God. Is there a bit of a nostalgia factor for you here? You know, I, I’m assuming both of you are from born and raised in Edmonton or long history here in the. I was born and raised in Edmonton. I’ve been here 20 years, 20 years. OK, so long history. So is there that nostalgia factor as well? There is. I mean I’ve been on date nights there with my wife in previous years and it’s it’s an Edmonton Institution. It’s been here since 1995 and we’re hoping it can be here for the next 30 years, the next generation. You know, any concerns, you know, do you see yourself perhaps changing things up a little bit, you know, to to ensure that you there’s longevity in your ownership in this boat. This year is about learning kind of doing a lot of the things that have been done in the past. We’re doing the same things the Canada Day cruises, amazing view of the fireworks from underneath in the river. We’re doing the dueling pianos, the buffets, the brunch lunches, everything like that in the coming years. Yeah, we’ve got some plans. We’ve got some plans. You know, we’ve got a lot to learn, but we’re excited for the next few years and and get more people on the boat down into the River Valley. So you know, one question I have, you know, we are dealing with concerns about drought and the water situation. What did you look into or what’s your thoughts about that as you did homework into the boat in terms of that and purchasing it and how you deal with that? I think that that’s been a concern every year, but historically every year everyone’s concerned. You go on the boating forums and people are like, oh, there’s low water in the North Saskatchewan every year. This boat still sails about 100 times. So it is a concern for sure. And like, there’s things that aren’t in our control, but we’re we’re optimistic. And I think as entrepreneurs you you have to be, you have to be OK with that uncertainty. You, you know, as part of, again, just being new owners. But do you see yourself perhaps collaborating with the local tourism outfit, all that kind of stuff now that there’s some certainty with ownership? Oh, 100%. Like the riverboat is one of those Edmonton icons. You’ve got the zoo, the Muta Fort, Edmonton and and the riverboat and we want it to be on that list. You know you’ve got the in laws coming into town. You’re looking for a date night. You’re looking for something quintessentially Edmonton to do. Come on down on the boat have a lovely cruise down the river that’s that’s what we want to do. Yeah it’s it’s pretty cool in that sense. Anything you want to add or I think we’re my hopes and dreams are to make it more accessible for more Edmontonians. Like there is the sort of upper scale dinner cruises and the parties. But in back of my mind I have field trips in mind for for for children and like bringing families out on just like a summer afternoon to as as a affordable and easy thing to do. Affordable is a really great to hear One final question here. Does the little boy in you want to put on the hat and then take it for a driver if you want to. We’ve we’ve been we’ve been standing in the wheelhouse pretending already we’re we’re not allowed to be super clear but we’ve been we’ve been pretending absolutely we there is a path for that but it’s like literal schooling and there’s maritime laws and there’s boat answers to Transport Canada at the end of the day. But you don’t want you can still stand at the wheel and make the vroom vroom noises. Right. For sure. Yeah. Well awesome. Well, Eric Rup, thank you so much for coming in and best of luck on future endeavors and much success with helming the Edmonton Queen. Can’t wait to have you on board and come for a cruise yourself. Awesome. Thanks again for your time.