Nottingham boater bringing tiki taste of tropics to three rivers
Photo courtesy of Cruisin’ Tikis
Cruisin’ Tikis’ boats first hit the water in Florida more than two years ago.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Joa Campise, left, and Dale McCue, owners of Cruisin’ Tikis, hold a banner for their business at their home in Eighty Four.
Dale McCue followed a cue, and now cruising around Pittsburgh’s three rivers is about to go tropical.
“I’ve been an avid boater for a long time,” said McCue, a Nottingham Township resident. “About a year and a half ago, I was on a social media site and saw a video of a tiki boat. I told my fiancée, ‘This is absolutely perfect for Pittsburgh.'”
He was glimpsing a craft from Cruisin’ Tikis, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based operation featuring small boats transporting small groups seated around a wet bar. It was a party on water.
“I procrastinated for a year,” McCue admitted. Then he went in with both feet. McCue visited the owner, Greg Darby, and his wife, Karen, in Fort Lauderdale, saw the boats in action, operated one and said he was “hooked” on the idea.
“I figured if we didn’t do it, somebody else would.”
May 20 – three weeks from today – McCue and two partners plan to launch Cruisin’ Tikis Pittsburgh, a local franchise of Greg Darby’s brainchild. McCue, his fiancée, Joa Campise, and Jason Ruhle – all recreational boaters – will board as many as six passengers along the North Shore, near PNC Park, for trips and tours along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers near downtown.
They are taking reservations for their fleet of three boats, which are expected to arrive from Florida in the next week or two. The craft are octagonal, 16 feet in diameter, with a bamboo wet bar in the middle that’s surrounded by bamboo stools. A manufactured thatched roof is overhead.
“We will operate in the rain – as long as there’s no thunder or lightning,” McCue said.
Each tiki boat will be powered by a 30-horsepower engine and travel no more than 6 to 8 mph, McCue said. Cruisin’ Tikis will not serve alcohol, but guests may bring various beverages and food on board. Each boat will have chilled bottled water available.
“We don’t want to promote this ‘booze cruise’ sort of thing,” McCue said. “We’re family-friendly.
“We have partnered with restaurants on the North Shore, where guests can go before or after (a trip) or get takeout and bring it on board. They can get discounts on food.”
Passengers, depending on their intentions, will have two cruise options. The two-hour sightseeing charter around the Point will provide a plethora of local photo ops. A four-hour charter will be better suited for events such as birthday, bachelor and bachelorette parties and corporate get-togethers. Two boats can be tethered to accommodate larger crowds for the lengthier cruise.
A two-hour charter costs $400, while the longer cruise is $700.
Cruise hours may very well change, McCue said, but initially they will be 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily.
McCue leaves no doubt as to a top priority of Cruisin’ Tikis Pittsburgh. “We want to promote fun. We’re not heading for a destination, because we ARE the destination.”
The relaxed tropical theme will allow for each boat captain to wear a Hawaiian-style shirt and guests to listen to the music style of their choice. Eat, drink, groove, cruise and be merry.
Safety also will be paramount. Each local cruise captain will be U.S. Coast Guard-certified, and cruise guests ages 12 and younger will have to wear a life jacket. Older passengers, however, will have the option to not use a flotation device.
The Cruisin’ Tikis enterprise appears to be cruising along. Pittsburgh will be among more than a dozen locations, which include Key West, the Bahamas and the renowned tropical outpost of Buffalo, N.Y. Darby, a former engineer, is pleasantly mystified by what he designed.
“I launched this as an accident,” he said, chortling over the phone as he reflected back a little more than two years. “My wife said, ‘Why not build a tiki hut in the backyard?’ I designed a floating tiki hut because I didn’t want to give up my backyard.”
He planned to tether the boat to shore, but opted to attach an outboard motor and try it on New River.
“The rest is history,” said Darby, who now works in information technology. “The video went viral on Facebook, and the next thing I know I’m getting calls from all over the world, including Dubai, from people who want to market the boats.”
Darby, instead, is doing the marketing. And the market appears to be responding in a healthy manner. Cruisin’ Tikis Pittsburgh is on the horizon, and Dale McCue envisions smooth sailing in a motorized watercraft.
“We’re hoping for good weather now and to have a nice, dry summer,” he said. “It’s time to start thinking about tiki boats in the water.”