Spring is here. Daffodils and hyacinths are blooming. The days are getting longer. And in cities across the globe, awkward-looking vehicles painted in bright colors and filled with gawking sight-seers are again rolling down streets and splashing into rivers and lakes.
GLEN JUSTICEA Duck Boat plunges into Boston's Charles River. These vintage military vehicles – picture a squat, six-wheeled truck with a wide boat hull around the middle, kind of like a sheet metal hippo in a stiff tutu – are called Duck Boats. Their colorful history as cargo and troop carriers in virtually every major World War II combat operation in Europe and the Pacific, along with their versatility and funny looks, are making them the hottest rides in town.
In cities all over the world, Duck Boats have become an unlikely attraction. Painted in ridiculous bright colors that belie their history, they whiz visitors through the streets and the sights before splashing into local rivers for an on-the-water tour. Perhaps it is because the boats are unusual. Perhaps it is because the tours are a quick and economical way to get on the water. But the boats are wildly popular.
The rides are often corny. Some tour companies hand out yellow plastic quackers and ask riders to blow whenever they see another Duck Boat. Other companies have wise-cracking drivers dress up or don outrageous personas, such as Rosy the Riveter or Tony Bagofdoughnuts, to entertain riders. Drivers narrate local history; once on the water, they let even the littlest tykes take the wheel. From Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Seattle and Hot Springs, Ark., from Tampa to Washington D.C. to Philadephia and Boston – plus London, Dublin, Singapore, Rotorua, New Zealand and at least 50 other spots, the popularity of these 65-year old boats is undeniable.
"It's almost becoming a cult," says Larry Warren, manager of DC Ducks, an operation of six bright yellow vintage hybrids (the military called them "swimmers and runners"). "It's a lot of fun. We've got 28 people for 90 minutes. We joke around, give them a tour of Washington and then go right from the land into the Potomac. People love it.
"We have locals who ride the Duck three, four times a season," Warren says. "It can be 105 degrees out there and they're waiting patiently to get on that Duck. Or it's raining and drizzling and you'd never know it. They have a blast. It's so unique."
BOSTON BOATS
Boston Duck Tours was among the first tour companies to operate in an urban environment, starting out with four Ducks in 1994. Now, from April through November, the Boston company carries more than 500,000 tourists on 24 vintage Ducks every year through the streets of historic Boston before splashing into the Charles River. The Ducks are also brought out for victory parades whenever the Patriots or Red Sox win a major title to ferry players through the streets and on the river.
"The vehicle itself is just a magnetic attraction to people," says Manny Rogers, co-founder and owner of Boston Duck Tours, one of the biggest operations of vintage Duck Boats in the country. "They're so unusual. You can't ignore the fact that they're there. The natural reaction of people is to smile and wave at you. Or we'll be stopped in traffic and someone will say, 'I rode ashore in one of those in World War Two.' or Korea. Or someone will say, 'Hey, I came off a stretcher on one of those when I got wounded.'"
