SPECIAL TOURS & PRIVATE CHARTERS

GRACE* is available for tours and (private) charter throughout the year for any special occasion. For reservations or additional information, call 843.706.2757.

• GRACE will be substituted with our Hinckley picnic boat if less than six people sign up for regularly scheduled cruise.

May River Scenic Cruise
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 2:30pm - 4:00pm*

May River Evening Wine Cruise
Thursday & Saturday 5:00pm - 7:00pm*

*Daylight Savings Time schedule. Beginning November 7, 2010 Scenic Cruise will be 1:30pm - 3:00pm and Wine Cruise will be 4:00pm - Dusk.

The History of Grace

GRACE, named in honor of R. T. Wilson's sister, wife of Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt, III, celebrated her 92nd birthday at Palmetto Bluff in March 2005. She was built in 1913 by the New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company of Morris Heights, New York. Her original owner, Mr. Joseph B. Cousins, Esquire of the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, commissioned the vessel for his family's use on Long Island Sound, the East and Hudson Rivers. She has the unique distinction of being one of the last remaining examples of the early gas-powered yachts built prior to World War I.

She has had a long history of colorful owners. Among them was James Adams, owner of the James Adams Floating Theater. The theater was towed to many coastal towns of the South bringing entertainment and culture to isolated areas. GRACE, (then named Sispud II,) would follow the theater to all its destinations, many times with distinguished guests. Novelist Edna Ferber wrote Showboat, which later became a smash Broadway play, from her experiences aboard and traveling with Mr. Adams.

The vessel was abandoned in Thunderbolt, GA in 1941. She was later resurrected and maintained until the late 1970's when she was abandoned out of the water in a backwoods boatyard. In 1990, a partnership of antique yacht aficionados moved her to Fairhaven, MA where a rebuilding project was begun. In the fall of 2004, Palmetto Bluff began further restoration which continues today.