If you build it, they will come — and Southern Star owner Capt. Steve Wilson says he hopes his new Buccaneer Pirate Ship will draw 100,000 visitors to the docks next year. “I have big dreams, but I serve a big God,” Wilson told The Log.
For more photos of the pirate ship in the making, click here. The $1.5 million pirate themed vessel is still under construction in Mobile, Ala. at Master Marine. The Buccaneer, as she’s named, is halfway done and set to sail into Destin in the springtime. “If you can visualize a 17th century Spanish galleon sailing the area’s waters, that’s exactly what’s coming,” Wilson said.
The two-hour interactive cruise will include singing, dancing, sword fights, gun battles, face painting and treasure hunts.
Wilson has been operating dolphin cruises in Destin for more than 17 years. But before settling on the Emerald Coast, he logged more than 300,000 miles traveling the world as a captain of seagoing tugs. “Whenever I went to work, I left my wife and children crying at the airport,” he said. “Having worked in third world countries, I realized that this is the greatest country in the world where you can make your dreams come true.”
So he and his wife, Wendy, began making a list of all the things they wanted to do. Thus, the Southern Star dolphin cruises were born.
“We had to introduce to Destin a whole new market, and after a few years of struggle we began to do well,” Wilson said.
Now there are dolphin cruises at nearly every dock. About three years ago, the Wilsons revisited their list and decided to make another dream come true.
“Pirates don’t go out of style,” Wilson said. “They’re just like dolphins. People don’t get tired of them.” While on a trip to Clearwater, Fla., the couple came across the Captain Memo, a pirate themed vessel. “The only thing we like better than serving tourists is being one,” he said. “We are constantly looking at ways to improve the quality of our trip… and the Capt. Memo did it right.”
Although it’s not an original idea, Wilson says the 102-foot Buccaneer will be “the most amazing pirate ship in North America. There’s no other vessel of this size and magnitude.”
The ship will have a main deck, a galley, a quarterdeck for private parties, and down below will be a special compartment for story telling known as the Treasure Room. She will be able to hold up to 150 passengers. “It’s going to be an incredible addition for family activities… We will take the children and entertain them from the moment they step aboard until it’s time to go home,” said Wilson.
He’s even thinking about adding an adults-only cruise on the weekends for the young at heart with an appetite for mischief.
Currently applications are being accepted for seven positions aboard the ship for people with a theater background and have a heart for serving customers.
For now, Wilson will captain the ship until he finds the right scallywag to take the helm. As for a costume and pirate name, he’s still coming up with ideas.
“There’s all kinds of stuff out there I didn’t even know existed.”
For more information about the Buccaneer Pirate Cruise, call 855-296-0896 or visit them online at destinpirateship.com.
