Ahoy, mateys! Ready for some swashbuckling fun?
Evan Weaver has a buccaneer boat you can charter for a two-hour tour of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers.
The Pittsburgh Pirate Ship’s maiden voyage takes place on April 8, which coincides but is not affiliated with, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home opener against the Chicago Cubs. Weaver says the inaugural excursion is already sold-out, but landlubbers can book a trip online and set sail from the North Shore from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. The cost is $425 per trip for a motley crew of up to six people.
The occupancy number will increase to 10 or 12 once Covid restrictions are fully lifted in Allegheny County. Salty sea dogs must bring their own food and beverages (even a bottle of rum!). Weaver will provide the life jackets.
The 26-foot-long vessel is a 1991 Bayliner Rendezvous that was given a makeover by a Virginia artist, Dan Corder (aka Captain Dan), who transforms castaway boats into ships, complete with ornamental cannons made out of PVC pipe. He even created a craft for Disney World’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
Weaver, a Navy veteran and Ross Township resident, is putting personalized touches on the Pittsburgh Pirate Ship, including a mermaid figurehead and a custom-made Jolly Roger. By Spring 2022, he hopes to launch a second boat that can seat up to 50 people. Weaver says he’s in talks with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization to offer game-day packages, so baseball fans can party on the poop deck before walking the plank to PNC Park.
He got the idea after his wife’s adventure with Cruisin’ Tikis, amphibious, Hawaiian-style huts you can book for a luau on the three rivers.
“She sailed up and down the rivers, listening to music and laughing the whole time,” Weaver says.
Given Pittsburgh’s connection to pirates, he thought a themed ship would be a hit among local scalawags and would also give him a fun activity outside of his sales job.
Here at NEXTpittsburgh, we know how much people love their bucs. This story about a pirate bus was our most-read article of 2020.