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San Francisco Latest City to Offer Hot Tub Boat Rides


Hot Tub Boats Alameda

You can add San Francisco to the list of cities offering hot tub rides through its scenic waters.


This seems to be part of a larger trend as last winter the City of Chicago made headlines by offering holiday hot tub tours down the Chicago River.


In the Windy City, patrons could rent a 'hot tub boat' and cruise through through the downtown core at their leisure. The boats offered amenities like underwater LED lighting, floating cup holders, coolers for storing drinks, and even an optional 'captain for hire' who would escort you about the town while you imbibed with your buds.


Sounds like a pretty good time. Boaters got a kick out of it, too.

San Francisco, meanwhile, could use an uptick in good vibes if the news headlines are to be believed, so they've adopted the Chicago model by offering hot tub rides to parched patrons in the Bay.


The San Fran floating festivities are being kickstarted by Adam Karpenske, the founder of Hot Tub Boats, who has a similar operation in Seattle, WA that’s already underway.


In an interview with ABC7 News, Karpenske said: "I lived on a boat for many years and it was a good way to get through a cold Seattle winter. We wanted to have a hot tub and we decided 'why not build ourselves a hot tub that would float?' We called it a hot tub boat. I was a wood boat builder at the time, so it was a natural progression into what we have here today."


San Francisco, like other waterfront cities in the U.S., has not only a massive tourism industry that caters to visitors wanting to experience the city’s aquatic culture, it also has a boating-centric population full of residents who are just as likely to flock to the water as tourists.


"I look around the country at markets that have a resource like we have here in Seattle with Lake Union," said Karpenske to ABC7. "Where are those places that have a large, open area of water that's relatively calm and easy to navigate at slower speeds? The estuary between Alameda and Oakland is just perfect for what we're trying to do and what we do here in Seattle, and we can emulate that in Alameda."



The Estuary is a great location to test the entrepreneurial spirit, but given the knowledge and skills that are usually necessary to drive a boat, one might worry that a floating hot tub could become a high temp Titanic.


Not so, says Karpenske.

"We don't run a captain/charter kind of business. It's what's called a 'bareboat charter," Karpenske told ABC7 News.


"There's a little joystick over here (points to the side of tub), and the captain who drives the boat, they just point that joystick where they want to go. It's a very user-friendly experience for the lay person who hasn't been driving boats their whole lives."


The boats also don't require a license to operate, as is sometimes the case in U.S cities. "No, you don't (need a license)," says Karpenske. "The boats are short enough and they're not overly powered, so they don't fall into the classification of needing a boat registration card."


So, if you can’t make it to Chicago or Seattle this winter for a boat ride, or if you’d prefer a more temperate climate, Karpenske and Co. are gearing up for a full launch in time for American Thanksgiving.


"October 18th in Alameda is our full 'go live' day and we're doing some soft opening stuff before that," he told ABC7.


"Typically we run two hour rentals. We can do threes and fours, but those are kinda special call-ins so we can make sure we can accommodate those. It starts at $400 for two hours."


If none of those cities float your proverbial boat, you might also be amused to learn that similar operations (although not run by Karpenske) are already in existence in Washington, DC, New York City, and even Victoria, BC in Canada.


However, not all boats are the same, whether they have a hot tub onboard or not. While other companies like Spacruzzi have received good press thanks to clever marketing, Karpenske is a legitimate mariner with knowledge of boat design and craftsmanship.

"The first boat (we built) looked just like this boat here," he told ABC7. "The first boat was a wood boat, and that's what we used to make our moulds to build the fiberglass boats that we do now. We're here in Seattle, we're in Westlake, just about a mile away in Ballard is where we build boats ourselves."


Putting all your concerns about novelty to rest, Karpenske is confident that if it's a hot tub experience you desire, then it's a hot tub experience you shall receive.


"The federal government regulates the maximum temperature for a hot tub at about 104 degrees (Fahrenheit)," he told ABC7. "And that's where we typically run out boats at, around 104. Sometimes here in the summer, in Seattle, when it's a hot day we tailor it down to 100 degrees, 101. But we have a super slick heating system on here that's really accurate, with a thermostat, so we can keep that temperature with six people in the middle of the winter, holding right at 104."


Happy travels in San Fran, hot rubbers. Just keep an eye out for pirates on the Bay.


You can see Karpenske's interview with ABC7, and his impressive boat design, in the video below:


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