''The Volunteer'' is a 76-foot

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

of a 19th-century canal boat which is owned and operated by the Canal Corridor Association. ''The Volunteer'' operates on a restored section of the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Po ...

LaSalle, Illinois LaSalle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over , the city's boundaries have grown to ...

, US.

Construction

The boat was built in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, by Scarano Boat Builders at a cost of $993,840. ''The Volunteer'' was designed to resemble an original canal boat; however, the hull of ''The Volunteer'' is constructed out of

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

and the upper portion is built of rot resistant

white cedar White cedar may refer to several different trees: * Bignoniaceae ** ''Tabebuia heterophylla'' - native to Caribbean islands and also cultivated as an ornamental tree * Cupressaceae: ** ''Chamaecyparis thyoides'' – Atlantic white cypress ** ''Cup ...

. The use of these non-traditional materials was intended to help make the boat easy to maintain and increase the vessel's life.

The boat ride

''The Volunteer'' takes up to 70 passengers on hour-long round trip journeys on a restored segment of the 96 mile

. While headed east from its dock at Lock 14, ''The Volunteer'' is pulled by one of two

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

s named "Moe" and "Larry" that walk along the adjacent

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...

. The captain steers the boat by hand with the large wooden

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

at the back of the boat. Along the way an interpreter, dressed in period clothing, explains to passengers the history of the canal and what travel was like in the year 1848.Alt URL
/ref> Once the boat reaches the Little Vermilion River aqueduct, the mules are detached and the boat reverses using its twin 4-horsepower electric motors. Lasallecanalboatwellerwaskowiak

External links

LaSalle Canal Boat Website
offering information on tours, ticket sales, restrooms, gift shop and the Lock 16 Cafe that serves breakfast and lunch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:The Volunteer (canal boat) Replica ships Tourist attractions in LaSalle County, Illinois 2008 ships Canals in Illinois