Council Panel Says ‘FullSteam Ahead’ for Bahia Belle II

It was hotelier William D. Evans’ dream, and when he died suddenly in April, his widow became determined to make it come true.

The dream was the Bahia Belle II, a substantially larger version of the 200-passenger stern-wheeler Evans built 10 years ago and moored at his Bahia Hotel to carry hotel guests, tourists--and quite a few San Diegans--on romantic cruises on Mission Bay.

Winter and summer, the original Bahia Belle still plies the bay. And it is still successful, Evans’ widow, Anne Ledford Evans, told the San Diego City Council’s Public Services and Safety Committee on Wednesday.

It exposes “a very wide section of the public” to the bay, she noted. “And for $4.50, you have a full afternoon (of cruising)--and you don’t have to scrape the bottom of the boat.” But Bill Evans envisioned a second riverboat--a 400-passenger ship that also could be Mission Bay’s first new attraction in years, Mrs. Evans told committee members.

And, by a 4-0 vote, they agreed.

“I do believe it does provide and will provide a much-needed and appreciated amendment to Mission Bay,” Councilman Ed Struiksma said as he recommended that the proposed Bahia Belle II receive a city operating permit.

The full council still must approve the permit, probably in two weeks. The proposal must also pass the scrutiny of the California Coastal Commission.

Then the new boat must be built as well as funded for more than $1 million if it is to be ready for operation when Evans hopes--on Memorial Day, 1986.

“I think it’s going to happen. . . . Be still my heart. I think it’s going to happen,” Evans said excitedly after the hearing.

Evans created the original Bahia Belle in 1975 out of an old Navy craft that he had converted into a riverboat, Evans said.

That boat became popular with tourists and locals alike. Weddings, engagement parties and business conferences took place on it. The vessel proved to be a distinctive feature of both of Evans’ hotels, the Bahia on the southwest side of Mission Bay where the Belle is moored and the Catamaran, on the northwest side of the bay where the Belle generally makes a stop.

But the family only fully realized the popularity of their ship in January, 1981, when, with only the crew aboard, it ran aground on the rocks off Point Loma while returning from a stint in a shipyard. The boat was nearly demolished.

“People were writing poetry about the tragic loss of this thing they loved so much,” Evans noted. San Diego magazine printed a poem to the boat with a black border around it, and “people seemed to feel this big loss.”

The severely damaged Bahia Belle was rebuilt for more than $400,000. But after its grounding, William Evans began thinking of building a second riverboat.

When he died of a heart attack in April, renderings for the ship had already been completed. The plan that Evans and her children, Grace Chesashore, 28, and William L., 25, presented to the council Wednesday was “his plan, exactly,” Mrs. Evans said.

The new boat is to be 96 feet long and 60 feet wide, compared with the existing 40-by-30-foot riverboat, she noted. It also is to have a kitchen and would be available for excursions, private dinners, parties and dances for up to 400 people. (The current Belle has no galley and can serve only cocktails on its evening cruises).

Under the city operating license, the Bahia Belle II would pay an estimated $35,000 rent to the city, which would regulate its hours.

City officials have questioned if there is sufficient parking on West Mission Bay Drive for the new boat’s patrons. But the Evans family has promised to repaint parking spaces in the Ventura Cove lot to create 174 new spaces, and to limit the ship’s operations on holidays and weekends during the summer when traffic in that area is at its worst.

“Very little has happened on Mission Bay for the last few years. I think you will agree that we’re seriously overdue for a new attraction in the neighborhood,” Evans told the committee.

Besides, the Bahia Belle and the Bahia Hotel were “Bill’s love,” his widow said. “There is something about this. . . . There is a strong sentiment in the family about completing this process” and getting the Bahia Belle II approved, she said.