Town of Snow Hill provides update on Black-Eyed Susan

SNOW HILL, Md. – As spring arrives, many on the Lower Eastern Shore are asking about the status of the Black-Eyed Susan.

The Black-Eyed Susan is a 149-passenger paddlewheel-driven boat with the Victorian style interior, built in 1986 and acquired by the Town of Snow Hill last year to provide catered luncheon and dinner cruises up and down the Pocomoke River. The boat opened last August and was able to provide several successful voyages before the end of the season. The community has high hopes that the boat will spur an economic development boom that will attract visitors and residents.

We’re told when the Town purchased the boat, it was in the fourth year of a five-year Coast-Guard mandated inspection period. As a result, for the past several weeks the BES has been in drydock at a Norfolk shipyard, undergoing an intense inspection process.

Officials say preliminary reports show that a wide range of issues have been discovered covering the boat’s structure and engines, many of which would not have been found when the boat was inspected in the water before being purchased. The Town is currently discussing options with the shipyard and U.S. Coast Guard to develop an affordable plan that would bring the BES back to Snow Hill and the Pocomoke River for the summer 2022 season.

Town officials recognized that the lack of a definitive date for return to service is playing the paddlewheel’s tenant, Washington’s Inc., in a difficult position for booking events. They say they are working with all parties to bring the process to a satisfactory conclusion.