River Gorge Explorer

This vessel has a catamaran-design hull. Kyle Stubbs (Email to Nauticapedia 01/12/2023) wrote "Of much newer construction, but hailing from Puget Sound, as well, was BILLIE J (1209778), a typical example of the aluminum catamarans built by All American Marine of Bellingham, WA. This one was hull #116 (HIN AAP65116D807), delivered in 2008, and has taken quite the roundabout journey to get to San Francisco Bay. This vessel was originally the RIVER GORGE EXPLORER, delivered to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga to provide cruises on the Tennessee River. From first-hand experience, I can say that little, high-speed ferries aren't the greatest for sightseeing, especially as the windows get coated in water spray, so I can easily see why that concept didn't pan out in the long run.

In 2018, this vessel was brought back west by Prop SF/Goprop, a company focused on small-scale fast ferry operations in the Bay Area, and was apparently employed in Redwood City ferry service for some period of time. As of this past summer, BILLIE J was said to be charted to the city of Des Moines, Washington to provide ferry service on a route from that waterfront community to Seattle. However, a "catastrophic" mechanical failure during the transit up the coast put a temporary end to that ambition."