click here for an online brochure

DID YOU KNOW....

The navigation channel of the Upper Mississippi River has a guaranted minimum depth of 9.5 feet?

The depth is maintained by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. During times of heavy rains, floods and spring thaws the rivers current will move large amounts of sediment and deposit it in the navigation channel. If the channel becomes less than 9.5 feet deep a fully loaded barge will scrape the bottom of the river and become stuck. To prevent this from happening the Army Corp is called out to dredge the channel.

The dredge responsible for keeping the river open is the Dredge William A. Thompson.

The Thompson is 267 foot long with a 48 foot beam and requires a minimum of 52'9" of bridge clearance.


FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Q. What is a wing dam?

A. A wing dam is simply a pile of rocks placed in the water by the Army Corp of Engineers to direct the current out to the channel. This keeps the shoreline from eroding and also helps keep the channel from filling in with sediment. A typical wing dam will run from the shoreline to the edge of the navigation channel. The wing dams are usually under the water, although some will protrude above the surface. We will teach you how to identify wing dams are on your training cruise.


OUR NEWEST HOUSEBOAT

Our new TRUMP SERIES is the Mississippi River's largest and most luxurious rental house boat. Designed for the most discriminating houseboaters, this boat features many new amenities.

With sleeping for 14 this boat is sure to be popular for family reunions and revelers alike and with the boats bow thruster this will be one of the easiest boats on the river to pilot.

With the addition of a 3000 watt inverter you will have plenty of 110v electricity all night, even without running the 15 kW generator.

The Party Top Sundeck boasts a wet bar large enough to comfortably seat your entire crew. The party top also includes a refrigerator, gas grill, color TV, Stereo System, full fly bridge, water slide and of course, a 7 person hot tub complete with a "hot water on demand" water replenishment feature. The wet bar area of the party top is covered with a 30 foot long canopy to protect you from the elements while the hot tub is positioned to take full advantage of the sun.

Because 2005 is the introductory year for the Trump Series we are offering introductory rates for the upcoming season. Check out the rates and make your reservation soon. The rates will never be this low again.


Here are just a few of the many compliments we receive from happy customers!


Margaret,

The following is the information on the houseboat rentals.

We (5 couples) have rented the 16' x 62' Presidential. It is a spacious boat that has everything including a hot tub on the roof. The cost per couple was about $600 including food (that we bought at a grocery store just prior to boarding)and fuel. We chose the early boarding option which cost $100 (included in the $600 / couple). That gave us an extra night on the river.

We have houseboated 2 years in a row and have it reserved again for 2005 (the same day your group is going to Alaska). We always reserve 1 year in advance in order to get the days we want. I checked the dates and they fill up real fast.

It is a blast... but make sure you can get along with the people you go with.... you are with them 24hours a day. Even though the boat is large... it is not THAT big for 10 people that may not get along.

I highly recomend Hucks. They have the best / cleanest / newest boats on the river.
Duane

Huck, I believe I can speak for the others in expressing what a terrific time we all had on our recent adventure....Your entire staff deserves a lot of credit for making the event so enjoyable, and one at least I'm very anxious to repeat, and soon....

Again please thank everyone involved for a GREAT week....

Regards, Dick :-) via email

Dear Hucks and Crew,

Just wanted to let you know we had a great time on our houseboat vacation- the only problem is it was too short! You have a great crew and fantastic houseboats- this was one of the few times in life that something turned out like we had hoped it would and even exceeded our wildest expectation! We really appreciated the quality, clean boat and wonderful experience! Mike really did a nice job familiarizing us with the boat and it's operation in a short time; he really made us feel confidant quickly!

Thank you all very much! Now we look forward to a longer trip next summer!

Sincerely,
Jeff Haun

Huck,

I received my full security deposit from my rental of 7/12 - 7/15. Thank you for promptly returning it. If you recall, I was the captain of the boat that had the bachelor party on it. I speak for all of the guys when I say your boat, your service, and your people all exceeded our expectations. The weekend was hassle free and totally enjoyable. Even prior to the trip, I was impressed with your company. You promptly responded to my phone and email questions in precise detail. Upon arriving at the marina and seeing the boats, I knew all the stuff in your brochures wasn't just hype. They were extremely cleaned and in excellent mechanical condition.

Dawn did an excellent job on our training cruise. She was very patient and extremely pleasant while explaining the details of the boat and teaching me how to operate it. Like many of your clients, I had never piloted a boat of any size before. All of your employees were very pleasant. We even met up with them on Saturday when they also had a boat out for the weekend.

But as with even the best services, things can always get better. Our radio speakers on the fly bridge did not work. And some of the speakers on the front deck were crackling. Accepting credit cards would also make the transactions even smoother. But I've read that you are planning on accepting them in the future.

Thanks to you, the bachelor party was a huge success and I was able to retain my status as best man for the wedding. And from the way some of the guys were talking on the way home, I think you may be hearing back from a few of them for future bookings.

Thanks again,
Troy Vande Yacht

Huck:

Steve, Karen, Nancy and our families wanted to thank you and your staff for an outstanding river experience. As you know, we had rented from other companies before and found your boats to be far superior to your other competition on the river. The boat itself was clean, the instructions given by your staff were great, everything worked, you were there when we needed you..........what more can I say! WE HAD AN OUTSTANDING VACATION!!!

We will be sitting our families down together very soon to plan our 2002 trip!

Please offer our special thanks to Dawn, Steve, Robyn and your entire staff. They were great!

Jim via email

Huck,

We had to drop you a line to tell you that we had a great time on your houseboat last month. There were nothing but raves from our entire group. We are making plans to take a trip on the mighty Mississip, next spring/summer. We definitely will be making our arrangements with Huck's next year and if possible every year. We were extremely satisfied with the service provided by your crew. We were also impressed with the cooperation that you receive from the marina pro's. If you need a reference from a satisfied customer feel free to have folks email us.

steelers@execpc.com
Thank you,
Dan and Cindi Curley

Huck,

I wanted to drop you a quick note of thanks. Our trip was great, and your staff was AWESOME! The training cruise and orientation to the boat were both extremely valuable.

As you know, a fairly strong thunderstorm blew into the area during our trip. Tim's expert teaching and advice paid off, as was evidenced by the fact that the boat hardly moved, and the anchors held firm (we saw a few other boats that had shifted!)

Thanks again, and please pass along my thanks to all of your staff for all of their hard work. You all work for a world class organization, and should be proud!

Sincerely,
David Kees. via email

Hi,
I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know what a wonderful time our group had on your boat last weekend! We were very impressed with the quality of the boat and staff. Although the weather wasn't the greatest (and next time we definitely want to go for the hot tub) we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The boat was very clean and the amenities were excellent! As we were there, everyone was ready to plan our next trip -- since we accomplished the locks so successfully, we had no worries! Thank you again and we look forward to boating with you soon!

Kim Radke (and group) via email