Albury Motor Boat Line

There were two boats called the Seven Seas. First the Little Seven Seas, formerly the Billeo fishing yacht. And starting operation in Feb 1939, the Big Seven Seas or the Dreamboat. A purpose built, 300 person, sightseeing and dinner, dancing motor yacht. (See newspaper stories)

At the end of the 30s, Prohibition was over, the Depression was over and Miami was experiencing a growth boom. People had money and were looking for entertainment. Capt. Albury saw this and commissioned the building of a larger boat. The Dreamboat was 64' 11 3/4" long, Beam of 26', drew 40" with a full load of passengers. Powered by twin Kermath diesels, Three covered decks. Rated for 300 passengers.

The second deck was a 1000 sq.ft. enclosed Teak dance floor, (I still have a jar of Teak plugs). Three piece band, Chicken or fish dinner, 2.5 hour cruise all for $2 each. Third deck was covered but quieter with chairs and open to the breezes. Grandpa said a lot of "spooning" went on up there.

Grandpa had this boat built in 1937 to 39. One story he told me at his knee was his contract for the lumber which the lumber yard was very happy to get included a stipulation that "no board delivered have a single knot in it." Read that again. A 65 foot, three deck wooden boat with not one knot in any board. Grandpa said when the first truck arrived and the driver dumped the load grandpa sorted through and found a few boards with knots. He made the driver reload the whole truck and returned it to the yard. Took the driver most of the day. Grandpa said every truckload after that was knot free.

When the Navy took his boats during WWII he got them back after the Navy no longer needed them. Grandpa said he cried. They had stripped all the brass fittings off the boats and replaced them with cheep Aluminum. They had removed his beloved Kermath diesels and replaced them with cheaper under powered diesels. He had to remove 11 coats of US Navy haze grey. They had even painted his teak dance floor. Teak has natural oils within that resist paint. It won't adhere to teak so they just kept adding more cotes. He said he spent a lot of money refurbishing those boats.

Grandpa said before the Navy took his boats everything was rationed including diesel fuel. None of the sightseeing or fishing boats could run as much as they wanted to. Grandpa went to the fuel dock and talked with the man and asked him "What isn't rationed that can be used as fuel?". The man said "I've never heard of being done but we have marine flushing oil that is use to flush large marine engines. It may run in your engines." Grandpa said the boats smoked a bit more but the flushing oil worked and was not rationed so he could buy all he wanted. It took the competition about a week to figure out how he was beating the rationing. HE was even reported and had to prove with his fuel receipts he wasn't buying diesel fuel.

btw If anyone has any idea where this boat is today, I'd love to know. I found a note on the internet from a man that said his father was the captain of the Seven Seas Dreamboat but doesn't give a year. I have looked up his name and can find no contact info for him. Here is the copy of that letter.

ERNEST PLATT 10-May-2011 19:50 MAY BEST YEARS AS KID, WAS ON THE DREAMBOAT, MY FATHER WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE SEVEN SEAS DREAMBOAT. AND MY NAME CAME FROM HIS BOSS, ERNEST CLYDE EVANS. BOTH MY BROTHER AND I ENJOYED THOSE YEARS, PIER 5 IS WHERE I SPENT TIME ON THE DREAMBOAT WITH MY FATHER CAPTAIN ROBERT M. PLATT. HE WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS SITE.

W.C.B. Albury and his 4 boys started a daily fishing excursion from the Miami City Yacht Basin abt 1929 or so. They had converted a family yacht, the "Billeo" by removing windows to open the rails for fishing, adding seating, etc.

William Alonzo Albury eventually bought out his father and brother and was sole Owner. After a bad freeze about 1937 that severely affected the fishing in the bay, they remodeled the boats and started sightseeing tours around the upper Bay, Star Island, etc. At one time the Albury Motorboat Line had 7 boats with different captains. The names of these boats changed names from season to season depending on the need. One going up the Miami River to the Musa Indian Village, 2 Glass bottom boats, one in the bay and one for outside the breakwater, and 4 sightseeing boats.

The Island Queen/ Little Seven Seas was low to the water and could go under the low bridges and the Big Seven Seas Dreamboat, a three deck 300 passenger Dinner and Dance cruise boat with live bands and galley to make the dinners. By 1954 he had sold all the boats and got out of what he said had become " a very cut throat business". His brother Morton continued for some years with the Mermaid.