'Our love for the water': New owners taking on Huron Lady II this season

When the Huron Lady II’s first sightseeing voyage of the season heads out on May 25, it’ll be under new ownership.

Under Captain Walker Yacht Services, couple Dustin and Kristy Walker, of Chesterfield, are taking over the longtime Blue Water staple — both kicking off a second career for each, as well as taking advantage of a deep family love for spending time on the water.

“I had always joked that maybe we would buy it someday as our second career. I just didn’t think it would happen this soon,” Kristy Walker said with a laugh on Thursday.

Dustin Walker, who couldn’t be immediately reached as of Friday, grew up in St. Clair and worked in Port Huron, Kristy said. The couple had also spent a lot of family vacations staying in harbors and marinas, “bebopping around,” on Lake Huron and the St. Clair River — all important pieces connecting to her husband’s roots as they started and grew their family.

“So, when he was ready to be done with the mortgage-lending side of business, his kind of second career path was he was going to get his captain’s license,” she said. Dustin spent the summer of 2019 working on the Huron Lady and began driving for former owner Jenny Ciolek the next year.

Now, Kristy said they’re excited for their three teenage daughters to see them taking on this next adventure, running the Huron Lady together, taking the risk and being their own boss.

“Really, the whole reason behind it is our love for the water,” she said, “the memories you make out on the water, how beautiful everything is right in our own backyard in this community.”

The original Huron Lady began boat excursions in the mid-1990s with Capt. John and Camille Rigney, purchasing the Huron Lady II in 1999.

Ciolek had manned, owned and operated the current Huron Lady since 2011 before passing the business to the Walkers around the start of this year.

“It’s a great business. I loved running it and owning it. But my husband and I are moving toward retirement age,” she said. “So, we had kind of talked about, at some point, we would need to try to find a buyer for the business and somebody who would do a good job. And hopefully, keep it in the community. Just through conversation, Dustin Walker and I talked about it, and he and his wife were interested. So, we kind of started moving forward with that, and Jan. 8, it was final.”

Ciolek said she’ll continue her other longtime gig as a co-host and producer for the PBS television program, “Michigan Out of Doors.” She also said she was looking forward to spending more time with family and a new grandchild.

The Huron Lady II vessel will remain docked on the Black River in front of Bootleggers Axe Co. and Wings Etc. when the season kicks off. The officially listed address is 102 Huron Ave.

Tours will formally begin at 1 p.m. on May 25, and Kristy Walker said they’ll hold a blessing of the vessel earlier that day at 10 a.m. Currently, it was in nearby boat storage.

In addition to keeping the traditional public sightseeing cruises, specialty cruises, and participating in local events like Sturgeon Fest, Kristy said they’ll have a few new things in store for visitors and local residents.

“We’re bringing back the dinner cruises. That really only stopped because of COVID,” she said. “… We’re going to have two different options for people. They can either dine on board with us or they can cruise down to St. Clair and dine at the Voyager. We’re also going to announce brunch cruises soon.”

For more information visit https://huronlady.com or call (810) 984-1500.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'Our love for the water': New owners taking on Huron Lady II this season