The Discovery I is the smallest of three stern-wheel riverboats operated by the Riverboat Discovery

Riverboat Discovery

The Riverboat Discovery is a tour company in Fairbanks, Alaska which operates sternwheel riverboats on the Chena and Tanana rivers.-History:The Riverboat Discovery business was founded in 1950 by Jim Binkley, a former freight riverboat captain on the Yukon River...

 in Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...

. Built in 1955, the Discovery I is a tour vessel on the Chena

Chena River

The Chena River is a 100-mile-long river in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows generally west from the White Mountains to the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks, which is built on both sides of the river...

 and Tanana

Tanana River

The Tanana River is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon tene no, tenene, literally "trail river"....

 rivers.

History

Discovery I was built by Captain Charles M. ("Jim") Binkley Jr., who had started a tour business on the rivers near Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1950. For the first five years of operation, Binkley used a converted missionary boat, the Godspeed, to conduct the tours. By 1954, Binkley was in need of a larger boat due to increased passenger volume, and made plans to build a stern-wheel riverboat similar to ones he had piloted earlier in his career as a riverboat captain.

After drawing up plans with a local architect, Binkley began construction of Discovery I in his back yard during the winter of 1955. The boat was complete early the next summer, and Captain Binkley put the newly christened Discovery I into immediate use in his tour business.

The initial passenger capacity of Discovery I was 49, but within a few years Binkley had expanded the boat's capacity twice. These expansions raised the number of passengers the vessel could carry to 80, and then to 150.

The Discovery I served as the Riverboat Discovery's main tour boat for 16 years, from its construction in 1955 to the construction of Discovery II in 1971. After Discovery II took over as the primary sternwheeler for the company, Discovery I was kept on in a standby status until the construction of Discovery III in 1987. After the construction of Discovery III, Discovery I 's license was surrendered, and for the next fourteen years, Discovery I was dry-docked. During the tenure of Discovery I 's dry-docking, periodic repairs and maintenance were performed, and in 2000, the Riverboat Discovery company brought her back into the fleet for the company's 50th anniversary.

Since 2000, Discovery I has been maintained by the Riverboat Discovery as a periodic tour vessel. Due to the relatively small capacity of Discovery I, she is no longer used for the company's regular tours, but takes on passengers on a semi-regular basis for special tours and charters.

Trivia

-The wheelhouse on the Discovery I was originally from the freighting sternwheeler Idler, a freighting sternwheeler built in Fairbanks in 1910. The Discovery I was constructed with a design and dimensions similar to the Idler.

-Captain Jim Binkley originally built two smokestacks for the Discovery I, but converted the boat to a single smokestack because he felt that it would be more historically accurate.

-Binkley planned to expand the capacity of Discovery I beyond 150 through further remodeling, but the Coast Guard hesitated to certify the vessel for more passengers. The decision by the Coast Guard that Discovery I had reached its maximum passenger capacity precipitated the construction of Discovery II.