“I feel like a rich bitch.”
That was what my sister said as the two of us motored up the Willamette River, breeze in our hair, music from my Spotify playlist humming gently from the Bluetooth speaker mounted at the back corner of our hot tub boat.
Yes, a hot tub boat. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a little speed boat filled with comfortably toasty water, in which up to six passengers can submerge themselves, cruise along the Willamette, and wave at passersby within the vessel’s boundaries—the Broadway Bridge to the north and the Ross Island Bridge to the south.
And, to be frank, my sister wasn’t wrong. Renting a boat from Yacht Tubs, the new company located on the Portland waterfront, will make even the most skeptical passenger feel like a rich bitch. Or at least a moderately well-heeled wench.
From the moment you step inside the South Montgomery Street storefront, the experience is surprisingly bougie. Bedecked in nautical-themed curtains and couches, with luxuriously sized changing rooms, secure lockers, and the clean, fresh smell of a spa, you immediately feel like this is an outing that deserves a special occasion. Customers can also pay a little extra for Epsom salts or rose petals to scatter in the water, which, pleasantly, isn’t treated with any chemicals. Staff instead drains and cleans the boats between each trip.
Before launching on our two-hour excursion, we received an extensive briefing that included a comprehensive tutorial on safely captaining the boat. To be clear: At Yacht Tubs, you are renting a vessel, not a crew. Guests are responsible for driving these boats, which includes navigating around bridges and other vessels on the Willamette. Passengers are allowed to drink alcohol on the journey, but the captain of the craft is not.
For both an utter marine novice (me) and expert (my sister, Taylor, who coincidentally spent several years living aboard a sailboat), driving the vessel was fairly intuitive. The boat is controlled by a joystick mechanism that will be familiar to anyone who’s ever played a round of Mario Kart. And the thing just doesn’t go that fast. Depending on the current, it maxes out around 4 miles per hour.
Deanna Reed, the company’s lead designer, co-founded Yacht Tubs with her husband, Alex Reed. They opened in late August last year. Since then, she says, they’ve rented out their two boats to just about every demographic imaginable: bachelor parties, couples on date nights, families looking for a novel pandemic activity.
“We’ve had a 13-year-old’s birthday party—his mom drove the boat,” Reed said. “We’ve had some ladies who were celebrating their high school reunion. It’s just taken off.”
GO: 315 S Montgomery St., Suite 140 503-327-8849 yacht-tubs.com A two-hour rental for up to six people is $360.
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