SUNAPEE CRUISES: A FAMILY BUSINESS ANCHORED TO THE COMMUNITY

GENERAL MANAGER “CAPTAIN TIM” FENTON DESCRIBES PILOTING THE FAMILY BUSINESS THROUGH A PANDEMIC

FFamily businesses are the heart of any community, and Sunapee Cruises has been the heartbeat of local families since the 1960s. Sunapee Cruises General Manager Tim Fenton grew up in the family business— literally. His parents owned Appleseed Restaurant in Bradford, and the family lived above the restaurant. The connection between Appleseed Restaurant and Sunapee Cruises is vital and goes back to 1999 when Appleseed took on the job of food service managers for the dinner cruise boat MV Kearsarge. They’d had years of experience with the boat when, in 2003, they officially purchased Sunapee Cruises. Sunapee Cruises is solidly a family business and has been in the family for 60 years. The grandfather and father of Tim’s wife, Lacey, owned it before the Fenton family, and Lacey grew up working on the boat. At one time or another, the whole family has worked on the boat. “My wife will still work on the boat, my brother-in-law, my sisters-in-law. It’s a very family-oriented business.” FACING THE PANDEMIC CHALLENGE The past year has been a challenging one for Sunapee Cruises. The COVID-19 pandemic has been especially tricky for public cruise boats. In the early days of the pandemic, the New Hampshire governor’s office for COVID-19 response was issuing regulations, mandates, and orders at a steady clip. Every business in the state needed guidance on whether they could stay open, how

many people could be in a building, and many other questions specific to each industry. There were guidelines for restaurants, grocery stores, outdoor attractions, hairdressers, and the list goes on. None, however, specifically related to public cruise boats. Navigating the sea of regulations to stay in compliance, not to mention keeping their staff and customers safe, was confusing and took time. And once they received approval to operate, the regulations had a significant impact on the number of guests they could have on board. For the dinner boat, they were operating at half capacity. For the afternoon narrated cruises, they were limited to about a third of normal capacity. Tim estimates they lost close to 75 percent of their private charters. “It was our most financially difficult season ever,” says Tim. “Operating expenses are substantial, and profits are typically made on days when the boats are full.”

WEATHERING THE STORM TAKES CREATIVITY Creativity was required to keep the business afloat. Buffet-style meals have always been successful in terms of profitability and pleasing customers, but COVID required a switch to plated meals. This was safer for the health of passengers and crew but had the added effect of controlling food costs. Sunapee Cruises booked private cruises where the passengers were all from a single family or where the group was smaller than their usual minimum. And to encourage groups to book, they offered to waive the standard cancellation fees. “We just tried to think creatively about how to make people feel safe while continuing to make enough earnings.” They even tried running cruises no matter how small the group. However, they quickly discarded that approach because passengers ended up feeling strange or even guilty about being the only ones aboard. In talking with Tim, the importance of taking care of the crew through the difficult year is evident. “We wanted to make sure that our staff could continue to make a living,” says Tim. During the off-season, there is work for those who want it, and those employees are absorbed into the restaurant business at Appleseed. And clearly, that care goes both ways. Many crew members come back year after year to work the boats; one of the boat captains retired after 37 years of cruising. And when the COVID storm overtook the business, the staff manned their positions. “Our crew is awesome and willing to help in whatever ways they could.”

MV KEARSARGE SAILING INTO THE SUNSET Sunapee Cruises runs two boats every season from May through October. Their flagship is MV Kearsarge, a dinner cruise ship that sets off at sixthirty in the evening. It’s a little more formal than the daytime cruises and serves a sit-down meal. MV Kearsarge has been cruising Lake Sunapee for 40 seasons and is due to retire by the end of this season. A new boat, formerly a Missouri riverboat, is currently en route and will be renovated to take its place as the new dinner boat for Sunapee Cruises.

FISH STORIES AND LEGENDS The sister ship to the Kearsarge is MV Mt. Sunapee II, which hosts a narrated lake cruise daily at two p.m. The narration varies from cruise to cruise, depending on the captain. Each captain puts their own flair on the narration, emphasizing different bits of local lore or natural history. Typically featured are the surrounding mountains, lighthouses on the lake, notable homes and personalities, as well as fish stories and legends. A cruise on MV Kearsarge or MV Mt. Sunapee II is part of the lake tradition of many families who return every year. Tim tells of twin sisters who have been vacationing on Lake Sunapee since they were little girls and take a cruise to celebrate their birthday every year. Every summer is marked by a series of special cruise dates, from a Mother’s Day brunch cruise to wine pairing cruises and cruises that celebrate Love Your Lake Day in August. The fireworks cruise for Independence Day is very popular. But for Tim, one of his personal favorites is when he has the opportunity to sneak away for an afternoon and enjoy the two o’clock tour. It’s a rare treat for the boss to kick back, enjoy a cold brew on the top deck, and simply be one of the cruisers. “My family, we really love the lake community; we love Sunapee,” says Tim. “We’re not some giant unreachable corporation. We feel lucky and thankful to be in this line of work, and that’s why we do it.”

Sunapee Cruises Cruises depart from the Town Dock in Sunapee Harbor Office address: Appleseed Restaurant 63 High Street Bradford, NH (603) 938-6465 sunapeecruises.com