Alison Nolan, is principal and general manager of Boston Harbor Cruises. The family business operates sightseeing and leisure cruises, whale-watching tours, speedboat excursions, commuter ferries, water taxis, and charter boats, and also rents out vessels to private companies. She recently spoke with Globe correspondent Taryn Luna. Here’s what she found out:
1Boston Harbor Cruises was founded in 1926. At age 16, Nolan’s great-grandfather Matthew J. Hughes got a job cleaning, painting, and doing other manual labor at a marina in Charlestown. His payment was occasional access to a boat called the Nelly, which he used to sail passengers around the Charles River. At the time, he was the youngest licensed captain on Boston Harbor.
“His first trip was a 30-minute cruise on the Charles,” Nolan said. “It cost 10 cents. The clientele were not tourists, but people who lived along the river in the big three-story walk-ups with no air conditioning. He got city residents out of the heat.”
“I began working here at 12 in the summers. I started working with my dad and picking up trash and keeping the dock clean. I was being paid $2 an hour.”
“Being in a family business, if you’re an ambitious person in particular, is a difficult decision to make. There’s a part of you that is concerned that you took an easy option. For me, I love this business. I love my family. I knew there were things I could contribute to Boston Harbor Cruises that really would be positive for the company.”
“It’s a sense of pride for our family to take what my great-grandfather started with one vessel to grow to a diverse 44-vessel fleet.”
“In the last two years, we’ve seen about a 30 percent increase in revenues year over year. We expect this year to also show positive growth and ridership to be just under 3 million passengers.”
“I like older cars and older houses. It’s fun to be a caretaker of a little piece of Americana. They have a great look and a great sound. And they’re fun to drive.”
“Being in a seasonal business, you don’t really get to enjoy the summer.
I like to travel as much as possible in the offseason.”
Taryn Luna can be reached at taryn.luna@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @TarynLuna.