RICHMOND, Va. — When plying the waters of Virginia, outdoor enthusiasts can choose many modes of transportation. But one group of women has stepped out of the 21st century and turned back the clock using an old form of transportation, teamwork, and a lot of elbow grease.
The Lady Slipper is a 42-foot-long bateau that whisks those on board to another era.
“It is a huge, long wooden boat. It is heavy as all get out,” co-captain Wendy Wadsworth said. “It is such a different thing.”
Flat bottomed vessels like The Lady Slipper ruled America’s Founding River for two centuries.
”There is no other way to get it here except the beautiful James River,” Wadsworth said.
Laborers and the enslaved used the boats to haul tobacco and other cargo up and down the James.
WTVR “Those people we are indebted to. So we need to carry on their tradition,” Wadsworth said. “You’ll see that one person can’t do it. You need everybody together working together.”
Wadsworth said their boat is void of modern conveniences like an engine.