ALBANY — Voorheesville resident Harry Van Wormer recently made his love for history and fun in the Capital Region official: He became the third partner and co-owner of the Albany Aqua Ducks.
"We sell fun. We’re very proud of the business, itself," Van Wormer told The Enterprise. "We’re passionate about it, and Albany tourism."

Van Wormer’s partners are Bob Wolfgang, a retired police chief, and John Giaordiano, who also owns Plaza Travel in Latham. Wolfgang and Van Wormer drive the Albany Aqua-ducks buses, called hydra-terra vehicles because they travel in the water and on land.
"I was a member of the team for putting the Aqua Ducks to-gether," Van Wormer said.

He saw them in Gloucester, Mass. The vehicles Van Wormer saw then were old Army trucks that could traverse land and sea. The buses used for the Albany Aqua Ducks are modern 300-horsepower Caterpillar diesels, Van Wormer said.
"These are brand new. These are custom-made for the Hud-son River," Van Wormer said. The buses were created to with-stand high currents, which the Hudson River has because of its tidal cycles, he said. The vehicles cruise at six knots, but can travel at nine knots. (Knots are fairly equivalent to miles per hour, with nautical miles equal to 6,076.12 feet, and miles equal to 5,280 feet.)

Each Aqua Ducks vehicle can seat 44 passengers and two crewmembers.
"I drive it. I’m a certified Coast Guard Master Captain," Van Wormer said. He also needs a commercial driving license to operate the bus. His first mates are really tour guides. They must have Red Cross training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Van Wormer said, but they must also be able to recite a detailed description of the city of Albany. He called the job "pretty labor intensive." Teachers, he said, often work as first mates during the summers.

Tours on the Aqua Ducks last about 75 minutes. The first 45 minutes are spent touring Al-bany and hearing the history of the region. The next 30 minutes are spent on the river, where the tour guides describe river eco-logy, explain the histories of nearby buildings, point out nest-ing peregrine falcons, and pass the moored U.S.S. Slater. Tours will continue through the end of October.
"We do corporate pick-up. We pick up groups. I’ve done two proms on there. We go right to your work site and pick you up," Van Wormer said. Wedding parties have also used the Aqua-ducks as an activity, he said.

Van Wormer, an Albany native, said that the business is expanding to trolley tours. The company recently bought two trolleys from the Capital District Transportation Authority.
Van Wormer and Wolfgang fill in as drivers when needed to offer tours of the city. Each trol-ley has a conductor, and a route with 18 stops around town. Passengers pay one fare and then "duck on and duck off" at their leisure, Van Wormer said. The trolley option is doing well in its third week, he said.

Albany Aqua Ducks has also extended to Troy to offer histori-cal charters, but the vehicles are unable to enter the river there, he said.

The business offers customer surveys, and Van Wormer said that they have a 98 percent customer satisfaction rate.
"The best customers are Albany people," Van Wormer said. "Most people write notes. They never realize Albany has so much history.
"Half of the tourists on the buses are from the Capital Region," he said. Last week, he had a large group from Israel that had booked on-line for their visit here, he said.
"We’ve been selling out so many times, you must make reservations," he said.

In the three years Albany Aqua Ducks has been operating, the business has hosted 50,000 tourists, Van Wormer said.
"Where were those 50,000 people before" What were they doing"" he asked. "You have to experience it, the fun and excite-ment. We just love what we’re doing."