posted 04-14-2012 07:05 AM ET (US)        

Posted - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 10:00 AM EDT
african queen

The 'African Queen' will cruise Upper Keys waters following its April 12 re-launch.

The iconic original vessel from John Huston's classic 1951 film "The African Queen," starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, will ply Key Largo's nearshore waters again.

Registered as a national historic site, the vessel is nearing the end of a major restoration costing about $70,000. Work includes repairing cosmetic as well as mechanical details, making the boat once again fit to carry passengers.

An April 12 re-launch party is scheduled featuring Stephen Bogart, son of Humphrey, to take place dockside at the Holiday Inn Key Largo, mile marker 100, at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $10 for Key Largo Chamber of Commerce members, $15 for others.

An inaugural ride on the newly revealed African Queen with Stephen Bogart is to be auctioned off at the event, as are signed memorabilia plaques bearing steel pieces of the original century-old hull.

The African Queen's 100-year history began when it was built in 1912 at England's Lytham shipbuilding yard.

Originally named the Livingstone, it served the British East Africa Rail Co. until 1968 shuttling cargo, hunting parties and mercenaries on the Ruki River, situated in the northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Jim Hendricks Jr. Huston saw it and the vessel was temporarily pulled from service for the film.

In 1968, the boat was purchased and shipped via freighter to San Francisco but was stripped of almost all gear. A restaurant owner who had purchased it tried to run tourist trips using an outboard engine for propulsion. Around 1970, Hal Bailey found and purchased it for the price of an owed boatyard bill and put it into seasonal operation carrying passengers on the Deschutes River in Oregon. He subsequently moved the African Queen to Ocala, hoping to do the same in Florida.

But Bailey could never get the African Queen operational in Florida and the boat languished for years in an Ocala horse pasture.

It was there, in 1982, where late attorney (and Bogart buff) Jim Hendricks Sr. found the vessel and purchased the piece of movie history for a reported $65,000. An equal amount of money was invested to get the boat running, and Hendricks began offering visitors rides in 1983 while the boat was homeported at Key Largo's Holiday Inn.

In addition to its Florida Keys operations, Hendricks shipped the African Queen to England for the queen's 90th birthday celebration and for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Dunkirk evacuation in the English Channel.

In 2001, the African Queen's engine broke and was never fixed. However, the boat remained on display for curious tourists and film buffs to view.

Last year, Lance and Suzanne Holmquist signed a long-term lease with Jim Hendricks' son to restore and operate the vessel again. The Holmquists have overseen repairs and taken pains to restore the African Queen to its appearance in the film, replacing steel in the hull, replacing the boiler and oiling the black African mahogany to condition the wood.

"We wanted it to look beat up, like it appeared [in the Congo] in World War I," Suzanne Holmquist said. "It's starting to get its sheen back, and its authentic look."

Plans for the African Queen include offering, starting in late April, two-hour canal cruises several times daily and six-passenger dinner cruises on selected nights in Key Largo waters. The dinner cruise is to feature a pre-fixe menu at the Pilot House restaurant in a designated area dubbed the African Queen Corner. In addition, the vessel is expected to be available for private charters.