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Duck boat-style tours coming to the Twin Cities

Randy Luedtke made a key decision. After considering WWII-era refurbished duck boats, he opted for modern technology.

MINNEAPOLIS – Randy Luedtke is first to admit the timing could have been better.

With the Branson, Missouri duck boat tragedy still in the news, Luedtke is about to launch his own amphibious tours in Minneapolis.

But Luedtke made a prophetic decision. After considering WWII-era refurbished duck boats, he opted for modern technology.

“I chose just because of occupancy and safety to go a different direction,” Luedtke said.

Luedtke and his company, Lucky Duck Tours, have placed orders for several Hydra-Terra brand duck boats manufactured by a South Carolina company.

The craft are part bus, part boat – but all modern technology.

John Giljam is president of C.A.M.I.LLC, which manufactures the Hydra-Terra. He says his craft are built with interior compartments filled with buoyant foam. “We are unsinkable,” Giljam told KARE 11 by phone. “There's pictures of our craft, all the plugs pulled and drums and drums full of weight - and here I sit safely afloat in the lake.”

Luedtke's first Hydra-Terra should arrive next month. Tours will run about 90 minutes, half of that highlighting downtown Minneapolis, the rest spend on the Mississippi. Boom Island will serve as the launch location.

Additional craft will be added as Luedtke expands Lucky Duck Tours to the St. Croix River and Lake Minnetonka and Lake Waconia.

“The biggest thing I've heard since we started this adventure, is, you've got one problem,” Luedtke said. “You're gonna need more boats.”

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