An idea formed three years ago took to the waters of the Charles River on July 11, 2026 when the Wada Hoppah ferry launched at the Newton Yacht Club.
Watertown’s Drew Rollert hatched the idea after a thwarted attempt to attend a Boston Red Sox game in July 2023 by roadway, and he saw an empty Charles River. He decided then to create a ferry service from Watertown Square to Boston.
Over the past year and a half, the electric ferry boat has been under design in Concord at Inriver Tank & Boat. The boat is wakeless to avoid impacting rowers and protect the shores of the river.
On Saturday, the Wada Hoppah arrived on the back of a truck, and was then hoisted onto the river at the Newton Yacht Club, where it will recharge and serve as its home base.
“I cannot believe what I’m looking at,” Rollert said. “It just doesn’t almost seem real.”
Over the next few weeks, the boat’s first captain, Hunter Decker, will shakedown the boat. Decker currently works as a captain on the Salem to Boston Ferry and formerly served in the Coast Guard.
Rollert plans to have the Wada Hoppah begin at the Watertown Square dock and go as far as the a dock near the TD Garden, with stops along the way including near Fenway Park, the Hatch Shell, and Kenmore Square.
Wada Hoppah still needs approval from the Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which oversees the Charles River.
