NEWS & INFORMATION

Luxury Cruise Line Comes to Gull Lake

Echo Journal

By Sarah Rudlang

Gull Lake Cruises on Gull Lake in Brainerd Minnesota

Destiny Cruises’ North Star yacht, a $1.8 million, double-deck vessel that can accommodate 120 passengers, launched last week on Gull Lake, offering cruises and private chartered events to residents and tourists in the Brainerd lakes area.

The North Star is docked at Ernie’s on Gull, and was expected to embark on its inaugural cruise Wednesday, June 25, having been delayed from its ideal date of mid-May because of road restrictions.

 The 65-foot long, 22-foot wide vessel was constructed last winter at Skipperliner Headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin, one of the country’s largest passenger vessel manufacturers.

The owners of Destiny Cruises are Liz Diedrich, owner of Diedrich RPM; Jerry Johnson, CEO and owner of Energy Management Collaborative; and Reid Porter, a retired business executive and former captain of vessels out of Lake Geneva.

They studied the market for more than a year looking for the ideal place to provide such a vessel. Diedrich said variables like geographic location, the number of weddings and transit populations in the Brainerd lakes area were compelling. That, coupled with Gull Lake’s proximity and readiness, made it a viable location to operate…

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