Celebration Cruises, the parent company that owns and operates a fleet of boats and the Santa Barbara staple Lil’ Toot water taxi, recently sold the majority of its business, according to Director of Operations Rebecca Buel. The deal includes luxury yachts Azure Seas and Whisper, which were acquired in 2014 and 2017, respectively.
The management team, captains, and crew of Celebration Cruises will stay the same, with the exception of Buel, who will dedicate herself exclusively to continue working with Lil’ Toot.
Buel’s parents, Captain Fred Hershman and Kathy Hershman, founded the company in 2003 when they discovered Lil’ Toot sitting in a front yard in Newbury Port, Massachusetts, and grew it into the famously beloved water taxi docked at Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf. The 20-year life of the boat even inspired the children’s book How Lil’ Toot Got His Smile, whose author, Camarillo native Madeline Gabor, wanted to capture the transformation of Lil’ Toot, previously named Captain Red.