'Popeye' boats making the River Torrens trip alongside Adelaide city from Elder Park to zoo and back since 1935

Popeye boards passengers from the Elder Park bank for the cruise on the River Torrens.

The Popeye boats on the River Torrens became an official South Australian state heritage icon, operating every day (except Christmas Day and weather permitting) from Elder Park doing 40-minute round trips of the river and stopping at the Adelaide Zoo.

The river cruises were started in 1935 by Gordon Watts with 7.6m (25 feet) craft, built on the banks of the River Torrens, to hold up to 20 passengers. It was named Popeye I. Watts bought a former Glenelg cruise boat in 1948 and it became Popeye 2. Over the next two years, three new jarrah-hulled boats were built at Port Adelaide. Carrying 40 passengers each, they were numbered Popeye 3 through to Popeye 5.

In 1962, Keith Altman, took over the Popeyes and introduced recreational paddle boats to the river.

The Popeyes had a brush with royalty in 1977, with Popeye 5 ferrying Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, followed by a choir in Popeye 4.

Prime minister Malcolm Fraser officially launched three new fibreglass models named Popeyes I, II and III in 1982 as the wooden boats' replacements.

In 2011, Tony and Lidija Shuman purchased the Popeye fleet. They gained approval for a licensed café in 2016 and gained a nine-year lease of Lounders Boathouse. The Shumans also ran Captain Jolleys paddleboats on the Torrens.

Built in 1913, Lounders Boathouse, near Jolley's, Torrens and Adelaide High School boathouses on the eastern side of King William Road bridge and named after boat builder Harry Lounder, was where the first Popeye was constructed. All other Popeyes have been maintained there.

The boathouse also was used to build the eight-oared rowing shell used by the Murray Bridge team that represented Australia at the 1924 Olympics in Paris