On a dock at Elk Lake Resort, one boat stands out from the other staid sail- and pontoon boats. The charterable Free Spirit exudes a piratical whimsy: Two masts support a horizontal shade sail, and five gumball-colored stationary bikes are mounted on the bow to propel the pontoon vessel. A solar-powered outboard motor is there as backup.

“This is a spiritual place,” said Curt Adams, the Free Spirit’s owner. He’s speaking as much about his boat as the spots — physical and otherwise — it can take people on the lake. “Sometimes someone will have a cellphone out, but it’s rare. Most people realize this is an opportunity they should take advantage of.”

Most of Free Spirit’s clientele are Elk Lake Resort-goers who are intrigued by the boat’s loud appearance and multicolored flags. Adams, a retired engineer, designed and built his boat and nearby two-story day dock himself. He introduces himself as Captain Curt and wears a Hawaiian kukui nut lei on his fishing hat. He offers cruises every day during summer months.

On a recent afternoon, Adams returned a four-person party to the dock after a 45-minute cruise.

Sherrie Byerley, 70, and her sister Julie Becker, 63, disembarked from the Free Spirit with their husbands. The sisters are Oregon natives who live in San Francisco. On vacation, they were drawn to Elk Lake because it was their father’s favorite in Central Oregon. When they spotted the Free Spirit, which Adams has affixed with a “Boat Ride” sign, they hopped aboard.

“He knows all about the lake,” Byerley said.

Adams points out things like the mark of a 20-year-old forest fire and explains why it’s warmest in certain parts of the lake. There, he drops anchor and lets patrons take a dip. Near the natural springs that feed Elk Lake, the sisters delighted in seeing the private cabins along the shore — their family stayed in one when they were public rentals 60 years ago.

“It was a trip down memory lane,” Byerley said, guessing she must have been 10 at the time. Becker still would have been an infant.

“Mother thought the cabins were musty, but Father loved them,” she said.

Adams said a lion’s share of his clients are big-city dwellers who are starved for nature. They revel in the blue dragonflies, osprey, ducks, frogs and the occasional bald eagle, which circled overhead on a recent outing.

“The eagle is actually a drone we have a guy send up now and again,” Adams joked.

Campers enjoy cruises on the Free Spirit when it’s raining. The shade sail keeps them dry as they watch the rain create a percussive effect across the lake’s surface.

While Adams encourages folks to play music with their own equipment, he intentionally hasn’t equipped the Free Spirit with a sound system.

“I offer silence and rest. People like that,” he said. “It’s an experience that’s difficult to describe. ‘Relaxing’ sounds boring.”

Perhaps the appropriate word is serene. Clients often bring their dogs and children. Adults often enjoy spinning on the stationary bikes, which are attached to the propeller’s drive train. Pedaling is similar to riding a bicycle on a gradual incline. So that children don’t feel left out, Adams installed two tyke-size stationary bikes as well.

When activated, the solar-powered engine emits a humming sound that’s almost hypnotic. The shoreline slips by at the pace of a stroll. Adams steers his boat with a nautical wheel from the “captain’s quarters” on the stern. When he’s not pointing out shoreline features such as the solitary stone chimney — the last remnants of a cabin fire last winter — he’s quiet, drinking in the scenery along with his guests.

Adams, 65, said he longed for the outdoors after a career spent indoors. Originally from Boston, Adams moved to Bend in 1999. After a short-lived stint on Maui, he and his wife returned here in 2005. Although he retired in 2010, Adams compared retirement to “falling into an abyss” — he needed to keep busy. Adams began playing with his dream boat concept the same year, which consists of a dock-like platform buoyed by two high-density polyethylene pontoons and powered by stationary bikes and solar panels. He first built the Free Spirit in 2012, yet it was a monstrously larger craft connected to a two-story day dock. That nonmotorized dock is now separate. It features a barbecue, a day bed and a cocktail bar. It hosts 60 people each week.

“That’s typical of an engineering project. You keep revising the design until you get it right,” he said.

The Free Spirit, which is about the size of a spacious single-car garage, hosts about 100 people each week and no more than 13 at a time. Guests prefer to dangle their legs in the water than sit on sturdy wooden patio furniture when they are not pedaling the stationary bikes.

Adams considered several homes for the Free Spirit and the day dock, including Maui, Lake Mead — between Arizona and Nevada — and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Ultimately he docked it at Elk Lake in 2014. Resortgoers were often curious about the multicolor, bicycle-loaded boat. Convinced of the demand, Adams approached the owners of Elk Lake Resort with a business proposal before the 2015 summer season. Elk Lake Resort co-owner Wendy Prieve was interested.

“It’s a very popular attraction on Elk Lake. A part of the reason is Captain Curt himself. He’s a humorous character,” said Prieve, who added the Free Spirit’s rainbow colors don’t clash with 40 or so traditional boats tethered to the docks.

“Zany is a little what Elk Lake is about,” she said. “We want to provide top-notch services but also a lot of fun. I think the bright colors are a perfect fit.”

Adams has been an employee of Elk Lake Resort since the summer of 2015.

Donna Adams, Curt’s wife, helps with the Free Spirit charters on weekends when business is most brisk.

The boat adds a new dimension to their relationship, Curt said, and meeting new people gives them plenty to talk about.

“One family (rode the stationary bikes) because they felt obligated to help (the solar-powered propeller),” Adams said, adding that his boat makes people appreciate how powerful solar power can be. “They pedaled for the entire cruise.”

Adams said beyond offering lakegoers a fun time, some tell him his Free Spirit dream boat has awoken something inside of them.

“People in retirement want to find their dream and make it happen,” Adams said.

“My dream boat inspires them to do that.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7816, pmadsen@bendbulletin.com

“It’s a very popular attraction on Elk Lake. A part of the reason is Captain Curt himself. He’s a humorous character. …
Zany is a little what Elk Lake is about. We want to provide top-notch services but also a lot of fun.”— Wendy Prieve, Elk Lake Resort co-owner

If you go

What: Dream Boat Tour

Where: Elk Lake Resort dock

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What: 45-minute tour with 15-minute swim: $20 for adults; $15 for kids 12 and under; free for children 4 and under; 90-minute cruise is $30 per person regardless of age; all-day cruise is $350

For more information: Call Curt Adams at 541-508-8251