The retired research vessel has been repurposed for offshore excursions, educational programs, and other maritime experiences
You’re forgiven if you step onto the R/V Robert Gray, a 90-year-old, steel-hulled research vessel, and draw parallels to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Captain S. Davis Alford is even known to don a red beanie, and the ship’s salon and cabins include enough far-flung curios to fill the set of a Wes Anderson movie. But the experiences aboard this 125-foot boat aren’t fictional. Whether Alford’s crew comprises paid passengers experiencing an offshore passage to New England or a university research team on a shark tagging mission off the coast of Delaware, every expedition carries purpose.
Alford, raised in Winston-Salem, caught the sailing bug on family vacations to the Virgin Islands, where he went on to captain charters as an adult. “That’s a fun job, in a beautiful place, but you find yourself motoring a furniture boat around to the next beach bar,” says Alford. He left that life behind in 2023 to move to Charleston, where he captained the Spirit of South Carolina tall ship.
Around the same time, he pondered the idea of The Voyagers Club, an expedition-focused entity highlighting maritime heritage and ocean education. As a member of New York’s Explorers Club, a group joining individuals interested in and participating in explorative scientific research, he imagined a future that would let him sail with purpose and like-minded mates. First, he needed a boat.
After a short-lived first venture with a Turkish gulet in Greece (“a discounted eight-month vacation,” says Alford), he discovered the Robert Gray in San Francisco. Built in 1936, the ship was used in its early years for research in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest and may have served as a spy vessel during World War II, Alford suspects. Interested in purchasing the ship, he flew to California with his business partner, Leila Davenport Ross of Sullivan’s Island. Once it was theirs, the Robert Gray headed south, down the Mexican coast and through the Panama Canal, to its new home in Charleston.
Since arriving here in mid-2025, the Robert Gray has docked at the Charleston Maritime Center, becoming The Voyagers Club sole vessel. As one of a handful of active ships on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s right at home in Charleston.
In July, after participating in Sail250 celebrations, the Robert Gray hosted an evening concert with local indie band, Tounds. A month later, local menswear outfit Kennedy Gray used the ship for a fashion shoot. “I like to partner with things that have a rich story, and this was an organic alignment,” says Kennedy Gray owner Kevin Tillis, who joined the crew for a multi-night transit last year. “My brand and family heritage is very much vintage nautical prep inspired, so this was a no-brainer.”
Alford plans to continue building The Voyagers Club business and to take the Robert Gray through the Northwest Passage, which would make it the oldest motorized passenger vessel to complete a circumnavigation of North America. In the meantime, he’s enjoying overnight trips with passengers up the Cooper River and nearby local waterways. “I built this business to generate a sense of camaraderie,” he explains. “This ship can be a crown jewel for the city.”
The Robert Gray features 10 cabins, each named for famous explorers, such as Jane Goodall and Ernest Shackleton. It can carry 12 passengers at sea and can accommodate up to 70 guests when docked for dinners and events.
The ship’s namesake was the first American to circumnavigate the world. He died in Charleston of yellow fever in 1806—a piece of morbid serendipity that mirrors the rusty but beautiful patina of the ship that bears his name. The galley still features the original tables and chairs from the 1930s, but the cabins now have AC, and there’s a barrel sauna on the deck. Alford’s great-grandfather’s fleet commander hat from his U.S. Navy service sits on the bridge by the pilot wheel. Every bit of the ship is living history.
