Red Dragon Pirate Cruises in Port Aransas has a new captain at the helm, and she's making history in the Coastal Bend. Dale Gonzales, also known as Captain Poison, is the first female pirate ship captain in the Coastal Bend area. At just 21 years old, she's also one of the youngest female captains in the area.
"It's definitely pretty humbling, and it's kind of intimidating because it's definitely a male dominated field. I know that there's a lot of women captains out in the world, but specifically working on a dock, and around fishing boats, that's primarily out here, it's a lot of men," Gonzales said.
Captain Poison earned her 100-ton inland boating license last November, qualifying her to command the 83-ton, approximately 70-foot-long Red Dragon cruise ship.
“My license is a hundred ton inland license, so I needed 360 days on the water, and then I went to school for eleven days," Gonzales said.
Captain Poison started the schooling for getting her boating license when she was 20, and then turned 21 halfway through the process.
"To be able to come out here, to Port Aransas, and drive a boat, and get to be a pirate, is really emotional. And I cried the other day on the trip," Gonzales said.
Despite the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry, Gonzales has found her calling on the water, where she's known simply as "Poison" to most, though close friends call her "Poi," "Poise," or "Poi-Poi."
Beth Owens, one of the owners of Red Dragon Pirate Cruises, expressed her pride in the young captain's accomplishments.
"I want to tell the world how proud we are of her, and we're so grateful that she works for us," Owens said. "She is going to be such an inspiration for all these kids, these young girls, you know growing up and seeing her being in charge of a boat that size with that many people."
Gonzales draws inspiration from an unlikely source for her captaining career.
"Growing up, I was definitely very inspired by Peter Pan, and his story. I get to play Peter Pan every day and take the kids on a treasure hunt, and teach them how to sword fight and do all these incredible things," Gonzales said.
Visitors to Port Aransas can experience a cruise with Captain Poison aboard the Red Dragon throughout the summer.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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