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The captain by the chocolate-root-beer-float sales jerk and a 50-foot vessel is eternally optimistic. How else to explain a man through a Phil Donahue-white mane footing on deck, pitching a Sunday Ice Cream Cruise on a 48-degree day? And drizzling in no degree in a less degree.

Yet moments later, in that place Larry Kezner stood, behind the wheel, after convincing an extended tribe of five and a grandmother-daughter pair to take his offbeat 45-minute tour of Seattle via Lake Union.

On passing Dale Chihuly’s studio, at which place a bathtub sits visible through a second-story window: “One day, Dale Chihuly will step out of that bathtub by nothing but his eyepatch. It will have existence quite a show,” he tells passengers.

On passing the floating home filmed in “Sleepless in Seattle:” “One July day, they were filming, and they took down hanging baskets and potted plants and express up Christmas decorations … A little lad (a few houses down) woke up and thought he slept through summer.”

Let’s not give away his amount spiel, though. He’s got to save some yarns and poke lines to increase folks to compensation his $11 fare.

The 63-year-old Seattle native grew up by the water, but spent 18 years after a desk as a service manager for an electronics company. About 10 years ago, Kezner figured life was in addition laconic. He needed to be by his delight in, the water.

That’s in what state Kezner ended up buying a refurbished 30-ton passenger ship, trucked in pieces from Cleveland in 1999.

He started recalling his own childhood stories and brushed up on the city’session history, with an inspection for the “backroom dealings and funny stuff” to share with passengers.

Every Sunday, his boat takes off from a spot near South Lake Union Park; the soldier points out iconic sites for example he heads north toward Ivar’s Salmon House and passes Gas Works Park and the Aurora Bridge on the way back. Kezner weaves together pop-culture references, history and his life story.

OK. One more tour story.

“In ‘62, I was a Sea Scout, a Boy Scout through a boat,” he tells folks from one to another the intercom as he passes the floating homes on a charcoal-sky afternoon. “One floating home was just $600.”

Oh, how he wished he had purchased that house because “subsequently to on that account, they’ve added three more zeros to the (price of that) houseboat, two more zeros to the sort of I’ve been making. I’m always a zero behind.”

Kezner estimates he has taken 34,000 passengers and sold 4,000 chocolate root-beer floats. He also serves hot chocolate and tomato soup with French bread. But darn if the passengers don’t still go for the ice float, even in succession some I-can-see-my-breath winter day.

“The chocolate brings out the tartness in the root beer,” he said, explaining why they may be popular.

Many cruise tours will succeed this holiday weekend off, but not the ever-optimistic Kezner. Family holidays just mean more potential passengers, he declared.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com