Ski Run Marina in the 1950s. Photo/Del Laine collection/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Known variously as Sapphire Bay, Boundary Bay, Bijou Park, Seagrave’s Beach and Taylor’s Landing since the mid-1800s, this area is today’s Ski Run Marina. The white bridge crossing the channel existed until 2008.

Ski Run Marina in 2014 from the same location as the photo above. Photo/Bill Kingman

When the original M.S. Dixie debuted in 1972 as a cruise ship, it used the sandy Ski Run beach to load and unload its passengers. After locating to different sites including the Timber Cove Pier, its lasting home port was Zephyr Cove.

The M.S. Dixie at Ski Run Marina in 1972. Photo/Bill Kingman

A winter storm with severe winds and waves flooded and submerged the aft portion of the Dixie on Zephyr Cove beach in the 1970s. It was restored and continued operating until the early 1990s when it was replaced by the new M. S. Dixie II, the largest ship on Lake Tahoe. An earlier Then and Now relates the fate of the old Dixie.

Tahoe Queen at Ski Run Marina in 2014. Photo/Bill Kingman

In 1982, a new competitor, the paddle-wheeler Tahoe Queen, arrived in segments on trucks that could fit through the Cave Rock tunnel. The TQ was re-assembled at the Tahoe Keys Marina where it was launched in early 1983. It then operated from the Ski Run Marina where it initially was accessed via that historic white bridge (early picture above) that crossed this channel.

The former competitors now are moored side-by-side at Zephyr Cove while the lake water level is low and the Tahoe Queen is being updated. Photo/Bill Kingman

Today, Aramark owns and operates both ships. The former competitors now are moored side-by-side at Zephyr Cove while the lake water level is low and the Tahoe Queen is being updated.

— Bill Kingman