Because of her limited passenger capacity, the Geneva was used principally to meet the trains in Williams Bay and transport the passengers and freight to various homes and camps around the lake. Frequently, the afterdeck was piled so high with luggage that she looked like a floating baggage wagon!
"As the Geneva carried her load at the bow and stern, she began to hog badly as the frames and planks softened. One day in July of 1929, on a trip from Lake Geneva City to Williams Bay, the boat ran aground as she passed too close to the north point of the narrows. Although the vessel had enough momentum to pass over the shallow point and keep going, the old wooden hull was unable to sustain the strain and was badly sprung. Captain Sam Johnson, who had been the pilot on the trip, said later he didn't think the boat would make Williams Bay with the water coming in so fast. The Geneva was taken out of service and later that summer, her superstructure was removed and the hull taken out and sunk." Full Speed Ahead, Larry Larkin