[5][6] The Volunteer was designed to resemble an original canal boat; however, the hull of The Volunteer is constructed out of aluminum and the upper portion is built of rot resistant white cedar.

The use of these non-traditional materials was intended to help make the boat easy to maintain and increase the vessel's life.

[7] The Volunteer takes up to 70 passengers on hour-long round trip journeys on a restored segment of the 96-mile (154 km) Illinois and Michigan Canal.

While headed east from its dock at Lock 14, The Volunteer is pulled by one of two mules named "Moe" and "Larry" that walk along the adjacent towpath.

Along the way an interpreter, dressed in period clothing, explains to passengers the history of the canal and what travel was like in the year 1848.