Trawler, River Launch, Solar Electric Boat

Welcome to our website of our boat projects and unique boating designs.

So where did the "QuietCraft" part of this come from?

When I first moved down here from Maryland, twelve years ago, I thought that I might get out of the Photovoltaic Solar business (www.Photontek.com) and build replica 1890's river launches using old hulls from 20' fiberglass centerboard sailboats.

I had built a couple back up in Maryland and had a great time slowly cruising around the creeks, "quietly" using an electric trolling motor to power the boat.

However, a couple monkey-wrenches came my way and my plans.

First, it is very, very hot and humid in mid-Gulf sunny Florida in the summer. Not a good place to build boats, outside.

Second, we have "Love-Bugs" and not those cute old Volkswagon Beatles. Love-Bugs here fly all over the place in the late summer and "love" new epoxy and varnish. I probably have a million of them permenently imbedded in the single boat that I built here.

Third, we have wind, waves, currents and tides here that a small electric trolling motor just can't keep up with. I had to install a 9 HP outboard gas motor to make the boat practical. Not "quiet" anymore.

And, Fourth, (there are probably a hundred or so more but I'll end this part of the discussion right here), the pretty varnished woodwork is and was appreciated by everyone who took a look at this first (and only), QuietCraft boat. BUT, highly varinshed woodwork in the high UV content sunlight here either requires constant upkeep, or a cover that encloses the entire boat just to keep the sunlight off of the nice classic finish.

So, I made just the one boat (but take a look at our "Petunia II" below since I could not resist building just one more!), sold it to a good home and went back to my nice inside air conditioned "job" of PV Solar Consulting.

That's the story of "QuietCraft" and why this website has that name. It's a great place to chat about my boats of the past and the present.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and descriptions...

Here are the boats featured on this site:

1-This is our 25' Atlas Acadia which is our "forever" boat. The Atlas is made in Cape Coral, Florida by Atlas Boat Works, Inc.:

www.Acadia25.com

The Atlas Acadia 25 is a New England "Lobster Boat" design, very stable, and plows through waves just fine.

Our boat is equipped with an inboard Yanmar turbo-charged 170 HP engine which will allow the boat to very comfortably cruise at 6-8 knots, plane at 12-14 knots with and approximate top speed of about 20.

When we were considering our downsize from our 40' Marine Trader trawler (see below), we looked at quite a few "character" type boats in this size range. We still wanted lots of the comforts that our big boat had but not the complexity (and work!) that the big boat needed just to take her out for a few hours of cruising.

Two important items that we liked about the Atlas Acadia compared to other similar design boats were:

-Instead of a fully enclosed cabin, the pilot house was short and open at the back which allowed much more air flow on hot, humid Florida days. These small boats are rarely equipped with on-board generators (the "norm" is to have a small Honda/Yamaha i2000 gas generator to run the air conditioning while at anchor) which are not operating during a cruise run.

We needed the air flow to keep us cool.

-Other, similar boats had just a curtain instead of a real closing Head door. We don't "camp-out". As noted, we wanted as much of the comforts (and privacy) as we had on the big boat. The Atlas has a fully enclosed Head with a sink and on our boat, a shower.

There is a small galley down below but for any serious cooking, especially in Florida weather, we would cook out on a gas grill on the back deck.

There are two nice long berths up front in the normal "V" format with tons of storage, cabinetry and drawers down below.

The Atlas is a truly great boat, perfect for "Tiny Ship" cruising.

Hit the Link below for lots more information and an amazing listing of upgrades and further details...

For details on our Atlas Acadia 25, click here:

(Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area)

2-Here is a unique little boat that I have just added to my "fleet".

It's a Ranger "Martini" open launch built in 2000 by Ranger Boats which is now Ranger Tug located out in Kent, Washington.

"Buttercup"is 21' long and is powered by a small Yanmar two cylinder diesel engine. 20 horsepower.

She will reluctantly get a bit over 6 knots but due to the hull shape, deep keel with a mostly displacement hull, she "thinks" that she can plane but all she does as you add more power is act like a Caterpiller tractor, and simply pushes a wall of water in front of the bow.

Plus, anything above about 2000 RPM that little diesel engine is really starting to make quite a racket. So she is used just for quietly cruising the local canals.

Usually at about 4-5 knots where the engine is almost as quiet as the electric version.

As I cruise by, people ask me if it is electric it is so quiet. The spurts of cooling water coming out of the side of the hull might be a give away.

I bought it off of eBay in mid-2019. And as per many such boats where you buy something without an inspection, just about everything had to be replaced or repaired. The engine was running on one of the two cylinders and the entire electrical system was shot. For some unknown reason, many of the wires had been cut including the main thick ground cable.

New exhaust tubing, added a huge Racor fuel filter, all new belts, etc.

But I like doing all that kind of stuff so it was fun. A bit challenging at times, but still a great and rewarding project.

She now runs great and sips fuel.

Barbara Merry, "The Marlinespike Artist" located in Wakefield, Rhode Island made a wonderful "Bow Pudding" for Buttercup's bow.

I used her for our local Christmas Parade of Lights and she was the hit of the event.

More details and pictures will be following.

3-Our 1976 Marine Trader-40 trawler that we have totally rebuilt. (SOLD...)

"Gulf Trader" is a fiberglass classic design 1976 Marine Trader sedan cabin trawler, equipped with two Ford-Lehman 120 diesel engines.

Over the past nine years, this boat has gone through major rebuilding and reconstruction which included new decks, new electrical wiring including circuit breaker panels/gauges, plumbing and fuel systems. All of the old systems were removed and replaced.

Hit the Link below for lots more information and an amazing listing of upgrades...

For details on our Marine Trader trawler, click here:

(Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area)

4-This is an exceptionally cute boat that I built during the Winter/Spring of 2014. (SOLD...)

The hull design is an old 15' fiberglass Canadian lapstrake lifeboat that was full of frogs, tadpoles and green water when we found her. With its plumb bow and nice rake to is freeboard, it was perfect for an eventual small boat for our local canals.

Actually, the hull was in very bad shape so we made a one-time mold of the boat's hull and made a brand new boat. (Sorry, but the mold was destroyed during the de-molding process).

There is a ton of very good woodwork and most every metal piece on the boat is vintage or antique, purchased on Ebay, Etsy and at yardsales. I tried to make the boat as authentic as possible.

Hit the Link below to take a look at this wonderful boat...

For details on our "Petunia II", click here:

(Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area)

5-Here's a boat that I built when I first moved to Florida in 2004. (SOLD...)

I had built a couple of them back up near Annapolis, MD as a hobby but thought that I might actually go into the business of converting old centerboard sailboats into pretty 1890's River Launches.

I found out fairly quickly that building boats outside in hot, steamy Florida weather was not the same as building a boat in Maryland summertime. Also, we have billions of creatures called "Lovebugs" that just love to implant themselves in uncured epoxy and fresh varnish.

I built one boat and then moved on to other endevours. The website that I made for my "Quiet Craft" boat is very complete in regard of how to build one of these boats with tons of photos and commentary from the bare hull when we brought the original boat home, to the finished boat.

No I do not not build these boats anymore.

Have fun looking at the QuietCraft photos.

For details on our QuietCraft 1890's River Launch, please click here:
(Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area)

6-Here's one more fun boat that I built several years ago. (SOLD...)

I'm in the Photovoltaic (electricity from sunlight) business ( www.photontek.com ) and thought that I might be a good idea to adapt an old Sol-Cat 18' catamaran over to electric trolling motor power, recharged with solar panels.

It was a great idea but we found that the currents, tides and wind in this part of Florida were a bit too strong for this concept to work well on days that were not very smooth and calm.

Nice idea and the design worked well as long as the cruise conditions are good.

For details on our Solar Powered/Recharged Electric Lake Catamaran, please click here:
(Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area)

And, to take a look at a bunch of other boats that I have owned, built and restored over the years, hit the link below:

Lots of other "Bob's Boats" Link:

(Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area)