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![]() Located in Bradenton, FL. Many, many Updates to our boat. See the "Specifications" page for the extensive list. Photontek@aol.com 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... ![]() (Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2-"Buttercup" is now for sale (as of 3-20-21). $18,000.00 (SOLD)
![]() "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. 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. See the Link below for a listing of the many upgrades: ![]() (Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area) 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 events. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 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... ![]() (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... ![]() (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. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 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. ![]() (Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Use your Back Button to Come Back to this Area) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |