Speedboat is for Sale

We have hauled our Tiki 30 out for fresh bottom paint. We are in Cracker Boy Boatworks in Riviera Beach FL. The "Crack" has the deepest water of any boatyard in South FL and so we get to see lots of way cool race boats, particularly in the winter.This boat was shown here several months ago after Branson's failed Transat record attempt. Apparently the boats owner has had a change in his financial condition and now needs to sell the boat. I was told they have $35 million into the boat and are unable to attract buyers at substantially less. So the boat has been separated from her keel and is being strapped down to the ground in preparation for the hurricane season.


Above she looks like the biggest racing dinghy you ever saw,which is pretty much just what she is. Below is her keel still upright in the cradle. 18' of canting keel. WOW

She comes with her own workshop container as well. That's the boom wrapped up on top of the container. Should someone be interested in this boat I can hook you up with contacts. But I want a ride. David

Boatsmith Visits Reuel Parker Schooner Project

I posted some photos a while back on an unusual situation. Kenny Brandon commissioned Reuel Parker and Parker Marine Enterprises to build a 50' centerboard "sharpie-batoue" schooner. Having talked with both Kenny and Reuel I still don't fully understand what really happened. The short version is that Kenny worked with Reuel and crew and they built this boat in 1992. When the boat was launched and sailable Kenny took the boat from Port Saint Lucie to Crescent City on the Saint Johns River and parked it. The boat had no interior and needed lots of work to be called complete. She was sailable but Reuel says that the rig was somewhat expiremental and still needs some work to realize it's potential. The sails are basicaly new. The mian problem with the rig appears to be with the gooseneck/boom setup. They were concieved as an interpertation of sprits and Having seen them I would agree that some more conventional gooseneck/boom setup would work much better. The motor and transmission have very low hours~70. The interior has benn dabbled at some over the years but for all intents and purposes is not there. The main cabin bulkheads are stuctural were installed at the time of the original build but the smaller parts and trim all need to be fabricated and installed. The boat is layed out, as are most of Parker's larger designs , with two seperate cabins. The forward cabin has a fore peak and a stateroom and a head and shower. The aft cabin is taken up by space for a dinnette, galley, large pilot berth and saloon . There are also two hull ports for underwater viewing in this cabin. Outside the paint has essentialy gone away. There are some minor blisters near the port stern where Kenny made a repair after the davits were hit by another boat. Other than that the exterior survaces look pretty good under the failing paint. This boat won't appeal to everyone but I believe it is a real opportunnity for the right person. After having said all of this , I would highly reccomend that someone with serious interest only prceed aftre a haulout and a thorough survey. The boat is I believe restorable to fine yacht status, but it is a fifty foot schooner and if nothing major needs rebuilding is will still require a substantial investment of resources, time and money. If we continue to sell boats and stay busy I would consider this a good project for our shop to undertake, again after doing a complete out of the water survey. Fair winds, David

Here are some photos. I will put up some comments tomorrow

Reul Parker Project for Sale

This months issue of Wooden Boat magazine has a 55' schooner listed for sale in the save a classic section. Seems the fellow had Parker Marine build this boat for hm in the early 90's and never got around to completing the interior. He has decided the time has come to let this vessel move onto an owner with the enthusiasm and wherewithal to complete her. Here are some additional photos that the owner has sent me. I will be visiting this boat tomorrow afternoon and will take lots more photos and share. This might be a great opportunity for someone. David

Teak and Holly sole for a nice Tollycraft in Palm Beach

Recently the owner of this very nicely maintained 65' Tollycraft asked us to install a Teak and holly sole in the galley, saloon, fwd passageway and stairs, as well as all three staterooms.

We have done lots of other work on this yacht over the last several years. We installed new swim platform decking, recaulked and sanded the teak decks and repaired an area in the pilot house roof that had some delamination and core deterioration due to water entry.

After measuring the job we built the teak and holly panels. The holly is really maple these days.

Lots of parts for this job. Our "kilos"(lead shot) work very well.

Steps down into the owners stateroom.

Half the challenge on a job like this is not to damage any existing finishes while completing the installation. Everything around you is either varnished or fabric and extreme care is needed to protect surfaces.

The middle cabin before sanding.

The fwd cabin around the bunk corner.

Part of the challenge is to keep the lines all lined up between cabins and around hatches and up and down stairs.

The fwd cabin bunk corner ready for sanding.

Stairs from the pilot house down into the galley.

The fwd head showing a teak riser we fabricated and installed.

The middle cabin after varnish.

Stairs from the pilothouse down to the fwd cabins.

Looking aft into the saloon from the galley.

Looking fwd towards the pilothouse.