New boat cruises in shallow water

Dreamsurfer's designer says the environmentally friendly boat has a guarded propeller that shields it from manatees.

HUDSON - Ralph Brown looked at the shallow waters of the Hudson Channel from the deck of his model boat on a recent morning and grinned. Then he gunned the boat out into the rocky water where other boaters fear to venture.

It's all in the unique design, said Brown, who is looking to combine capitalism and environmentalism with his creation of a new "manatee-friendly" boat capable of 30 mph speeds.

Dubbed Dreamsurfer, the 23-foot deck boat with a V6 engine is capable of cruising in 6 to 8 inches of water; other boats need roughly 18 inches.

It is the prototype in a line of "Dream Boats" Brown said he plans to begin building in Pasco early next year.

The models include a patent-pending tritunnel propulsion design that offers speed without the clogging that is prevalent in some jet boats. It also allows for some of the shallow-water access of an air boat without its noise, said Brown, a 44-year-old Spring Hill financial planner turned inventor and entrepreneur.

The design enables boaters to cruise over rocky waters and avoid injuring manatees, thanks to a shielded propeller and a bow that rides the top of the water.

It took four years to conceptualize and build, said Brown, who worked with a custom boat-builder to create Dreamsurfer.

"We built it, tore it apart. Built it, tore it apart. What we ended up with is a boat that runs in very shallow water," he said.

The prototype from Dream Boats Inc. - incorporated in June 2002 - took nine months to build and was completed in May, although it is still being tweaked.

Company officials said they plan to invest nearly $2-million in a boat building-facility with the help of multiple investors and state grant money.

Plans involve securing a site in Pasco to establish a boat-building campus, said Dream Boats Inc. officers.

"We have been working with them to identify some land," added Sandi Snow of the Pasco Economic Development Council.

Brown said the company has begun negotiating for 16 acres in Hudson north of New York Avenue on U.S. 19.

Other sites also are being considered for the facility, which would include a factory, test pond and sales building. Buildout is estimated at about two years.

Investor and Dream Boat vice president Louis Gutfleish, said the company first would likely lease an area to start selling the boats. Hudson remains an attractive area for that "because the water level is so shallow," he said.

Boat models, varying in size, are planned at prices ranging from $20,000 to $25,000.

"We hope to be producing boats in February," said Brown, who is the company's president. He also sits on its board of directors along with his wife, Anne, and real estate broker and businessman Zisimos Markopulos.

Other directors are Gutfleish, who owned a New Jersey pharmacy for 28 years before selling to Eckerd drug stores. He is also president of Wangate Enterprise land development company, a New Jersey firm that builds shopping centers and car dealerships.

On board as treasurer is Lonnie Miller, president of Ja-Mar Travel Parks Inc. Miller, who lives in New Port Richey's Hidden Lakes Estates and is on the board of directors for Word of Life Church.

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