Seeking space to float their boat

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EVERETT — From their home in the Lowell neighborhood, Bob and Michele Hoverter can see the Snohomish River flowing by. Within the year, they want to see their company's Coastal Explorer boats floating along that river, piloted by fleets of avid rowers.

If their company's launch is successful, then Waterline Boatworks will join a handful of other boat manufacturers in Snohomish County, including Glacier Bay Catamarans, Meridian Yachts and the William E. Munson Co. Unlike those companies, though, Waterline won't build motorized watercraft.

For now, though, the Hoverters are looking for 1,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Everett where they can build their first 10-boat fleet.

Michele Hoverter approached Port of Everett staff members and commissioners last week, appealing for waterfront space among existing marine tenants, most of whom must move soon as the Port prepares to reorganize the retail area into a so-called craftsman district within its new North Marina development.

Though the Hoverters haven't found space yet, Bob Hoverter said he isn't worried.

He and rowing buddy Jeff Knakal, a Boeing contract engineer, are working on final tests to make sure the "peapod"-style boat that Hoverter designed — slightly wider than usual, with a movable seat and a 250-pound cargo capacity — is seaworthy. Knakal helped perfect the oar locks and moving seat.

Knakal, who rows in sliding-seat vessels recreationally and as a racer, said he's working with Hoverter to configure the boats so people can sleep in them. Last summer, he took a 420-mile rowing trip through the Erie Canal and down the Hudson River in New York.

"I could have used this boat last year," Knakal said.

After more testing, Hoverter said, he will work on building a fleet, then on marketing models of the boats to touring companies in the Northwest and Alaska.

The Coastal Explorer, built from fiberglass, is modeled after East Coast fishing vessels capable of handling open water and carrying extra weight.

"This was built for big water, ocean water," Hoverter said.

Hoverter said he, his wife and Knakal didn't set out to launch a boat-manufacturing company.

Hoverter, who works for Seven Seas Marine Construction in Seattle, said he custom-built the prototype as "a side project" to show off at the Seattle Boat Show earlier this year.

But booth visitors were so taken with his boat, designed to show off the custom work that Seven Seas can handle, that he realized he could build a separate business around it.

He bought the shell from Seven Seas and since then has worked with his wife, Knakal and others to ready it for mass manufacturing.

Hoverter said he and his wife plan to offer tours locally and, if there's interest, in Alaska's Inside Passage. He expects his company will mostly sell to established touring companies or to boaters willing to pay the $4,200 to $4,500 that the Coastal Explorers will likely cost.

"We hope to have something going this fall, even if it's just among our friends," he said. "It's going to be a grass-roots thing.

"We want to show up at the same places the kayakers are so they can say, 'Oh, wow!' "

Jane Hodges: 425-745-7813 or jhodges@seattletimes.com