"Recent History"
The Building of a Boat

After many months of negotiations with factory personnel regarding design, costs, and safety considerations, a formal build order was placed in early 2005, for completion of the first commercially produced, fully wheelchair accessible and ADA compliant, USCG inspected passenger carrying vessel in the 30’ T-boat category in US maritime history. Once the boat went into production, a whole new range of unforeseen design and construction challenges presented themselves. These challenges included necessary modifications to almost every aspect of the vessel, eg. decks, gunnels, bulkheads, hatches, companionway, cabin, seating, helm, transom, decks, head, drive train, wheelchair lift and securement systems, not to mention most importantly, hull structure and stability. In short, what began as a semi custom boat, turned into a full custom build.

Further delays transpired when the factory made the decision to move its facility to a larger and more secure location outside of “hurricane alley” in Florida. As we have all seen , 2005 produced an unusual amount of hurricanes, most notably Hurricane Katrina, all of which impacted the factory’s and Coast Guard’s focus on the boat build.
Additionally, due to the occurrence of three serious maritime accidents (particularly the Lake George incident which involved disabled people) the Coast Guard began looking at all current boat builds with unusual scrutiny, requiring strict compliance and beyond, with new regulations for inspected passenger carrying vessels.
Production delays during 2006 were fraught with profound internal problems within the Island Hopper Company. Both owners experienced life threatening and debilitating health problems, a series of staggering litigation cases, severe cash flow problems, and finally in January of 2007, the ultimate sale of the assets of the Island Hopper Company. By mid April of 2007, faced with insolvency, Island Hopper filed for bankruptcy.

Despite this, the former owners of Island Hopper were determined to complete their last Island Hopper 30’ ever to be produced and issued. It should be noted that the rights and hull molds of Island Hopper International Boat Works, Inc., were sold to Sea Hawk Boats, Inc., located in Sebring, Florida. The new owner has most graciously agreed to assist Excalibur with the new program vessel.

In the last weeks of production, there were still a number of things which needed to be accomplished. The main deck with the wheelchair hold-downs, the tops and two wheelchair lifts were among a list of detailed items to be completed. As before, we continued to work with the builder and vendors to do whatever was necessary to reach the completion stage. As we approached completion, one of the 236 wild fires that raced through Florida, charring more than 87,000 acres or 136 square miles, came within five miles of the former Island Hopper Factory. The smoky skies delayed work for several days, covering the boat in ash. As the fires continued to rage, transportation arrangements were made to ship the boat home. The final cost to Excalibur was $185,486, with shipping fees of $3,600. The actual value of the boat is estimated at $276,000, and for the work it is destined to do, priceless.