Our Thoughts
We think about boats a lot. In fact, that’s mostly all we do. All that noodling has led to a set of core design philosophies. We lay them out below as they relate to our design of the Atlas Boatworks 23F.
Philosophy #1
Hatches
The Atlas Boatworks 23F is all about simplicity. Our goal is a clean, easy-to-maintain, bay boat. Our standard build comes with three hatches in the deck. We can add up to two more with or without a raised casting platform. It’s totally up to you. Hinges, latches, and hatch lids are common failure points, so we try to limit them in our builds.
Hull Color
Henry Ford is quoted as having said, “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.” We feel the same except about white but, admittedly, mostly for practical reasons. White boats are easier to repair, cheaper to build, and timeless in design. We are also fans of vinyl wraps on boats to increase gelcoat life and add a pop of color.
Insulated Fishboxes
We believe there are better ways to store our future dinner than building a cooler into the hull of our boat. Insulated fishboxes in most bay boat-sized boats are often dead zones. They are rarely used for fish storage and they’re too gross to put food in. They take up space and largely end up going unused. We’ve opted to eliminate them entirely and use portable options to store fish and drinks.
Fish are good. Musty, moldy compartments are not.
Seating
The Atlas Boatworks 23F is unapologetically a fishing boat. But that doesn’t mean it can’t host a hoppin’ shindig. We offer multiple seating options to help you initiate “Sandbar mode.”
Jackplates
Let us be really clear about this one. We are in favor of anything that lets us raise our motor vertically while not changing the thrust angle. We feel like the porta bracket is the best way to do that.
Cooler Seats
We’ve opted to use a cooler as the seat in front of the center console. They are portable, easily cleaned, removable, usable for other functions, and the list goes on. We think this is way better than having a built-in fishbox/livewell up there.
Rules Were Meant for Breaking
We’re not rule-following stiffs all of the time. Sometimes even we break our own rules about simplicity. We love power poles and trolling motors. For us, it’s worth it.
A second station on a half tower makes the build a lot more complicated, but if your jam is sight-fishing tripletail along crab buoys, it might be worth it.
The beauty of a semi-custom boat is that you get to decide what is and what isn’t worth it to you.
