Hand-Crafted Vessel Meets Norway & South Pacific in Montauk

It isn't too often that Montauk, Norway, and Polynesia find themselves in the same sentence. But Capt. David Ryan has brought the three together in the form of a hand-crafted 38-foot catamaran – the Mon-Tiki – which received its official Certificate of Operation last Friday from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ryan and his crew spent the past 15 months building the no-frills Mon-Tiki on the South Fork, which the southern California native said is partly inspired by the Kon-Tiki, a raft constructed by a Norwegian in the late 1940s that traveled a distance of over 3,700 nautical miles and was the subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary.

In addition, the captain points to the more modern design of James Wharram, who spirited the use of Polynesian design in catamarans in the 20th century, and whose boats Ryan saw firsthand in So-Cal, a place he fancies as actually not too different than Montauk.

"I grew up surfing, which comes from the Polynesian culture, and Montauk has wonderful surfing out here. It has this strangely southern-Cali vibe to it, almost with a yankee twist to it," he said.

The Mon-Tiki itself came about partly as a project of necessity. Ryan's former vessel was struck by lightning in 2011 and faced with the decision to rebuild or build anew, he decided to design his own boat. And not just any boat: the Mon-Tiki is certified to carry up to 49 passengers, far and away over the six-passenger limit his former permit allowed.

"We were maxed out running a six-pack," he said, referring to the Uninspected Operator Passenger Vessel he ran previously. UOPVs are typical in the charter boat business, though with a max carrying capacity of six, Ryan found himself turning away larger parties often.

Ryan said he found while running his former boat that many more passengers than he previously believed had organized their vacations around their trips out on the water. So he built them a one-of-a-kind.

"Everything on this boat was made by me and my team," he said. "One of Wharram's principals is that if you make the boat, and you know how the boat works, if something breaks - you can make another one."

The result, he said, has been more time to build it, though less money and a much more environmentally-friendly structure.

"For the number of people this is legally permitted, we have about half the resource footprint of what you would typically get. There are almost no screws."

The Mon-Tiki is available for sailing charters for groups from family-size to corporate events. Read more on www.sailingmontauk.com.

No trips are scheduled to Polynesia or Norway. At least for now.