Don Johansen Palmetto Boat Builder

Right after Christmas I took a ride down south to look around and while in Palmetto, Fl. came across two character motor cruisers sitting on trailers in a guys side yard. There was a tin work shop shed behind them and an elderly gent nearby. I stopped the car, got out, and asked him about the boats. He told me his name was Don Johansen and that he had built them both. After a brief discussion I had to leave but asked if I could come back by and photograph them at a later date. I told him about The "Salty" Yacht Project and he said come back anytime.

Two boats in Don's yard



So yesterday I went back by and Don was still out in the yard puttering around. Don built both boats out of marine plywood to his own designs. The one on the left, a double ender, is his own and he is repowering it. The one on the right with a Drake Tail stern he built for a friend and he is refinishing it. Don is originally from up in New England and moved to Florida years back. He at one time worked for Lydia Yachts on the East Coast building wooden "Head" boats for coastal fishing. He didn't enjoy building boats there as much as his own boats so he switched jobs to become the captain of the 109' wooden Trumpy yacht Regina that belonged to the owner of the Lydia yard. Regina was similar to the presidential yacht Sequoia. At some point Don moved to Palmetto. Don just loves designing and building "Salty" boats mostly for fun. His boats are all very shoal draft and very economical to build and run. He calls them "Lumberyard Boats" because he gets all of his materials from local lumber/hardware shops, nothing fancy.

Don's own double ender.

•  28' LOA
• 8'8" beam
• 2' draft
• 1/2" plywood epoxy encapsulated with 10 oz. cloth.
• Repowering with a rebuilt 4 cylinder Gray Marine gas engine.

Repowering



Don has owned many boats including the first Huckins yacht ever powered with diesel engines which he restored. He has owned one fiberglass boat, a sailboat which he never liked because it wasn't wood.

The drake tail stern boat he built for a friend.

• 33' LOA
• 8'6" beam (they are 8'6" for trailering)
• 2' draft
• 54 Hp Yanmar diesel
• 12.5 gallons diesel down to Ft. Myers and back.





Don has a work shop right in his side yard.

 

Don took me in the house and showed me the models he has built as well.

A sailboat he keeps up in New England.

A power boat.

I plan to come back down in a month or so to photograph both boats inside and out when the work is finished. Maybe I can even go on a sea trial. There is a lot more to learn from Capt. Johansen.