Do some 53 Hatteras come without a swim platform? How to manage that?

[Streff]

Last week I was in Vancouver, BC visiting a friend who just sold his boat. His buddy at the marina has a beautiful Hatteras 53 ED.. we started chatting and I noticed that his Hatteras does not have a swimplatform.. He is the 3rd owner and he mentioned that the vessel came without a swimplatform from factory. It definitely looked odd to me. The reason I was interested is that I may be taking a job there for 2-3 years and he suggested that I go 50% on maintenance and marina fees, etc in return I can use his boat during the summer. His wife would like to spend more time traveling instead of just going out on the boat for their vacation as they always do. I have never been on a boat without a swim platform. Not sure how we would navigate around such a setup for dinghy handling, getting on/off the boat, etc. Would love to hear any ideas or comments from this forum.Thank youStreff

 

[SEVEN]

Yes I’ve seen many with no swim platforms. I will say they seem to be the early made HATTERAS’s. I would think they were and upgrade like bow pulpits.

 

[Streff]

Thanks for the comment. This was I believe a 1982/3 Hatteras. I am looking having a swimplatform installed.. My wife is so used to getting on & off the boat via the platform. I received a quote this morning around 9k USD with all sort of available extra options.. foldable cleats, staples, softer rub rail, etc..Streff

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Yes I’ve seen many with no swim platforms. I will say they seem to be the early made HATTERAS’s. I would think they were and upgrade like bow pulpits.

That's correct. If you ever saw the order sheet, the option lists were long on these boats. The base price did not include much. The most common options that almost everyone chose were swim platform, flying bridge, and bow pulpit. But you do see boats without each or all of those. There were a few.

 

[Streff]

Thank you, Sky. That is very interesting about the options. I will probably get a swimplatform fabricated. I am told that the original platform is a couple of feet narrower than the stern beam to allow an easier/safer way to get off the dock or such? But we prefer a full beam platform or at least close to it. Does anyone see a downside to a wider swimplatform? I have read and heard so much about how awesome a 53ED is to have, so we are excited to have use of one for 2 years or so. The boat does not have a dishwasher or a trash compactor. Maybe a portable dishwasher can fit somewhere in the galley.. not sure about the trash compactor. In our current boat, we heavily use the trash compactor. A portable compactor may exist but I have not found it. Thank you for the comments, everyone

 

[cww]

That's correct. If you ever saw the order sheet, the option lists were long on these boats. The base price did not include much. The most common options that almost everyone chose were swim platform, flying bridge, and bow pulpit. But you do see boats without each or all of those. There were a few.

The only 53 ED that was factory ordered without a flybridge used to be my dock neighbor, so I can vouch for this 100%. It had a faux smokestack thing where the bridge would have been, and the guy swore the fake smokestack was from Hatteras, apparently some of the early 50's had it and they still had the mold and made one for this boat on request. The explanation I got was the original owner lived on the inland side of a fixed bridge and wanted it that way. It was a weird looking boat. He died and it got sold to Randy's (Freebird) friend in Saint Augustine, he just spent the night on it the other day and posted pics on facebook. Just as weird looking as ever.

There's a second one floating around that hit the underside of its covered dock during a hurricane. Apparently it trashed the bridge but the rest was okay, so they just removed it. An even weirder looking boat without the smokestack thing.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

All 53's came with a dishwasher under the stove. If you don't have one, it was removed.