THE BOAT
Overexposed.
Every visit and passage we make starts at her helm. She is the road up the lake, and she was chosen for the worst day on it.
Why she has a name.
I didn't go looking for a fishing boat. I went looking for a platform: steady enough to shoot photographs from, with the range to go a long way and come home again, in water that doesn't forgive mistakes.
Stabicraft builds boats in New Zealand for big, cold water. Aluminium mattered on this lake. So did the view: from the helm you can see all the way around you. She had room for everything I wanted to do, with a head and a small galley for long days, and she was still the right size to trailer. Then there was the range. A hundred gallons of fuel carries her about 240 miles at cruise.
The name is a photographer's joke, three ways. Film that's been overexposed. A long day overexposed to sun and weather. And, honestly, anyone who owns a boat like this is a little overexposed financially.
She's white under that wrap. From behind or above she reads white; from either side she's black with a red band along the hull, a look borrowed from a car wrap we did in Oregon.
The first time I took her all the way to Stehekin, nothing happened. That's the point. I've made the run more than a dozen times since. When we pull into the landing, people stop, stare and ask what she's for.
This is what she's for.
Jeramey James, captain
Overexposed, end of a long day How she's built.
HULL
Plate aluminium
Her hull is welded plate, not thin riveted sheet. It takes floating logs after a storm and ice along the shore in stride.
BUOYANCY
Sealed pontoons
Sealed buoyancy chambers run along both sides. They keep her steady when people step aboard, and they carry her if the hull is ever holed.
CONTROL
Steer-by-wire
Twin Yamaha 200s, one turning each way, with fully digital steering and controls and no hydraulics. Control is precise, smooth and predictable at the dock and in a following sea.
CABIN
Room for a long day
An enclosed cabin with a view all the way around, a flushing head and a small galley.
Twin Yamaha 200s, counter-rotating 
Deep, clear water at the landing Fuel is the plan.
Fifty miles of water. Big weather. No help at the far end.
On a lake like this, the question isn't how fast a boat can go. It's whether it can always get there and always get back.
WHEN IT MATTERS
Fast, when it matters
When someone needs to be somewhere, she gets there. Speed burns fuel, and we spend it when it counts.
THE REST OF THE TIME
Efficient, the rest of the time
Outboards are most efficient at a steady cruise. Hers is about 26 to 27 mph, where 100 gallons stretches to roughly 240 miles in calm water.
ALWAYS
Always enough
Two systems watch the fuel: one measures flow to the engines, the other measures what's in the tank. Every fill-up is logged: what went in, what came out, and the fuel itself. Our rule is to reach the dock at the end of every run with a quarter of the tank still aboard. That still leaves about 200 miles to work with.
A ski boat isn't built to go fifty miles into weather with nobody to call. She is.
Lights, radar, electronics.
Running in the dark, in fog or in snow, the boat has to see what the captain can't.
- Radar for other boats, shorelines and incoming weather
- Thermal imaging: a forward-facing FLIR camera that sees people, logs and wildlife in the dark
- A day-and-night camera forward, with a heads-up display
- A cockpit camera aft, so the helm always sees everyone aboard
- Five multifunction displays, mostly Raymarine with some Garmin
- Autopilot and automatic trim for a steadier ride
- Lighting at the bow, on both sides and at the transom, for night running and unlit docks
- Multiple bilge pumps
Power aboard.
A lithium house battery system, built with Victron equipment, runs separately from the engines' own starting batteries. The engines charge the whole boat as she runs, and a solar panel keeps everything topped up at rest. It's the same kind of system we design for off-grid homes.
The house power bay aboard 
The ride.
Safety is the job. The ride is the reward.
At night, with every light on, she glows. Underwater lights throw the lake blue beneath her, and people at the landing stop to look. Inside it's warm and dry, with a view all the way around, and the sound system is good enough that guests ask for one more song before we tie up. Put on your favourite and watch the ridges go by.
Every light, from one screen at the helm How we run her.
The boat is half of safety. The other half is the decisions made before leaving the dock.
BEFORE
The weather call
Wind, waves and visibility are checked for the whole run, not just the start. If it isn't right, we don't go, and we tell you early.
ON BOARD
The equipment
A life jacket for everyone, plus fire, first-aid and survival kit, and the electronics above.
CONTACT
Never out of reach
A satellite connection aboard where phones don't work, and someone ashore always knows the plan.
CAPTAIN
Licensed to carry you
Captained by a U.S. Coast Guard–licensed Master (25 tons) with five years at the helm, who grew up on the water. We carry up to six passengers.
Radar, antennas and lights on the hardtop 
Dusk, running lights on Particulars
Come aboard.
Most owners first meet her on the way to their property assessment.