Since 1979
The 64-foot Sea Love 2 has cruised the coast of northeast Florida for forty-six years. The story of one vessel, three generations of owners, and a two-year rebuild that brought her back to the water.
A boat called Barbara Nell
Frank Timmons Sr. opened Sea Love Marina and the Down the Hatch restaurant in Daytona, near Ponce Inlet, in the mid-1970s. He built northeast Florida’s original party boat, the Maryanne, at his marina.
In 1978, Frank Sr. and Jr. took a fishing trip out of Ft. Pierce aboard a 64-foot party boat called the Barbara Nell. She had been built earlier that year at A1 Marine in Panama City. Only eight months old and Frank Jr. made an offer.
The Timmons family brought her home to St. Augustine, docked her at Camachee Yacht Harbor, and renamed her Sea Love 2. Her first trip under the Sea Love flag ran on May 1, 1979.
The party boat of northeast Florida
For decades, the Sea Love 2 ran fishing charters and party cruises up and down the coast. She moved from Camachee to Vilano Beach, docking where the Beaches Restaurant stands today.
The Sea Love name earned its place. From Daytona to Jacksonville, if you were on a boat with more than a couple friends and a cooler between you, chances were good you were on a Sea Love.
A new captain
In 2005, William Hoge purchased the business from the Timmons family and moved the vessel to Cat’s Paw Marina on the Sebastian River. The Sea Love 2 kept doing what she’d always done, running charters, hosting sunsets, and carrying passengers who came back season after season.
Then two years ago, Bill took her out of the water for the most extensive rebuild she’d seen in her forty-plus years. The idea was simple. Make her ready for the next generation.
Bill (left) with mechanic Ron during the rebuild.
The rebuild
Off the water. Stripped down. Rebuilt.
New paint, plumbing, windows, and electrical. New heads and bench seating throughout. A sports bar called the Livewell added on the main deck, wine and beer served under televisions, with a projection screen on the top deck for nights under the stars.
The twin 3406E Caterpillar engines were rebuilt, delivering a combined 1,600 horsepower. Every system, from bilge to bar, brought back to life.
64ft
Length
1,600hp
Twin Caterpillars
60
Passenger Certified
100mi
Offshore Rated
Back on the water
Today the Sea Love 2 runs from Cat’s Paw Marina on the Sebastian River, cruising the Intracoastal Waterway that the Army Corps of Engineers dug in the 1930s and 40s to keep shipping safe from Atlantic weather and Second World War U-boats. Locals just call it the river.
We’re the only public river cruise in St. Augustine that can approach Fort Matanzas, the coquina watchtower the Spanish completed in 1742 to defend the southern approach. Tide depending, we bring you close.
Sunsets. Live music. Fireworks. The whole boat for your event. Forty-six years in, we’re just getting started.
Come see her run
The best way to know a boat is to be on her. Book a cruise and see for yourself.