Pompano 23

When a cruising couple went shopping for their next boat, they chose a compact Downeast design.

Author:
John Wooldridge
Publish date:
Sep 17, 2023

Howard and Lynne Tag are longtime Chesapeake Bay cruisers. They have only owned powerboats, starting with a 20-foot Bayliner cuddy model purchased about 30 years ago when their first son was born. Taking the conservative approach worked out well for the young family; that trailerable boat required a modest outlay and gave the couple the opportunity to figure out if the boating lifestyle was for them.

Apparently, they enjoyed their time afloat. Their second boat was a 24-foot Chris-Craft that was better equipped for overnighting. “We really enjoyed that one,” Howard says. “Our next boat was a 2006 Back Cove 29 we bought in 2008. We always had an eye for Downeast-style boats, and it fit our serious-cruising mission.”

After more than a decade exploring some of the 11,684 miles of shoreline on Chesapeake Bay, the Tags sold the Back Cove in 2020. They were reluctant to let it go, but they’d had their fill of entertaining aboard and overnight cruising. Still, the couple’s love of boating was intact. “We wanted a boat that was small, inexpensive to maintain and simple to operate when short-handed,” he says. “And it had to have that Downeast character.”

Howard eventually discovered Atlas Boat Works in Cape Coral, Florida, and asked the company to build him a gasoline-powered Acadia 25. Then, when the Covid-19 outbreak dried up the supply chain of outboards all across the United States, the couple needed to pivot. Howard turned to an Atlas dealer, Admiralty Sales & Services, for help. The dealer found him a Pompano 23 in Galveston, Texas, whose owner wanted to move up to a larger boat. The 23 was well-maintained, had just 30 hours on the 90-hp Yamaha outboard, and had a full-length Bimini top over the cockpit that folded away to make casting for fish easier. Howard didn’t hesitate to make an offer for the boat, which he and Lynne named Scamp.

“One of the first things I did to improve the boat was add zippered, U-shaped panels to the side curtains in the pilothouse area,” Howard says. “This gave me full-time spray protection, but also allowed for ventilation if I wanted it.” The boat was already equipped with a Garmin multifunction display, but had no VHF radio, so that was the next project on the couple’s list. They also added stainless-steel handholds on both sides of the hardtop, to accompany the two already installed on the forward edge of the top and increase safety moving fore and aft.

Today, the couple uses Scamp strictly for day trips, sometimes with a friend. Howard likes the way the enclosed helm station is far forward, creating more room in the cockpit for anglers. Often, he runs the boat by himself. He says Scamp handles well in a variety of wind and wave conditions, in part because of its semi-displacement hull and shallow, near-full-length skeg. He typically cruises between 14 to 18 knots, unless wave conditions dictate less speed for a more manageable motion underway. He estimates his fuel burn at 2.3 to 2.6 gph at cruise speed.

And then there are Scamp’s lines. From its springy sheer forward to the modest tumblehome aft, the Pompano 23 looks every bit like the Downeast workboats that inspired it. Scamp has the look and heritage that Howard and Lynne prize. It has become their perfect boat.

Walkthrough

Boarding the Pompano 23 is easy thanks to twin swim platforms flanking the outboard. The platforms are part of an aft hull extension, which is bolted and chemically bonded to a reinforced transom and after hull sections. This is the same hull as the one used on the diesel-powered Pompano 21.

A full-beam bench aft seats two people comfortably, and there’s a stowage locker in the cockpit sole. Under-gunwale stowage is installed to port and starboard. Going forward from the cockpit to walk under the hardtop, there’s a step down onto a lower section of deck that allows improved overhead clearance for the helmsman when he or she is standing behind the windshield. A raised bulkhead helps to prevent water from entering the cuddy.

A pair of opening hatches in the hardtop provide natural ventilation. Side curtains and a rear curtain drop from the edges of the hardtop to provide weather protection for the helm area.

Twin folding doors and a hinged overhead hatch provide access to the cuddy. In the cabin, immediately to port, is a galley with a sink, a top-loading ice chest and teak fiddles. Nearby, the V-berth has a chemical toilet beneath it. Ventilation is provided by four opening portholes and a Bomar-style overhead hatch that provides foredeck access for deploying the anchor.

Background

Atlas Boat Works of Cape Coral, Florida, is a family-owned builder of Downeast-style boats that was founded in 1986. Tom Gamso, a second-generation boatbuilder and company president, says Atlas added the outboard version of the Pompano 23 about six years ago. Atlas still offers the diesel-inboard version, the Pompano 21, and the company makes seven Downeast models from 21 to 25 feet in length. It recently added a 23-foot center-console, the Atlas 23.