Suncoast Horizon
At a Glance…
Suncoast Horizon is the last schooner ever built to Merritt Walter’s 55-foot Merry Rover design, and the only gaff-rigged topsail schooner in the Tampa Bay area.
| Original name | Capt Kidd |
| Completed | 2000 |
| Builder | A&M Manufacturing, Old Town, Florida (on the Suwannee River) |
| Designer | Merritt Walter, Rover Marine |
| Rig | Steel-hulled, gaff-rigged topsail schooner, seven sails |
| Passengers | 28 (USCG-inspected day sail) |
| Texas years | 2000–2021, Kemah and Seabrook, Galveston Bay |
| Florida years | Late 2021–present, Treasure Island 11165 Gulf Blvd |
Lineage: The Designer and the Design
She was the last of the Merry Rovers, the final hull built to the exact blueprint and the peak of a design line known for strength, shallow draft and passenger work.
Merritt Walter. Walter founded Rover Marine in 1978, mainly as a design firm for passenger schooners. His first Rover passenger schooner, the Norfolk Rover, today the schooner Freedom, went to work in spring 1982. He built her with his sons Shon and Ward at their small yard on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, Virginia. Friends know him as “the ol’ man,” “Captain Merritt” or “Seaweed.” His philosophy was to build heavy-duty working vessels for experienced watermen.
The Merry Rover design. Walter drew the Merry Rover as a simple-to-build, easy-to-maintain steel yacht with a traditional hull and rig. Her profile resembles her big sister, the 52-foot Bonny Rover, but she cost far less to build. Walter had lived aboard his own boats for years, so he designed her for year-round liveaboard use rather than vacation cruising. That is why she has a single-chine hull.
The Galveston Bay era: Captain Joe Stumpf (2000–2021)
For 21 years she sailed Galveston Bay as the Capt Kidd, a local landmark that Texans called the “pirate ship.”
Why she was built. Captain Joe Stumpf started his charter business limited to six passengers under Coast Guard rules. As word spread, demand outgrew that limit. He commissioned a USCG-inspected schooner that could carry 28, operating as Tropical Express Charters and later Capt. Kidd Charters out of Kemah and Seabrook, Texas. He said she was the only USCG-inspected sailboat in the Houston/Galveston area.
Old-school seamanship. Captain Joe had all seven sails hoisted by hand, with no mechanical winches. Even the heavy anchor was hauled by hand, keeping 19th-century deck work alive.
A local celebrity. Captain Joe called her probably the most photographed boat in the area, thanks to her pirate look and tanbark (reddish-brown) sails. She also made the cover of Texas Highways magazine.
The pirate who got robbed. In September 2012, a drunk thief tried a midnight heist on Captain Joe’s fleet. He skipped the big steel Capt Kidd and untied her smaller companion, the Flying Pearl. He then tried to swim the boat out into the channel, towing it himself, before police caught him. Captain Joe told local media: “We’re the pirates. We’re the ones who are supposed to be doing all the stealing and pillaging…”
The Gulf Coast era: Captain Richie Mahoney & Suncoast Sailing (2021–present)
In late 2021 she moved east to Treasure Island, Florida, was renamed Suncoast Horizon, and became Suncoast Sailing’s flagship.
History repeating. Suncoast Sailing opened in Treasure Island in 2019 as the only sailing experience in John’s Pass. Like Captain Joe twenty years earlier, Captain Richie outgrew six passenger boats as demand grew. Suncoast Horizon gave the company a 28-passenger USCG Certificate of Inspection. She sails alongside Suncoast Escapade, a 42-foot Whitby ketch.
The only one in Tampa Bay. When he announced her arrival, Mahoney noted she would be the only gaff-rigged topsail schooner in the Tampa Bay area.
Same title, new coast. In Texas she was “the most photographed boat in the area.” Today she carries that title as the most photographed boat in the Tampa Bay region. Her seven red sails make a signature silhouette against the Gulf sunset off St. Petersburg and Treasure Island.
A TV star. Suncoast Horizon appeared multiple times on HGTV’s Rock the Block, Season 5.
Leader of the Pack. In 2023, Suncoast Horizon led the fleet into Tampa Bay for Tall Ships St. Pete.
The 2023 festival (March 30–April 2) was the first stop of the Tall Ships Challenge Gulf Coast Series, which raced on to Galveston and Pensacola. It was the first time in 20 years that tall ships had come to Port St. Pete. Suncoast Horizon shared the harbor with a family member: Jolly II Rover, another Merritt Walter design.
| Ship | What she is |
|---|---|
| Elissa | Square-rigged iron barque from 1877, the tall ship of Galveston, Texas |
| Ernestina-Morrissey | Schooner launched in 1894, once an Arctic exploring vessel |
| Nao Trinidad | Spanish-flagged replica of the flagship of the Magellan-Elcano expedition |
| Pride of Baltimore II | Topsail schooner launched in 1988, built to the lines of an 1812-era Baltimore Clipper |
| When and If | Restored schooner originally designed for General George S. Patton |
| Jolly II Rover | Merritt Walter topsail schooner from Key West, a Suncoast Horizon cousin |
| Weatherbird II | 115-foot motor research vessel of the Florida Institute of Oceanography, homeported in Bayboro Harbor at USF St. Petersburg, right beside the festival docks |
| Suncoast Horizon | The local ship, which led the fleet into Tampa Bay |
Sources: Tampa Bay Parenting, Old Salt Blog, St. Pete Catalyst
Technical Specifications
Her rigid steel skeleton was designed to stop hull flexing and the interior “sweating” common in steel boats.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Length overall | 55 ft |
| Length on deck | 44 ft |
| Waterline length | 32 ft 6 in |
| Beam | 12 ft 6 in |
| Draft | 4 ft 6 in (built for shallow coastal bays) |
| Displacement | about 30,000 lb |
| Sail area | about 800 sq ft, seven sails |
| USCG certification | Part 178 inspected vessel, 28-passenger day-sail COI |
| Bottom plating | 1/4-in steel (grounding and impact protection) |
| Side plating | 3/16-in steel |
| Deck | 10-gauge steel sheet |
| Framing | Single chine with longitudinal flat-bar framing, no transverse ribs |
| Tankage | Fuel and water tanks welded in to act as heavy transverse frames |
| Interior bulkheads | 3/4-in marine plywood, rubber-isolated and bolted to the steel frames |
The Rover Family: Sister Ships
Suncoast Horizon has relatives sailing from Alaska to the Florida Keys, each with a story guests enjoy.
| Vessel | Built | Story |
|---|---|---|
| Freedom (ex-Norfolk Rover, ex-Island Rover) | 1982 | The very first Rover passenger schooner, built by Walter and his sons Shon and Ward in Norfolk, Virginia. She was the first sailing tour boat certificated under Subchapter T to carry passengers for hire since the great days of sail. A 76-footer, she has been a cover photo for the St. Augustine Travel Planner. |
| Original Merry Rover | 1984 | Designed for a New Jersey couple who never built her. Retired Navy couple Ron and Harriet Hale finished her instead: hull welded by Denis Schriber, fit-out by Brumitt Boats, Cobbs Creek, Virginia. Spent her active life in Texas. |
| Alaskan Rover (ex-Gypsy Rover, ex-Blue Moon) | — | Built to the Merry Rover design, with the same 12’6″ beam and 4’6″ draft as Suncoast Horizon. Runs three-hour summer tours on Resurrection Bay from Seward, Alaska. |
| Downeast Rover (ex-Bonny Jean Rover) | 1983 | Walter’s own yacht and home for seven years. Then worked day sails at Wrightsville Beach, NC, and later Manteo, NC. Played a bank robber’s luxury schooner in the Matlock episode “The Heist.” |
| Nathaniel Bowditch (ex-Blackbeard) | 1983, in service 1992 | Built by Willis A. Ray (W.A.R. Ships), Panama City, Florida; day sails from Destin. Logged 10.4 knots under sail (GPS-confirmed) and rode out 15 minutes of an 81 mph squall under full sail. |
| Shanty (ex-Free Spirit) | 1994 | Steel hull welded by John Vining of Panama City, Florida. A private blue-water cruiser and a regular in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race before moving to Virginia ownership. |
| Spirit of Buffalo (ex-Jolly Rover) | — | Built by Rover Marine Lines in Norfolk, Virginia; the 73-foot sister of Jolly II Rover. Day-sailed five seasons from Lewes, Delaware, then Winyah Bay at Georgetown, SC, from 1997. Bought by Buffalo Sailing Adventures in late 2008, she traveled up the Hudson and through the Erie Canal, reaching Buffalo, New York, in May 2009. |
| Jolly II Rover | 1996 | A 73-foot, 49-passenger big sister that scaled up Walter’s flat-bar longitudinal framing. Built by Bock Marine of Beaufort, NC, for Capt. Ward Walter. On 21 May 2015 she became the first U.S. government-sanctioned sailing vessel allowed into Havana harbor in 50 years. |
Fun Facts about Suncoast Horizon
- She’s the last of her kind. No other schooner has been built to the exact Merry Rover blueprint since she launched in 2000.
- Hand power only. In Texas, all seven sails and even the anchor were hauled by hand.
- Famous on two coasts. She was the most photographed boat on Galveston Bay and now holds that title in Tampa Bay.
- Magazine star. She has been on the cover of Texas Highways.
- TV star. She was seen multiple times on HGTV’s Rock the Block, Season 5.
- Leader of the tall ships. She led the fleet into Tampa Bay for Tall Ships St. Pete in 2023.
- A sister on TV. Downeast Rover appeared in an episode of Matlock.
- A sister visiting Cuba. Jolly II Rover was the first U.S.-sanctioned sailing vessel into Havana harbor in 50 years.
- The designer’s mermaids. Merritt Walter hand-carved mermaid figureheads for some of his boats. He admits some turned out better than others.
- Cousteau connection. When Walter’s sailing tugboat Norfolk Rebel was christened in 1980, Jacques Cousteau’s wife looked on. She is the only vessel ever to get a federal grant for sail power.
- A record-sized cousin. Walter’s 150-passenger American Rover was the largest three-masted passenger schooner under the U.S. flag when she entered service in 1986.