By Rodney Page, Times staff writer
Published November 16, 2007

Brothers Brave Ocean in flats boat for record

Ralph Brown of Hudson and his brother, Bob, have found their way into the Guinness Book of World Records. The brothers motored their 21-foot flats boat Intruder 21 from Atlantic Beach, N.C., to St. George's in Bermuda and then to New York Harbor. The 774-mile trip from St. George's to New York is listed as the longest nonstop ocean voyage in a flats boat. The danger in taking a flats boat into open water is that it has no keel and can flip during high seas. It also has no cabin to escape the elements. The Browns needed to carry their own fuel (228 gallons to New York and 338 gallons back to Florida). The trip was made to drum up publicity for Ralph Brown's boat company, Dream Boats. To view a video and explanation of the voyage, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=907xddcPTo4.