The Crew
Rick
Rick is the creative genius behind ArtBoats and many exquisite floating creations. His diverse experience as boat designer, builder, and artist spans five decades. Born in Old Town, Maine, he jokingly claims he was birthed in a canoe. He grew up on the coast, and spent his younger years finding ways to spend time on Casco Bay. Seeing the variety of Maine-built vessels on the water led him to later find inspiration in traditional boat building. At 15, he designed and built his first boat, a small canoe. Since then, he has designed and built dozens of boats.
In the early 1990s, Rick moved to Key West, Florida and immersed himself in the creative community while he continued building boats and expanded his artistic endeavors. He became well known for the fun, often subtly profound, Fantasy Fest Parade floats he designed and built with Steve.
Rick was a pioneer of ecotourism in The Florida Keys. He purchased and rebuilt a sunken catamaran to use in his company, JavaCat Charters, where he offered sailing, kayaking and snorkeling. He found purpose in sharing his love of The Keys with visitors while encouraging minimal impact on the fragile ecosystem. Later, after selling his successful business, he leveraged that experience and environmental sensitivity by designing and building low impact liveaboards and houseboats.
Now, back in his home state of Maine, Rick continues his life’s work of designing and building boats. ArtBoats affords him the opportunity to utilize his technical expertise, artistic flair, and love of all things distinctive in custom houseboats.
Steve
Steve is a boat builder and artist who calls both the Florida Keys and Casco Bay, Maine his home(s). Steve is originally from Bristol, England but moved to the Keys in 1986 where he immediately set about building his own custom 36 foot catamaran. Thus began his life living on the water. Even now, Steve can often be found cruising on one of his ArtBoats (if he’s not building one), or paddling one of his custom paddle boards around Casco Bay.
With a passion for wood working and inspired by unique island communities, boat building became a source of work-art and pleasure for Steve. After seeing a custom built boat towed through town some thirty years ago, he followed it to the boatyard where he met the builder, Rick Keith. Joined by a love of boat building and water living, they partnered to create countless custom ArtBoats and art projects over the years in both Key West and Maine. Their projects have ranged from beautiful custom houseboats to racing catamarans, always with an artistic flair and refined woodwork.
