The Mon Tiki Eco Catamaran Project believes the idea of community-oriented, pro-social, values-defined tourism is just as important to the place where we make our lives and raise our children as it is on an atoll in the Indian Ocean or an Andean mountain top. We believe sustainable, ethical business begins at home, and our home is Montauk, New York.
The backbone of the project is the James Wharram designed Tiki 38. The Tiki is a locally built, low-impact construction, low-emissions vessel. Primary propulsion is provide by her powerful schooner sailplan, giving her a cruising speed in excess of 6-8 knots, and a top speed of up to 16 kts.
The Mon Tiki Eco Catamaran Project is not a charity. It is not a 501c nonprofit corporation. It is not a school. The Mon Tiki Eco Catamaran Project is a self-sustaining, for profit business serving the Summer visitors to Montauk, and proud to take it's place in the business community of the greater East End.
Our business model is simple: during the Summer months we provide a beautiful day on the water on a beautiful locally-built boat, in safety and comfort, with a friendly, professional crew. We take pride in doing a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, and we take pleasure in sharing the beauty of where we live and how we live with our guests.
But we also recognize that our community is not simply a collection of businesses serving the Summer tourist trade. We recognize that life offers rewards and responsibilities that go beyond what can be tallied on a spread sheet. We know that a healthy bottomline is but one measure of a healthy and worthwhile life.
In the months of May, June, September, and October Mon Tiki will serve as a floating science classroom, hosting day-trips for school groups and other youth groups so that children can learn hands on about physics, marine science, low-impact and sustainable technology, and teamwork.
These outings are scheduled to put the boat in service during the unused weekdays of the "shoulder season", days that would otherwise see the boat laying idle. They will be offered at cost, and are our way of building ongoing, sustainable community engagement into our business-model.
The name Mon Tiki is lovingly appropriated from Thor Heyerdahl's famous 1947 voyage from South America to Polynesia and the hand-hewn balsa wood raft Kon Tiki that carried him and his crew on their 5,000 mile, 101 day adventure in safety and comfort.
Heyerdahl, his crew, and the Kon Tiki serve as our inspiration to dream big, question assumptions intelligently, and have the courage to follow your own path. Our fondest hope is that our passengers -- whether Summer guests or students -- will be similarly inspired by their time aboard Mon Tiki!
