LAURA MARIE is an exceptional example of a classic custom built sportfisherman. Built by the renowned Merritt yard, she is the first of the wide-body 46 Merritt Series with a 15' 8" beam, built in the 1980s, using cold molded glass over triple layer Okume. This was the boat that Roy Merritt and team pulled molds off to build the remainder of the 46 series.

Originally built as RENEGADE and later known as NITSO, LAURA MARIE has fished extensively from Maine to Cat Cay for giant Bluefin tuna to St. Thomas, Venezuela, Palm Beach and all along the East Coast chasing Blue and White Marlin as well as Sailfish over her lifetime.

LAURA MARIE's pedigree, mechanical and cosmetic refit and top condition make her a special boat for a discerning owner.  Her robust construction, reliable mechanical Cummins power, classic look, simplistic layout, and performance make her a great option for an under 50-foot serious sport fisherman capable of going anywhere and catching anything!

COMPLETE re-power with rebuilt 600 hp Cummins 903 diesels and engine room refit in July, 2015.

Below decks LAURA MARIE has two staterooms and one head. The Master Stateroom is fully forward with an island Queen berth with huge storage underneath and two large pull-out drawers. There are two large cedar-lined hanging lockers, one in each aft corner of the stateroom.

The Head is aft of the Master to starboard and has a Dometic fresh water head, new in 2016, vanity and sink, mirrored storage cabinets above, stone counter top, and large shower.

The Port Guest Stateroom has oversized criss-cross bunks: the upper berth is fore and aft with a hanging locker and pull-out drawers under while the lower berth is athwartships along the aft bulkhead with storage and pull out drawers under.

There is storage under the companionway stairs leading up to the Galley and Salon with LED lighting overhead.

The Galley is set to port with teak flooring, under-counter Scotsman ice maker, excellent storage and drawers, and stainless sink set in a stone counter top with teak sea rail trim. The forward over-counter storage cabinetry has large shelves and a microwave oven behind teak book-matched doors. The custom Merritt built-in refrigerator and freezer are to starboard with a large teak countertop with sea rail. The over-counter storage behind the forward cabinet has a flat screen TV and concealed liquor cabinet.

Entering the Salon, LAURA MARIE shows her classic sportfish heritage with a large Dinette to port featuring massive storage drawers under each seat and a Navigation Chart of the Florida, the Keys and the Bahamas. To starboard is a full length settee with rod storage behind and full storage under. On the aft bulkhead at either side of the center door are built-in cabinets with deep storage drawers.

Her expansive Cockpit is all Merritt with a full varnished bulkhead. She is clean and purpose-built for fishing featuring classic custom Merritt front load freezers with refrigerated drink boxes in the tops on either side of her large center door and cockpit controls on the starboard side outboard of the drink box. There are a series of tackle drawers on either side outboard of the freezers. Cockpit controls are in the starboard box top outboard. Her ample overhang offers shade for anglers perched on her drink boxes watching the baits as well as Eisenglass wing curtains.

LAURA MARIE has huge under-gunwhale storage lockers for mops, gaffs and the like. A large Murray fighting chair is the center piece of the cockpit. There are three in-deck live well / fish boxes capable of holding 12-dozen goggle-eyes or threadfins. A large Lazarette access is just aft of the chair and there is an access hatch to the centerline generator forward of the chair, aft of the engine room entrance at the salon door landing.

The bridge on LAURA MARIE has a single Murray Bros., helm chair with stainless stanchion. Her center console has a flush cabinet forward of the teak helm pod with electric ram lift-up panels for easy access to the full complement of electronics.  To starboard is the electrical breaker panel for the bridge equipment.

The teak helm pod has mechanical gauges under glass with a chrome bezel, aluminum Merritt wheel and single lever controls. There are two L-shaped bench seats with storage under on either side of the console. All bridge cushions and the Strataglass enclosure with roll-up U-zip panels are new in 2016 and made by C-Worthy.

The Hopewell tower has a new Weblon soft top and buggy top in 2015, tower controls and a VHF radio.

• Engines removed and completely rebuilt from the camshafts out. Currently have approx 150 hours since major rebuild
• Engine room completely refit:  new paint, new blowers, new aluminum stringer caps, new anti-vibration engine mounts, new dripless shaft seals, new shaft bearings, new ZF 510 2:1
• Bridge ladder changed from going through the bridge deck to a standard ladder over the aft end of the overhang
• All varnish was stripped and built up with 15 coats of Ocean Air varnish, an old-school cooked-down honest varnish with UV inhibitors for a deep reddish brown classic varnish look
• Hull and top-sides painted in 2012 in Palm Beach by previous owner
• Interior lighting replaced with new LED dimmable lighting
• New headliner installed in 2015
• All soft goods including mattresses, bed linens, covers, drapes and carpets NEW 2015
• Fresh water head installed NEW 2016
• Bridge cushions installed NEW 2016

• Salon air conditioning, forward and aft
• Full length settee starboard, with storage behind and under
• Dinette to port, with under-seat storage and Nav chart table
• Tackle storage drawers port & starboard
• Cork & teak and holly flooring
• Flat screen TV
• Liquor cabinet
• Headliner -  NEW 2016 
• Dimmable LED lighting - NEW 2016 
• Vimar switches, installed 2016
• Window Curtains - NEW 2016

• Forward over-counter storage shelving with teak book-matched doors
• Custom Merritt under-counter stainless refrigerator and freezer
• Rival microwave oven
• AC/DC electrical distribution panel
• Under-mount stainless sink
• Stone countertops with teak sea rails
• Under-counter storage and drawers
• Air conditioning

• Island Queen berth with storage under and two large pull-out drawers aft
• Overhead forward deck hatch
• Audiovox flat screen TV
• Philips DVD player
• Overhead LED lighting - NEW 2016 
• Headliner - NEW 2016 
• Reading Lamps
• Overhead hatch
• 2 Large cedar-lined hanging lockers
• Carpeted flooring
• Air conditioning

• 2 Criss-cross over-sized berths
• Upper berth: sits fore and aft with large storage drawers and a hanging locker under
• Lower berth: athwartships along the bulkhead with storage under and pull-out drawers
• Cedar-lined hanging locker
• Overhead LED lighting - NEW 2106
• Headliner - NEW 2106
• Carpeted flooring
• Air conditioning

• Dometic fresh water head - NEW 2016 
• Stone countertop vanity with stainless sink and storage under
• Over-counter storage with shelving behind mirrored doors
• Full shower
• Teak and holly flooring

• Compass
• Engine gauges
• Single lever controls
• Trim tab controls
• L-shaped seating port & starboard with storage under
• Murray Bros., helm chair
• Cushions - NEW 2016
• Fusion stereo
• Bridge ladder changed to standard ladder over from the aft end of the overhang instead of thru a hole through the bridge deck
• Center console with flush cabinet forward of the teak helm pod with electric ram lift-up panels for easy access to the electronics
• Electrical breaker panel for the bridge equipment starboard

• Hopewell Tower
• Weblon Soft top - NEW 2016 
• Weblon Buggy top - NEW 2016 
• Tower controls
• 7 Bridge rod holders
• Spreader lights
• Rupp triple spreader outriggers
• Rupp center rigger
• C-Worthy Strataglass enclosure with center & side curtain U-Zip roll-ups - NEW 2016

• Electronics console
• Furuno NavNet chartplotter
• Furuno NavNet echosounder
• Furuno NavNet radar
• Datamarine digital depthfinder
• Sea 157 VHF radio
• Simrad AP-24 auto pilot
• Fusion MS-AV700i stereo - NEW 2016 
• Tower VHF

• Complete topside and hull Awlgrip paint - new 2014
• Cold-molded, wood hull construction
• Teak toe rails
• Teak trim throughout
• Murray Bros., helm chair
• C-Worthy Strataglass Enclosure - NEW 2016
• C-Worthy bridge cushions - NEW 2016
• Bow on-deck hatch access to anchor locker
• Stainless steel bow cleats
• Stainless steel spring cleats
• Stainless steel stern cleats

• Varnished teak bulkhead
• Teak deck and covering boards
• Flush-mount gunwhale rod holders
• Gunwhale-mounted rod holders
• 3 In-deck live well / fish boxes
• 2 Front load freezers
• 2 Refrigerated drink boxes
• Tackle drawer storage, port and starboard
• Cockpit controls
• Under-gunwhale covered storage boxes
• Murray Bros., fighting chair
• Fresh and salt water wash downs
• 50-amp shore power inlet
• Ample overhang for shade
• Clear wing curtains
• Lazarette access aft of the fighting chair
• Access hatch to the centerline generator
• Access to the engine room engine at the Salon door entrance.

• AC: 110/220V
• DC: 12/24 V
• Battery Charger
• On/off switches / parallel switch
• 220V Shore power 50-amps
• Navigation lights
• Tower lights
• Engine starting and house batteries
• 16 kW Northern Lights generator

• Twin 600 hp Cummins 903 diesel engines, 2016, totally rebuilt including camshafts, cylinders, valves turbos, cooling system
• Approx 150 hrs since major rebuild
• Racor fuel filters
• Merritt aluminum engine stringer caps - NEW 2016 
• Awlgrip paint - NEW 2016 
• Engine Mounts - NEW 2016 
• Hoses, clamps, exhaust hoses, fuel hoses, etc.- NEW 2016 
• Halon fire system
• Oil change system
• Water heater
• Complete Engine Room refit: NEW paint, blowers, aluminum stringer caps, anti-vibration engine mounts, dripless shaft seals, shaft bearings
• ZF 510 2:1 gears - NEW - replaced old Twin Disc 1.5:1 gears
• Trim tabs