About Us

Meet the Builder

Alex Yuknat has 18 years of education and experience in boat building.  This started in Middle School where he was involved in building an 18’ Brockway Skiff with instructor, Ned Costello. This launched him into a lifelong passion for boat building.  Alex attended Sound Regional Vocational Aquaculture Center High School (Sound School) in New Haven. During his high school career he focused on boat building and marine engineering. After high school Alex attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy and then transferred to Maine Maritime Academy where he continued his education in his passion for boats and boat building. Upon completing college Alex moved to Key West, Florida.  Once settled there, Alex became involved in restoring a New Haven style sharpie schooner with its owner Billy Litmer. They became friends and decided to start a boat building company, Grown Boats.  Alex was the builder and Billy was the business manager. During his time at Grown Boats, Alex built 7 boats. The two most notable were a 33 foot house boat of custom design and the other was a Wharram Tiki 30, a 30 foot offshore sailing catamaran. The rest of the boats were 8-18 foot prams and skiffs. These boats were all wood hulls encapsulated in fiberglass.