Sharkey Goes Bullet-Style Boating For 60th Birthday
Best-known in the go-fast pleasure-boating and offshore racing worlds as a New Jersey-based photographer whose work first appeared in Powerboat magazine, Tim Sharkey of Sharkey Images has been moonlighting as a boat-builder for the past couple of years. Sharkey has been hard at work restoring a Bullet 130 SV, an outboard engine-powered sportboat he actually built in 1985 and—like the offshore and protected waters of his home state—remains near and dear to his heart.
To celebrate his 60th birthday, photographer Tim Sharkey took his painstakingly restored Bullet 130 SV for a 60-mile trek off the New Jersey Shore.
Like the boating-waters of his home-state, the 13-footer has long been a passion for Sharkey, whose photography was first published in Powerboat magazine and continues to appear on speedonthewater.com, as well as in its digital magazine and Year In Review print magazine.
Today is the veteran photographer’s 60th birthday. So what better way to celebrate it than to take an extended ride in his own Bullet 130 SV powered by a vintage 60-hp Johnson SST outboard engine on Garden State waters?
And that’s exactly what he did.
“I took the Bullet 130 SV from the Manasquan Inlet in Point Pleasant Beach to the Golden Nugget Resort and Casino in Atlantic City,” said Sharkey, who located the 13-footer on Ebay and bought it for his restoration project. “That was 60 miles one way, and the boat ran offshore outstandingly well.
“All in, I got in 131.2 miles today,” he added.
Sharkey was delighted with the offshore performance of his own creation today.
Would-be Bullet buyers can purchase a new 13-footer through Sharkey and Brit Lilly of Lilly Sport Boats of Arnold, Md., which is building them. Said Lilly, “I’ve sold all the ones I’ve built so far including two to Travis Pastrana.”
Of course, Sharkey hasn’t completely abandoned weekend photography gigs on the road for weekend boat-restoraton at home. As he has for years, he’s shooting the upcoming Lake Champlain Poker Run in Burlington, Vt., which is set for August 18-19.
Happy Birthday, Tim Sharkey.
Would-be buyers interested in their own new Bullet 130 should contact Tim Sharkey or Brit Lilly.
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