Born to be a captain

“Growing up in Miami in the 70’s, the kids in the neighbourhood all loved to fish. We would ride our bikes to the nearest marina or docks and fish all day long”, Ed remembers. The year was 1985. Ed Kattel was a young mate on board the Tropicat, a vessel owned by Pantropic Power/Kelly Tractor. Little did he know that 12 years later, he would be the captain of the whole operation, and as the years went by, Ed went from running the whole fleet of three boats to running his own vessel, the Cool Cat. A 36-ft long Glastech manufactured right there in Miami.

ONE FOR THE TEAM

Just outside Key Largo is where the Cool Cat roams the ocean. Nearby is a guesthouse owned by Kelly Tractor and whenever the dealer wants to wine, dine and fish a customer, they take them down to see Ed. “I take them fishing, diving or sightseeing, or whatever they want to do”, Ed says. “It’s a great way for the salesmen to get to know the customers better, and a nice reward for the customer.”

Ed remembers fondly the time Pantropic/Kelly Tractor sent him down to Costa Rica for a year and a half. But to get the 36 feet long Cool Cat all the way to Costa Rica wasn’t all that easy. Ed had to ship her with Dockwise, a company that travels all over the world, delivering boats to their destinations. He picked her up in Golfito and then made his way up the coast to Los Sueños.

THE MESSAGES IN THE BOTTLES

One of the sacred traditions on the Cool Cat is to throw a bottle with a message in the ocean. Besides the message, it contains information on how to get in contact with Ed. “One of our first responses was from Bahamas, some of the bottles have ended up in North Carolina, and many of them right here in Florida” Ed says, while he casually throws a bottle in the ocean.

ONE BOAT, ONE CAREER

After 30 years at Pantropic Power/Kelly Tractor, Ed still enjoys every day and plans on working there for as long as he is able and the company will have him. And even in his spare time, Ed loves spending his days by the boat, taking her to the shipyard and catching up on different boat projects. “When they built her, I used to drive to Miami every day to oversee things and to make sure everything was fine” Ed recalls. He always had a firm thought of building the Cool Cat with a lot of maintenance free equipment. And the result is a vessel with few issues that despite being a small boat, rides like one of the heavyweights.

NAME: Edward Kattel

AGE: 57

OCCUPATION: Captain of the Cool Cat

LIVES: Lower Matecumbe, Florida Keys

FAMILY: Wife Victoria

LEISURE: Snorkeling, Travel, Organic

Food Gardening and Art