We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’re enamored with Hobbie’s Mirage-drive-equipped pedal-powered kayaks. So what would you get if sailboat people, rather than kayak people, made a pedal-powered boat?

You might get something like the Nauticraft line of pedal-powered boats:

Where did these unusual boats come from? Glad you asked! Fisheries Supply has the Nauticraft’s forerunner on display just now: The 1985 Hoyt-Harken Waterbug. In keeping with our recent James Bond theme, let me point out that

it looks a lot like a tall version of Blofeld’s "bathosub" escape submarine from the end of Diamonds Are Forever.

So while researching the Waterbug, I learned that it was a joint venture between yacht designer and sailing innovator Garry Hoyt and the Harken brothers. These are high-caliber sailboat people.

Hoyt put a lot of thought into this tiny vessel, and Harken designed and manufactured the unique hardware it would require. It’s an amazing little craft, but it failed in the marketplace. Perhaps this is not a surprise.

Nauticraft’s Curtis Chambers has picked up the ball, however, and this time, he thinks the time is right. Not for the Waterbug, precisely…it’s still a little too "buggy" for most people’s taste.

Instead, Chambers has revised the Waterbug’s sistership (the Mallard), discarded fiberglass in favor of roto-molded construction, and added several innovations of his own. In fact, he’s created an entire line of similar boats, including two-seater models.

In addition, there is an optional electric propulsion package, and coming full circle back to the Waterbug’s Hoyt/Harken roots, there’s even a sailboat in the line-up. You can read the whole story on Nauticraft’s website.