PamliEcoConnectQuestions & Answers
What we know, what we are still working out, and what is a target rather than a proven result. If something here is unclear or you think a number deserves scrutiny, ask us directly — that is the point of publishing it.
Service & Fares
What will a ticket cost?
Roughly $35 one way at the retail rate. We plan discounted passes for local residents and seasonal workers, potentially subsidized, because a crossing that works for visitors but prices out the workforce does not solve the problem we set out to solve. Fares are planning estimates and are not yet filed or final.
How often would boats run?
The plan is one vessel based at each port, running two to three loops per day, scaled to demand rather than to a fixed timetable. Four boats across three routes, with one spare for charter work and backup.
Why three ports instead of one flagship route?
Because they serve genuinely different markets. Vandemere is the closest sound access for the Research Triangle. Engelhard is a 25-nautical-mile crossing with affordable bayside housing, which makes a daily commute realistic for the beach workforce. Belhaven already has boatyards, marinas and amenities, so it works in both directions. More than one town is also better politically, and it spreads the economic upside — housing, lodging and restaurants — across several communities instead of concentrating it in one.
Infrastructure
Do you need terminal agreements before you can operate?
Not for the vessels we are starting with. Small passenger vessels do not require the terminal infrastructure a state-run vehicle ferry does. We also already own the Buxton node, which removes the single hardest site to secure on the Hatteras side.
How do the boats charge?
Vessels run LFP battery packs, charged at terminal nodes by DC charging stations backed by sodium-ion storage. Buffering with stationary storage means a charge event does not depend on peak grid draw at a rural landing.
The Vessels
Which boats are you actually building?
Four, on one platform. R-Series — 6 passengers, the demonstrator and R&D vessel. T-Series — 20 passengers under USCG Subchapter T, the flagship-route boat. P-Series — 50 passengers for high-capacity corridors. M-Series — defense and special mission. Same tooling, same foils, same flight control; each vessel funds and de-risks the next.
Are the published performance numbers proven?
No, and we label them as what they are. Speed, range and draft figures are design targets that have not been confirmed by sea trials. We would rather publish a target and be held to it than publish a number we cannot yet defend.
Why does a US builder matter?
Under the PVSA (46 U.S.C. § 55103), a foreign-built vessel cannot carry more than 12 paying passengers between US points. Every electric foiling builder operating at scale today is European. Above 12 passengers on a domestic route, they are not eligible — and no US builder has taken the seat.
Funding
What are you raising?
A $1.25M seed round now, followed by a Wefunder community round to be announced, and a $20M raise at the later stage. We are also pursuing substantial non-dilutive funding — the federal and state grant environment for domestic vessel manufacturing and rural transit is unusually favorable right now. The Wefunder campaign is not yet live, and expressions of interest are not investments.
How are you different from Harbor Towns?
It is a fair question and the first one most people in Raleigh ask. Harbor Towns bought finished vessels and then tried to build a service around them. We are starting from the opposite direction: build and test small R&D vessels first, prove the hulls and the flight control on the water, and only then scale into scheduled service. We also start with tooling that has already produced vacuum-infused carbon hulls, rather than a design that has never been built. A fuller written and audio discussion is on the Press page.
Something we missed?
Press enquiries, operator questions, and diligence requests all go to the same place.
info@pamliecoconnect.com · 252-552-5551