Eco Factor: Boat constructed from recycled materials.
After working on his dream for a total of nine years, Beardstown based Butch Williams, a retired draftsman at the Illinois Department of Transportation, is set to roll in his paddlewheel boat dubbed Sunshine. The boat has been made from trashed materials gathered from different sources and carries the name of his ex-wife Sobha, which means sunshine in English.
The 74-foot boat has been built from materials that were trash for everybody else. It carries cherry wood that came from the home of a late Springfield auto dealer, oak wood came from Butch’s grandmother’s furniture, tin roof came from a Beardstown funeral home that was damaged in a fire and pulleys came from an Oscar Mayer meatpacking plant.
The boat runs on a GM diesel engine that generates 125hp that was salvaged from Butch’s friend’s truck. The main parts of the paddlewheel came from one of his friends in the American Sternwheel Association. The finished boat features a Jacuzzi, a shower, a kitchen and a guest room. It also has two 60-gallon live wells to allow Butch to catch fish.
