The prototype Magic is used extensively in the Everglades and Florida Bay north of Key West. She is ideal for exploring wildlife in remote places, running up shallow rivers and mangrove creeks, anchoring behind keys and exploring deserted beaches that no other boat of this size and accommodation could even dream about approaching and she is capable of staying there for days at a time. The cabin provides six feet of headroom, and there are berths for four, plus a large galley and head with a shower. The cockpit is huge, with a PT boat-style helm station, and a large awning for shelter from the tropical sun. The boat is outboard-powered for simplicity, easy maintenance, and so the boat can be poled across bars and flats.
Construction is very simple, light, strong, fast and inexpensive.
There are no frames or floors. Sheer clamps, chine logs and bilge stringers are ripped from conventional 2x4 stock. There is a huge 110g. fuel tank under the bridge deck, and two 30g. bladder-type water tanks under the settees. There is a large ice box, and a 30g. holding tank for the marine toilet. This composite is vastly superior to fiberglass as a covering system for cold-molded wood construction.