Nor is he talking about seeing things from a treetop view.

To Miller, bird’s eye is a somewhat rare and expensive type of wood. Maple, to be precise.

‘‘You can’t grow a bird’s eye maple tree,’’ he said while showing off some of his woodworking efforts. ‘‘Some maple trees will have some bird’s eye in the wood, but only about one maple tree out of a hundred.’’

What makes it bird’s eye is the swirls in the grain that make erratic patterns and little knot-like designs. At one time, Miller said, it was considered trash wood, but now it is seen as rare and desirable.

In fact, Miller, who owns Rich’s Marine in St. Augustine, has just finished doing the interior of the world’s largest catamaran using nothing but bird’s eye maple.

‘‘It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it used on a boat,’’ he commented.

The boat that is getting such special treatment is the Channel Cat, an 85-foot-long catamaran carrying a 41-foot beam, that has been two years in the building in Green Cove Springs. It was designed and built by King Williams of Santa Barbara, Calif., who also serves as its captain.

‘‘I’ve wanted to build a boat like this all my life,’’ Williams said.

He was finally given the chance by Charles T. Munger, owner of Santa Barbara-based Ocean Channel Adventures. The motor sailer, which is to be used for whale watching excursions and dinner cruises off the California coast and in Hawaii, left Green Cove Springs last week for a month in Palm Beach, where its mast and sails will be fitted. Then it is on to California for the vessel that is certified to carry 150 passengers and a crew of eight.

‘‘It is one big boat,’’ Miller said as he proudly displayed the interior work it has taken him and a crew of five 18 months to complete.

‘‘It took us a month and a half just to get enough matching bird’s eye maple to make the top of the bar alone,’’ he explained.

It’s obvious that no expense was spared in building the Channel Cat, which has three deck levels. Besides the unique woodwork — ‘‘Every bit of it is hand-finished and hand-rubbed,’’ Miller noted — there are hand-etched designs in decorative glass throughout the interior. These etchings of otters, whales, pelicans and mermaids were also done by a St. Augustine artisan, Skip Hunter.

Miller estimated that the bill on the interior work alone will add up to somewhere around $300,000. Williams said the overall cost of building the vessel will end up totaling around $6 million.

‘‘It’s a big, stable, comfortable, beautiful boat,’’ Williams said as he showed off the $53,000 audio and video system as well as the computer that will help him drive the boat. ‘‘It’s all state of the art — the dream of a lifetime.’’