THE ONE CONSTANT… CHANGE!

I honestly don't even know where to begin. So much has happened since my last article. I was fully planning on getting all caught up as soon as I got home at the end of the tournament season — remember, we rebuilt a main in one week just a couple of days before the Cabo tournaments started.

After that, we took a group out from Costa Rica. Their trip started two days after the Bisbees ended. We pulled all of the black and blue marlin stuff off the boat and switched gears into full-on striper mode. All-out striped marlin fishing! Four teasers, six ballyhoo and sometimes a dredge in the mess as well. Fishing was much slower this year, but still fun. We caught marlin every day and had multiple shots including a couple of blue marlin on light tackle.

We fished one more day then did our annual end-of-the-season breakdown of everything — and I mean everything. Clean, lube, oil and protect. Then oil and fuel filter changes on the mains and generators along with all the other machinery maintenance.

I got home just in time to buy a suit so I could go to my son Ryan's wedding in something other than Fishworks shorts and a T-shirt. In the middle of getting ready for the whole wedding deal I got a call that the yellow boat had sold! I was like what? Really? Absolutely no warning.

I had three days to get all of our stuff off the boat and get back before the wedding. After the initial shock I instantly shifted gears into the next phase — after all we do build ‘em to sell ‘em.

I was on a plane two days later to grab all of our personal belongings and gear. Thank God we spring clean this thing twice a year or else we couldn't have pulled off. It still took two 18-hour days to organize everything, box, label and store it. Then back on the plane and off to the wedding.

Robert Ross, the guy that bought our 55-foot Hatteras bought Badger. He had been saying he was going to get it since it was new. He's a great guy with a passion for boats and he got a beauty. It was easy letting the boat go to Robert because he takes such great care of his boats and I know he loves them as much as I do. Enjoy it Robert.

So then I get home and I'm like now what? I'm down to one boat and it is like 2,000 miles away. Anthony says he's got a couple of ideas and to give him a couple of days. That was fine with me as I was still sorting through paper work, parts and other stuff.

Well, that's about what it took — two days. All of a sudden I'm back to a couple of boats, nope make that a few, I forgot about the Tiara. We got back the 60 Hatteras that we nicknamed “Compa,” a very special boat. To say that it was in need of some work is a gross understatement, you don't have to read the whole to-do list but just so you can get an idea of what the last month has been like, here it is:

1. Exhaust risers and mixers were both leaking, remove, order and re-weld parts then reinstall. The risers had been spraying water over pumps and A/C units, water damage in all wiring looms from this, as well as damage to pumps.

2. Remove all hatches (three) on foredeck and fiberglass and bed to the deck.

3. Paint and non-skid bridge and cockpit decks.

4. Caulk all salon windows.

5. Install new carpet in salon.

6. Reupholster couch and settee in salon.

7. Refasten refrigerator in salon then replace evaporator.

8. Replace salon icemaker.

9. Fix ice chipper and plumbing (was never plumbed correctly), fix water leaks, bad sensor and reduced pressure (system was running 200 psi over).

10.Resplice anchor line to chain.

11.Fix loose motor on windlass.

12.Haul boat out of water and remove swimstep, lube all thru-hull valves, clean all screens, remove growth from props and shafts.

13.Install bow bait tank (thanks Mark Wisch) and replumb bow bait system.

14.Remove all bad plumbing in boat (10 hours, two guys).

15.Service fire extinguishers (out of date).

16.Take out all inoperable navigation systems and replace with new Furuno and custom computer system. Took two guys an entire day, cleaning lazerette, replacing hose clamps, fixing broken wires, switches and pumps. The sonar was inoperable, an entire board was ripped off. Tired of writing, it goes on and on…

Anyway, with the help of a few sub contractors and Eliseo we got it all done. I started on November 16th, Eliseo came in on the 28th, we hauled out on December 7, went back in on the 8th and drove straight to the fuel dock. We then replaced oil and fuel filters. As soon as we got back to the slip we had a two-man wash down crew on board while Eliseo, Erik ( the captain from Shannon Rose) and I went grocery shopping. We came back and stored all the goods. Then Anthony and Ron came down to see us off while we waited for Kyle, our last delivery guy. We departed for Cabo the night of the 8th.

The boat is almost done, still chasing a few gremlins around but we hope to have everything tight in the next few months.

It really is a great boat and I'm stoked to have it!

That old saying “there are no destinations — life is a journey” is becoming more crystal clear to me every day. There's plenty of time to rest when we're dead. I'm just afraid that if I slow down I'm gonna miss something.

The trip down was pretty spectacular and I'll get into that in the next article.