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Updated 09/10/2011
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New guide boat ready to hit the water
After a 14 month total rebuild let me tell everyone how excited
I am that my new guide boat will finally be hitting the water.
As a full time fishing guide my boat is the single most
important tool I use to catch fish day in day out. I spend
thousands of hours a year out on my boat and it simply becomes
part of you. A few years ago I had started looking for a new
bigger guide boat. There are just too many rough days I fish in
a year that my clients and I get beaten up on my 17ft
actioncraft flats boat. Also over the last 4 or 5 years my
fishing clientele has changed with lots more of my trips
requiring a boat that can take four anglers. |
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During the last 3 years I have had the use of a custom built 26ft tower
boat. After spending so much time up on a tower and having the ability
to do some nearshore fishing too I knew I had to have a bigger boat. and
it had to have a tower , I had lots of other requirements too that I
needed in my new boat, One of the most important being that after
running a shallow draft flats boat for years I did not want to give up
fishing a lot of my favorite places that required crossing very shallow
areas to access them.
I also needed a boat that was economical to run and could carry tons of
live bait.
Over the years I have ran just about every type of flats boat and bay
boat made and just could not find the perfect brand new boat for me. You
quickly realize that there is no perfect boat for every situation and
everything is a compromise.. After seeing a lot of my fellow guides
completely rebuild old classic boats into exactly what they needed I
knew this was the only way I was going to get what I wanted.
After lots of research and boat rides I narrowed my search down to a
classic 22-2 flatback aquasport.. The model I was looking for was the
first ever aquasport model hull made and only in production from
1967-1971. It was originally designed as a Bahamian patrol boat with the
first ones of the line being sold to the Chub Cay club. Made in Hialeah
Florida this was the first outboard powered center console style boat
every built.
She is able to run very shallow yet handle big sea's. The flat back
design requires very little horsepower to plane the boat. The design is
flat bottomed in the stern yet has a high sharp V in the front to break
the waves. Over the last 10 or so years they have became a very popular
guide boat in the Tampa Bay area as its often rough in the wide open bay
but there is also lots of really shallow water. There is not a more
copied hull design ever built than the flatback aquasport.
After a 3 month search for a 22ft flatback to rebuild I finally found
one up in Ocala. The same day I found it I made the drive. As it turned
out I bought the boat from the nieghbor of the original owner. The
seller had the original bill of sale and after purchasing the boat he
had grown up fishing on in New Hampshire he moved to Florida. I was
amazed at how good a condition the 42 year old hull was in, not that it
would have mattered as I was planning to completely strip the boat and
rebuild it. The original owner had paid $3200 in 1969 for the twin
outboard powered boat hull #327.
Every last bit of free time I have had for more than a year has been
spent working on this boat. I completely stripped the thick hand laid
fiberglass hull of it transom, stringers and cap and had it sandblasted
before the rebuild started. Using nothing but composite materials the
hull is now completely wood free, lighter and much stronger than it was
new. I designed and built a all new grid system of stringers along with
a console, full transom and cap. This project really gave me the chance
to build what I think is the perfect Southwest Florida guide boat. My
intention during the building of this boat was it would be a one time
build that would last me the rest of my guiding career.
With the boat going in to get wired and rigged with a brand new motor
this week I'm just thrilled at what was pulled off over the last year. I
would like to thank everyone who came by and helped me or just had words
of encouragement during my many itchy fiberglass days. I also want to
thank my wife for being so understanding for letting me build a boat at
our house. I really do think the only way you get exactly what you want
in a boat is to build it yourself. This classic antique Florida built
boat is now one of a kind, sexy and has a great history She will be good
for another 20 plus years of use..
Click the links below to view copies of my other recent reports.
08-08-2011
- 08-15-2011
- 08-22-2011
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