Introducing Fly N Fish

[Carl]

LOL, WOW, I didn't realize just how attached to the Tower you are.

I assumed like everything on your boat the Tower was well thought out, you knew it added some weight, being a pilot I knew you are keenly aware of air resistance so this was a good way to kick the bear, something I enjoy doing from time to time.
I'm still smirking...

Whether the Tower was just cause it looks good...and it really does or you have a need for it...which you definitely do, it is a compromise. I think that is a big reason Skinny Witch performs like it does...no upper structure, no bridge, no tower, light and low. The other thing I was hesitant to say, if we want economical running we need to loose that deep vee running stem to stern. Flatten it out like many other boats and she'd pop up on plane faster with less power, she'd stay on plane with less power and go faster with less power. OF course then it wouldn't be a Bertram with the Bertram ride and sea keeping abilities...something I am not willing to trade. Except maybe on nice flat days and maybe sloppy days drifting beam to.

I checked out your travels...tower or no tower...yikes.

[Ironworker]

I checked out your travels...tower or no tower...yikes.

That was her first trip to the Bahamas. I was trying to be careful not to ding her props. Now that I've gotten use to how much water she actually needs we are a little more daring.

If you have a notion for some warm water fishing come down to Spanish Wells. We should be there mid April and will be fishing hard until the end of June.

[Tony Meola]

Rick

Have you figured out how much water you are drawing? Out of the factory it was just short of 3 feet.

[Ironworker]

Rick

Have you figured out how much water you are drawing? Out of the factory it was just short of 3 feet.

I haven't actually measured the depth. I use 3' as my guide.

I have my transducer offset by 3' which has worked out pretty well for me...... so far. The Bahamas are well known for some busted up running gear.

[Tony Meola]

I would think at the most it is 3 feet. Otherwise, your Exhaust would be completely underwater when full of fuel.

[Carl]

Until I figure a way to get away from this work thing, you’re safe from seeing me drop by for a day out fishing. But when I do….


Props are easy to swap out in calm water… the shaft can be a bit more tricky. And a strut…oh my. Are you forward scanning or charts n eyes? When we took a charter out of Bermuda the Captain ran through a reef. I was a bit uneasy…but then not my boat, I could swim to shore and water was warm.

Much different kind of boating… here you don’t know what your gonna hit till you hit it.

[Yannis]

Carl, it's not your boat alright, but the tiburones?

[Ironworker]

Until I figure a way to get away from this work thing, you’re safe from seeing me drop by for a day out fishing. But when I do….


Props are easy to swap out in calm water… the shaft can be a bit more tricky. And a strut…oh my. Are you forward scanning or charts n eyes? When we took a charter out of Bermuda the Captain ran through a reef. I was a bit uneasy…but then not my boat, I could swim to shore and water was warm.

Much different kind of boating… here you don’t know what your gonna hit till you hit it.

[Ironworker]

I have two transducers on my boat a 3KW unit in a pocket that I use for deep dropping and a forward/side scan unit that I use while running. Both are mounted on the keel. I also have a lot of routes plotted in my chartplotter from 40 years of running boats in the Bahamas. Still the most important tool is ones eyes. Learning to read the water is extremely important.

One suggestion that I would make for someone visiting the Bahamas in their own boat is to buy a set of Explorer Charts. They are also loaded in CMAP base charts. They are pretty good for getting you to and from most spots. Its when you venture off the general routes that can get you into trouble.

[Carl]

tiburones

Had to look that up…I guess you didn’t mean the Ricky Martin song but sharks. I should have known that as we supercharged Hyundai Tiburon s years ago and I remember looking up the name meaning shark.

I said reef, so I guess reef sharks. But I’m not sure it really was a reef or has another name. It was a section of water of various depth littered with huge rocks or… that he zig zagged through so he didn’t have to go out n around to follow channel in. For me I’d burn the couple extra gallons of fuel for safe water, but fuel is not cheap there and I assume he knows the waters. Then again his first trip with the boat was running it from NJ to Bermuda. In any case, I shook my head knowing it not the path I’d take if I was at the helm…but not my boat and if we did hit, I could swim ashore and we had the buddy system for sharks. I’m not a fast swimmer, but faster than my buddy.

K- kidding. I’m not one to worry about sharks unless I have to. No need at that time.

A couple pics from the day. The boat wasn’t all that fast, but faster then I’d want to hit something.

[Tony Meola]

Carl & Rick

That water is so clear you really need to have good judgement to determine what you can clear and can't clear. Never been there but fished down in Grand Cayman a few times and got to know the Capt. pretty well. Was on the bridge with the captain on a 38 Bertram cutting through the North Sound and all I could think about was hitting something. It all looks shallow.

But then again, I am in NJ and not use to seeing bottom.

[Yannis]

I'm used to seeing bottom and one thing we do is we avoid running over these patches, we go around always.
The difference between the Med and the Caribbean is that in the Med all these patches, whether just pure vegetation or rocks or both are almost always very near the coast. In the Caribbean, as I see in the pics and elsewhere, you can find them in the middle of nowhere...and that is a problem.
The water color is the same though.

[Ironworker]

Here are a couple of photos of areas that I posted about earlier. First is the path between Sandy Cay and West End. The second is the little known cut between Grand Bahama Island and Abaco. I learned about the cut from an old sailor about 20 years ago. Some of these shortcuts shave off a few miles but the Cave Cay actually adds 30 miles. However taking that route can add for a better ride when the seas in the Providence Channel are rough.



West End of Grand Bahama



Cave Cay

[Yannis]

Are these meters?

[Carl]

Are these meters?

wouldn't that be nice.

[Ironworker]

Are these meters?

Unfortunately it's in Feet. These are old charts. Hurricane Dorian shifted a lot of sand and these charts are not accurate but they are close. The Bahamas does not maintain its Navigation Aids and often they are non existent.

[Tony Meola]

Rick

Some skinny water there. I thought I ran through some skinny spots heading to Barnegat inlet but that looks real tight in spots.

[Ironworker]

Rick

Some skinny water there. I thought I ran through some skinny spots heading to Barnegat inlet but that looks real tight in spots.

These are the kinds of areas that I'm routinely running which is exactly why I have a 31 Bertram! I need shallow draft with big boat ride/handling. Crossing the Providence Channel which is 14,000 ft deep with 3,000 miles of easterly fetch only to be met with running in 3.5 feet of water is just another day in the life of a Bahamian fisherman.

[Ironworker]

I finally got the two jump seat pedestals installed on the fly bridge on the Fly N Fish. We took a little tour of the ICW today to do a shake down run before the trip to the Bahamas. Here is the photo. Widening the fly bridge of the 31 is a a game changer!

[pbatesko]

Really Pretty Boat!... and very Sportfish functionable ..... your knowledge and work done to this boat is incredible and very impressive. Wish you many fantastic memories with it .....Pete

[Yannis]

Great work!
I wish I had your knowledge and skills to carry out such a quality work.
The flying bridge, now that it’s wider, is...almost as roomy as the 28’s, hoho ho !!!

[Tony Meola]

That is a pretty boat. Nice work Rick.

All those Rod Holders reminds me of when Brewster use to post pictures. He always had rods all over the place.

[Ironworker]

There is never enough rod holders! I'm adding four more with the Kill Box for hooked fish and rotating them out.

I appreciate all the compliments. We made a lot of changes to the 31 Platform. I'll give you the widening of the helm. Can you pick out the other differences in the pic?

[Oldcreek]

I like the transom graphics!

What else did you do?! I like the transom gate/opening, new cockpit floors, custom bulkhead, tower, motor boxes!

it's all looking good!!!

[Oldcreek]

Interesting deck floor drains to cleat openings and closing off the railing hawse pipes...

[Ironworker]

Interesting deck floor drains to cleat openings and closing off the railing hawse pipes...

Good catch on the cockpit drains. I raised the floor and eliminated all but one hatch in the floor. I removed the side panels to capture useful space and installed the side and rear drains to the scuppers which work pretty well. They support the floor.

I did remove the old hawse pipes and have plans to install them in the stern but haven't gotten around to that project. Currently I'm running the ropes through the scuppers temporarily.

I need to add scupper covers and have bought several but because of the swim platform they are dang near impossible to install. When I haulout for bottom paint, I'm going to glass in some that I've made.

[Yannis]

Rick,

There is this tool that attaches to your drill and allows to reach into areas at an angle, like the scuppers' lower screws.

[Ironworker]

One of the other mods that doesn't show up in the photos very well is that we eliminated the step down on the flybridge deck and I raised the height of the water deflector at the rear. Here is the best pic of that.

[Ironworker]

Rick,

There is this tool that attaches to your drill and allows to reach into areas at an angle, like the scuppers' lower screws.

I'll see what I can find. It's going to have to be a pretty tight fit.

[Yannis]

Rick,

As these scupper covers receive no stress, you could just prep the surrounding area with a sand paper and bond them with sikaflex. They will not budge until the end of time. No drill no screws.

[Ironworker]

Rick,

As these scupper covers receive no stress, you could just prep the surrounding area with a sand paper and bond them with sikaflex. They will not budge until the end of time. No drill no screws.

The last ones that I had stuck on with adhesive. I can't find those anymore. I bought some from Gemlux but I don't think adhesive will work with those as they are multiple pieces. I fabbed some glass pipe from epoxy and was going to use those. I will just have to paint them.

I ordered adapter for my drill. I'll see what work out. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Ironworker]

We are planning on doing some Mermaid camping in the Fly N Fish in the next couple of weeks so we made some needed improvements, Starlink and a TV which is tied into the chart plotter. I also added a Furuno SC20, which I have been wanting to do for a year!