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Captain Chris Sheeder Passes Away After Battle with Cancer

January 7, 2021 By InTheBite Digital Editor

January 7, 2021—It’s with a heavy heart that we announce well-known Hawaii Captain Chris Sheeder has passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to a public Facebook post from his brother. Sheeder’s love for the water began at the young age of 11 when he took his first offshore trip out of Kona. This eventually led him to become a leader in refining techniques for catching billfish on the fly. He accumulated a career billfish tally of more than 35,000.

Sheeder worked his way up the ladder, from mate and then to captain. And throughout his time in the fishing circuit, Sheeder was always ready to give back to the community and share what he had learned himself.

This is best summed up in his own words when InTheBite interviewed him a few years back.

“I don’t feel like I’m in the sportfishing business, I’m in the dream fulfillment business. It might sound cheesy, but fishing is a great way of enriching other people’s lives. It’s been my avenue to making lifetime memories. How can you touch other people’s lives? Take them fishing. Lots of people think about a day spent together for a long, long time.”

Read more about Captain Chris Sheeder’s career here.

Filed Under: Central America, Crew, News, People Tagged With: billfishing, boat captain, captain chris sheeder, chris sheeder death

A Life on the Sea: Capt. Billy Black on the 50′ Duchess

December 15, 2020 By InTheBite Digital Editor

captain billy black with dogs

Captain Billy Black is well-known among the sportfishing community, especially along the Treasure Coast and the Bahamas. With a wealth of experience, and an interesting history to boot, Black is one of those captains who can truly say that he’s ‘been there and done that.’

We stopped by to chat with Black on his classic 50-foot Hatteras sportfisher, Duchess, that can be seen taking charters out to fish the waters off Stuart and the Bahamas. For more information on Capt. Billy Black’s sportfishing charters, visit captbillyblack.com or check out his fish de-hookers and lures here: captbillyblack.com/index.php/dehooker

Filed Under: Crew, Featured Stories, People Tagged With: 50' hatteras, captain billy black, duchess, Hatteras Yachts, Walkers Cay

Captain Emory D. Dillon: A North Carolina Fishing Pioneer

November 23, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

 

Capt. Emory Dillon with a young Chip Shafer and a blue marlin caught off the Early Bird in Hatteras.

Capt. Emory Dillon with a young Chip Shafer and a blue marlin caught off the Early Bird in Hatteras.

By Jim Blount

In 2013 the offshore fishing community lost a true pioneer of the industry when Captain Emory D. Dillon passed away in Frisco, North Carolina at the age of 87. Captain Emory fished the offshore waters of North Carolina and Florida for over four decades on his boat, the Early Bird, until his retirement in the 1990s. His reputation as a successful charter captain stood out among all his fellow captains, anglers and mates. Emory’s dry sense of humor and likable personality combined with a natural instinct to perform as a charter boat captain earned him tremendous respect for those who spent time around him, especially his mates.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Crew, Featured Stories, People Tagged With: boat captain, Charter Fishing, Emory D. Dillon, north carolina fishing

The Best and Worst Fish of My Life

November 16, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

Captain Ricky Wheeler and mate Stephen Bowen

By Keith Bowen

During the 2017 WMO, I fished with Capt. Ricky Wheeler on the Exile 65 Paul Mann out of The Canyon Club Marina in Cape May, NJ. After a classic crashing teaser bite, a plug was pitched on an 80W standup combo and it was ‘game on’ with a decent sized Blue Marlin. I quickly got in my Smitty Built harness and got ready for a fight. Between fishing in Costa Rica and New Jersey, I had caught about 20 Blue Marlin in the past but after one jump, it was clear this was my biggest to date. Everyone was extremely excited during the controlled chaos as there had not yet been a blue weighed in and we were in the right Calcutta’s.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Adventures, Crew, Featured Stories, Fishing, People Tagged With: captain ricky wheeler, fishing advice, Offshore Fishing, White Marlin Open

Q&A with COTY Hawaii Division Winner Capt. Shane O’Brien

November 10, 2020 By InTheBite Digital Editor

We caught up with Kona’s Capt. Shane O’Brien, who placed first in this year’s Captain of the Year Hawaii Division, to talk about the past year and how he got to where he is today. O’Brien ended the Hawaii Division with 2150 points.

Tournament Wins:

  • Lazy Marlin Hunt, 2nd Place, 300 Pts.
  • Firecracker Open, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
  • Kona Throw Down, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
  • Skins Marlin Derby, 3rd Place, 100 Pts.
  • Big Island Marlin Tournament, 1st Place Release, 500 Pts.
  • Hawaiian Marlin Tournament Series Champion, 250 Pts.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Crew, Featured Stories, People Tagged With: captain, Captain of the Year, captain shane o'brien, Hawaii Division, wild hooker

Keeping the Boss Happy: Advice from Veteran Captains and Owners

November 6, 2020 By InTheBite Digital Editor

captain and boat owner on boat

By Jan Fogt

When it comes to pleasing the boss, all the usual applies. Like keeping the boat clean and well maintained, keeping meticulous maintenance records, reigning in any bad behavior on the part of the crew, being prepared for travel and trips, tournaments, etc. In other words, when it comes to the boat, the secret to longevity on the job would seem to be to keep the boss’s life as hassle free as possible while watching out for the bottom line. As most captains will attest, if you can manage all of the above while taking care of fishing, you’ve got a job for life.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Advice, Boats, Careers, Crew, Featured Stories, Operations Tagged With: advice, boat captain, boat jobs, boat owners, fishing jobs

Capt. Newt Cagle: Forever Grateful

November 2, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

captain newt cagle at helm

By Capt. Jen Copeland

“Forever grateful.”

Aged just seventeen, Newt Cagle left his South Carolina home of Sullivan’s Island. On Captain John Mumford’s Hattitude, he was en route to all the usual new mate, cut-your-teeth destinations. The standard travel circuit seems to continually spit out the good new mates, and swallow up the bad: Florida, Mexico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and St. Thomas. If you can survive the nighttime antics of this billfish boot camp, you’re usually good. If not, you’re on the first plane home – to grow up.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Crew, Featured Stories, News, People, Young Guns Tagged With: boat captain, boat jobs, fishing jobs, north carolina fishing, young gun

Captain Carter Drummond: Ahead of the Competition

October 26, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

A guy holding a cubera snapper

By Capt. Jen Copeland

After mating a summer in the Gulf aboard a pretty little Carolina boat named Hook-N-Bull, Carter Drummond began his second year of college. It was the fall of 2009 and the 60-foot Billy Holton steamed toward Panama without him. With owner/operator Tom Shumate and Will Cocke at the helm, Carter was not sure he’d ever see her again. After trying to juggle his childhood love for fishing and school for over a year, fishing won out. Drummond took the next semester off and flew to Panama in pursuit of a dream.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Crew, Featured Stories, People Tagged With: boat captain, carter drummond, hook-n-bull, young guns

Old Salts: Captain Bouncer Smith

June 5, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

Captain Bouncer on his Dusky 33

Captain Bouncer Smith at his slip in Miami Beach Marina.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Crew, Featured Stories, General News, News, Old Salts Rule, People Tagged With: bouncer smith, Captain Bouncer Smith, captain profile, old salts

A Captain’s Guide to Making Money with your Boat

June 4, 2020 By InTheBite Editor

blue sportfishing boat on blue ocean

By Elliott Stark

You’ve heard them. You must have… After all, there are just so many… “How do you wind up with a little money in the fishing business? Start with a lot…” “BOAT – bust out another thousand.” “If you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can’t afford it.”

The ability of boats to eat money is legendary. It has spawned jokes, t-shirts, and bumper stickers of all kind. Rather than being simply fairy tales made up out of thin air, these sayings reflect a level of truth – boats can certainly be expensive.

There are, however, a select group of individuals who are able to consistently use their boats to generate income. The following is a look at several strategies used successfully by boat owners to make money with their boats.

With apologies to the owner/operator of the charter program, this view looks into a few less commonly practiced scenarios for boat-driven money-making.

los suenos costa rica crowded dock

Placing your boat in a popular tourist destination is a great first step
for chartering your vessel.

Boat Economics 101 and the Case for Boat Management

One popular avenue to generate revenue with a boat is to leave the boat at a popular charter destination and enter into a yacht management agreement.

Under this scenario, the boat owner hires a third-party company to take care of the boat and book charters on it. The revenue made by chartering the boat can offset the cost of boat ownership, while allowing owners to fish aboard while they are in town. There are some definite advantages to this approach.

Before you can wrap your mind around how to use your boat to generate income, it helps to understand the expenses associated with keeping and operating a vessel. As owner of Maverick Yachts and a principal of Maverick Costa Rica, Larry Drivon understands the economic variables associated with boat ownership from three separate perspectives.

He is a boat owner, he owns a boat building operation and is involved in yacht management, as well.

“There are three operating expense categories. The first are fixed costs. You incur these even if you never leave the dock. These include insurance, crew, dockage, painting, etc. Next, there are daily costs that arise when you use the boat. These include fuel, ice, bait, food, drinks and everything related to running the boat.

Finally, there are hourly costs,” Drivon relates. For the hourly cost category, Maverick Costa Rica uses two inputs – hours between oil changes and an engine reserve. For a 36-foot Maverick walk around, the oil change figure comes out to $2.00 per hour. The engine reserve, which factors the average hourly cost between engine rebuilds, is $8.75. Therefore, the factored cost is $10.75 for every hour that the boat runs.

“People consistently forget reserves for maintenance,” Drivon says. Neglecting to include this into the balance sheet can artificially inflate the profit margin – until you get hit with an astronomical repair bill that eats all the money you thought you made by chartering the boat. From Maverick’s perspective, the maintenance reserves are a line item in the fixed expense category.

boat economics sign

“The charter deal is not as simple as people think it might be,” Drivon continues. “First you need to determine whether you are trying to make money or trying to offset expenses. Before you decide on either perspective, you need to know what it’s going to cost. That’s the first thing.”

“Most people who own a charter boat don’t plan on being the hands-on manager. That leaves two options. You can work with a management company or can opt for captain and crew management,” Drivon says.

“At Maverick we charge $650 per month to manage the boat. That’s turn key. It includes all of the work with municipalities, taxes and fees, and proper licenses. Owners get a monthly profit and loss statement and a quarterly balance sheet. Management consists of a booking staff (for charters) and a representative on the dock every morning to make sure to get people on the right boats and to distribute food, etc. We also have a guy on the dock when the boat gets back in the afternoon.”

Once you understand what is included in a management agreement and get a handle on the costs of boat ownership, it is time to determine how much a boat needs to work in order to break even. To do this, you simply compute your fixed costs (slip, insurance, crew salary, management fee, fishing tackle expense, and maintenance reserves). Next, determine an average daily expense rate per day of boat use. Then, assign an average number of engine hours per day of charter fishing (generally 10 hours) and multiply it by the hourly expense rate.

This will give you the daily input for your hourly expense category. Finally, assign the rate that you charge clients for a day of charter fishing – this figure is money coming in (everything else measures money going out). Once you have the annual fixed cost number, inputs for the average daily cost and average hourly cost and the charter rate, you can begin multiplying everything by number of days chartered.

For simplicity’s sake, you can see what it would look like if you chartered 75 days, 100 days, 125 days and 150 days. Up until your breakeven point, the profit brought in by charter fishing is outweighed by the fixed costs of boat ownership.

At some point on the curve, there is a breakeven – at which time the money you bring in by chartering your boat equals the expenses you shell out paying for all the expenses. From that point on, each day chartered generates income. Once you’ve got a handle on all of the numbers, think about your objective – making money or offsetting costs.

The breakeven point for the Maverick 36, using the company’s management pro forma, is 112 days chartered per year. In 2017, the fleet managed by Maverick Costa Rica chartered an average of 180 trips – the low vessel was 177, the high was 183. Getting a grasp on the costs associated and revenue at different levels of charter activity are central to determining whether yacht management is the right course for you.

damage to the bottom of a boat

This photo shows the bottom of the Waste Knot, the vessel that sank on “Wicked Tuna.” These thru hulls were not part of the boat’s original design.

Using Your Boat to Exploit Economic Opportunity

Based in Surfside, Texas, Captain Anthony Lopez is experienced in many types of sportfishing operation. His next venture is one that is conceptualized to leverage the multiple layers of economic opportunity in the Gulf of Mexico. Lopez is currently building a 46-foot Mussel Ridge out of Maine. The Down East style boat has a large open deck and forward cabin. It is endowed with a 17-feet beams and the ability to cruise in the low 20s.

Lopez’ vision in bringing this beast from the Down East to Texas involves a hybrid model comprised of commercial and charter fishing activities. In many ways, Captain Johnny Walker and his 57-foot Blackwell, the Kitana, has blazed the trail for this type of endeavor. “It’s a hybrid model that incorporates a little bit of several things that the boat can do – charters, corporate type meetings and three to five-day long-range trips in the Gulf,” Lopez relates.

“Then there is the commercial fishing aspect. Ultimately, we’d like to be able to sell sustainably caught fish directly to restaurants. There is a diversity of opportunity in the Gulf – bottom fishing, reef fish, deepwater pelagics – the boat has a greenstick, day and night time swordfishing. We believe the hybrid model includes all the ingredients for a long term, successful family business.”

“A lot of the traditional commercial boats are older and can only do five to ten knots – they can only slow boat out. This is a converted lobster boat that can cruise at 20 knots, enabling us to take advantage of shorter weather windows,” Lopez describes. This is a serious advantage when fishing the spring, fall and winter months in the Gulf. “The boat will be a work horse that folds 1,000
gallons of diesel. With a range of 800-miles and a Seakeeper to provide comfort for charters and safety when commercial fishing, it is a great foundation.”

When it comes to making money, Captain Anthony plans for a diversified approach that is flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. “We anticipate the revenue breakdown will likely be in the rage of 70/30 or 60/40 commercial to charter,” he says. “The boat will tournament fish, too – either chartered or privately funded entries. Texas and Louisiana tournaments, mainly.”

down east boat running on ocean

Down East boats, like this Mussel Ridge, provide large, stable platforms with ample beam and deck space.

Selling Your Build Slot

There are some people wh o are able to make money on boats without ever splashing them. These days many builders are waitlisted for months or years. With more people looking for boats than boats available, those who are in the build process can turn their slot into cash. This scenario occurs most predictably when the demand for boats exceeds the supply and when people are spending money. It is as much a function of the economy as it is the quality and relative scarcity of high end sportfishers available.

Ritchie Howell has been building custom boats in North Carolina for a long time. He has seen a number of these scenarios first hand. “When things were booming, I had four boats going at once. I had a guy sell a slot for $50,000 just to jump back two slots,” Howell describes. “Another time we had just finished a boat and I begged the owner to put it in the boat show because I needed
something to show.

A guy from Texas came up to him and said he wanted to buy it. He said, ‘It’s in the boat show, it must be for sale. What will it take?’ He wrote a number on a piece of paper and gave it to the owner. It was a big number… and the guy was ready right there with a check. The owner got so mad, he got on a plane and left the boat show that afternoon.”

“Most guys that go through the build process could make out pretty good, but they’ve waited so long they don’t want to part with it. You can’t mass produce custom boats,” Howell says. There is another perhaps more popularly utilized method of turning boats into cash.

fish on ice

The Gulf of Mexico is home to a number of valuable commercial fishing targets.

Rehabbing and Flipping

While the term flipping the hull is generally used to describe the step in the build process when the boat first emerges from the shed, there are those who consistently turn a buck (and have a good time) rehabbing boats and flipping them. “When I was charter fishing, I used to buy boats that had been run into the ground. I’d fix them up and turn around and sell them,” Howell says. “There is pretty good money in refurbing something if you do it right.”

Howell’s latest refit project is a major one. He purchased the hull of the Waste Knot, the Buddy Cannady-built boat that famously sank on the show “Wicked Tuna.” When the vessel hit something at speed, the collision knocked the rudders through the hull and it sank 11-miles offshore of Oregon Inlet. Howell purchased the hull after the boat washed up on the beach. Howell has the boat
at his shop and puts workers on it as he has time. While he has had offers to purchase the boat, once it is ready to go it will be a charter boat for his son.

While there are many tips and things to consider when actually fixing the boat, what should you look for in a prospective sportfish flipper?

“I always looked for boats that perform well any way. Building styles change over time, so a lot of times there are ways to tighten up a boat. I’d look for boats that shove easy and are dry but may have been built with old techniques. I’d do things like put in stiff knees and cut out old frames and just stiffen the boat up,” Howell describes.

“BC (Buddy Cannady) used to build a boat and then charter fish with it in the
summer and commercial fish with it in the winter. He’d then sell the boat in the spring,” Ritchie continues. “I’d do something similar. I’d buy an old boat and charter fish it. I’d fix it up over the winter and sell it. When I was doing it, I was about a boat every two years.”

In addition to his background in boat building, Howell’s position within the North Carolina charter fishing community helped with these projects. “Most of the time, I’d know the history of the boat. What it could do and how it could perform,” he says. “I’d look at some boats and they would have been too big of projects. You’ve really got to have a good foundation to work from.”

“With the Waste Knot, I knew its history and its performance, but also its weaknesses,” he says. “I’ve cut out seen busted frames, took out old knees and glassed things back into place.” The boat is progressing nicely. “I’ve actually had quite a few offers to buy it. If it were for anyone else but my son, I’d have sold it,” Howell says with a laugh. Curious to see how refitting an older, worn-out boat can revitalize a sportfisher?

Check out Captain William Howell, who will be fishing the boat formerly known as Waste Knot out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.

Conclusion

Have you ever wondered why so many sportfishing boats are named after owners’ wives? Perhaps this is another reflection of how expensive boats can be. “She can’t divorce me for buying the boat… Afterall, I
named it after her!” All jokes, sayings and bumper stickers aside, boats can certainly cost quite a bit of money, but they can also be used to offset the cost of ownership or even make a bit of money.

Do you have any comments or questions for us? We’d love to hear from you.

Filed Under: Boats, Featured Stories, General News, News, Operations, Owners Tagged With: boat management, boat owner, build slot, charter boat, making money, rehabbing

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