InTheBite

The Young Guns of Sportfishing: Captain Deane Lambros

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by Capt. Jen Copeland

When the owner of Canyon Runner Charters, Captain Adam LaRosa, sends a message nominating one of his captains be featured in a future Young Guns expose’, it’s quite an endorsement. Rarely does an owner have the time to read such features, but to have him take the time to describe his captain is inspiring. Originally from Westport, Connecticut, Captain Deane Lambros, one of our younger guns, runs and oversees much of the Canyon Runner operations – from maintenance to charter trips. Deane has worked for the company since he was 19.

Six years ago, Lambros was in the middle of an oil change when Mr. LaRosa approached him with an opportunity that changed his life. One of the Runner’s captains was unable to make a scheduled trip and LaRosa asked if 22-year-old Deane was comfortable running the boat.  Without hesitation, his answer was an unequivocal, “Yes.”

With three years of training fresh in his mind, Captain Deane took the helm of his first Canyon Runner charter. Banking on the confidence LaRosa had in him, and remembering the old adage “safety first,” Lambros managed to keep it together enough to produce a successful trip. “Being totally in charge for the first time was a real challenge,” says Lambros. The young captain recalls being a bit out of his comfort zone on his first trip. “I was dealing with fog and trying to keep the anxiety at bay, all the while smiling and producing bites,” he recalls. Lambros’ pep talk to himself that day was a familiar one to anyone who makes a living in this line of work – one that we all have to occasionally remind ourselves of. “We’re just going fishing.”

Today with 300+ giant tunas to his credit, some 15,000 hours of wheel time, and over ten top three tournament finishes under his belt, Captain Deane has put the work in by fishing hard, fishing fast and having fun while doing it. All traits of a great captain… traits he learned at Canyon Runner. At 28, Captain Deane Lambros names nearly all past and present Canyon Runner captains as his professional influences – each bringing certain philosophies and skills to Deane’s attention. From the knowledge he’s gained at Canyon Runner, he is able to understand the needs of his charters and is confident in the critical decisions that must be made day after day. As importantly, Lambros reads between the boss’ lines in order to compliment his personality and smoothly run a business in the aggressive northeast charter industry.

No matter how grateful he may be to the “A” list of qualified professional influences, Deane gives the first and foremost credit to his parents for the example they’ve set. According to Lambros, it was his parents who “rigorously reinforced” a strong and honest work ethic during his childhood.  His father, who still works full-time at age 86, continues to lead by example to this day.

Lambros takes his job very seriously – something all prospective captains should aspire to do.  He believes young men need to prove themselves to others by demonstrating they are polished, conscientious and driven. “It’s refreshing to see a young person wanting to be part of a team and asking questions with a willingness to learn, and if you put in the effort, you will succeed.”

Mates who put safety first and represent themselves in a manner which is non-threatening to the charter guests are an important part of the customer experience. For a charter operation, those who can’t relate with people put themselves out of the running for advancement. Whether charter or private, a young mate’s attitude toward his job is a direct reflection of himself. According to Deane, “There isn’t a single boat owner who wants a reckless, unprofessional captain running their boat.”

Captain Deane Lambros’ professional philosophy is one that sets him well for decades to come. His outlook is characterized by a high level of organizational skill, situational awareness, and an ability to “play well with others.” He executes a meticulous maintenance schedule that ensures tools and spare parts for repairs on the fly are readily available, keeping the program seamless and uninterrupted.

Mature and well-spoken, Lambros’ level-headed personality has allowed him to rise up quickly in LaRosa’s army of Canyon Runners. “I have been able to accomplish in ten years at Canyon Runner what may have taken me 30 years in the private sector,” he says. “Joining a charter program will plain and simply give you a fast learning curve.”

For a young man not yet 30, Lambros’ candid understanding of what it takes to succeed in his line of work is impressive. “Charter fishing is an industry of customer service,” Deane insists. “We are expectation managers. You must know what is expected of you by the owner, the guests, and the crew. You then draw from past experiences when the weather gets dicey, the fish get finicky or the boat breaks down.” Captain Deane fully understands the many facets that go along with charter fishing. There is little doubt that owner Adam LaRosa is thankful for this—perhaps that encouraged Deane’s nomination.

IGY Marinas Finishes Revamp of Maximo Marina

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IGY Marinas Completes $25 Million Dollar Redevelopment of Maximo Marina, St. Petersburg, FL

Maximo Marina continues to be the largest covered boat slip marina in Florida, boasting covered wet slips for vessels up to 100 feet in length.

October 6th, 2018 – Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – IGY Marinas, announced today the $25 million renovation at Maximo Marina in St. Petersburg, Florida is complete. IGY has overseen all aspects of design, redevelopment and operations of the marina since 2015, on behalf of the owner, Bixby Bridge Capital, a private real estate investor and lender. The marina was completely redeveloped over the last 18 months, with ORION Construction serving as the general contractor for the project. The marina continues to be the largest covered boat slip marina in Florida, boasting covered wet slips for vessels up to 100 feet in length.

“This was a complex project from a design, permitting and execution standpoint. The marina was over 50 years old and IGY took great care to ensure that this marina was redesigned to be responsive to the market and the evolving sizes of vessels both for today and for the next 50 years. IGY worked with us to ensure that all the critical customer touchpoints were addressed and that the uniqueness of the marina was maintained, all while making sound cost-benefit recommendations. IGY was able to institute a phasing plan that allowed a portion of the marina to stay open throughout construction which was very important to our customers. We are very pleased that IGY and ORION were able to deliver this project on time and under budget,” said Steven Fass, a principal at Bixby.

Maximo Marina’s transformation now provides world-class amenities such as floating concrete docks, state of the art fuel dock, covered slips for vessels up to 100 feet, boat lifts for vessels up to 36 feet (24K lbs.), complimentary Wi-Fi on gigabit enabled fiber network around the marina basin, renovated support facilities, and the opening of Getaway Maximo Restaurant (the largest restaurant opening in south St. Petersburg in more than a decade).

With all major phases of construction complete, Maximo Marina has the ability to welcome more than 200 vessels in wet slips, 142, of which, are covered and 58 equipped with boat lifts. The facility can also accommodate an additional 88 vessels within inside storage racks and another 200 vessels in outside dry storage racks. The covered boat lift slips are a product offering that enhances our existing dry stack marina product because customers can use their boats on their own schedules, independent of the lift-well hours of operation, while still having a protecting environment for the boat. “It’s a very unique product,” says general manager Lee Hicks. Maximo Marina also features a full-service facility offering haul outs for vessels up to 50 tons giving it the ability to service any and all boats in the marina.

IGY Marinas is well known in the industry as a leading marina operator. A lesser known fact is that IGY Marinas also features an in-house development and construction services team that has undertaken marina projects all over the world. This combination of development and operating experience positions IGY Marinas at the leading edge of the marina management industry. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Bixby and provide third-party development and operational management services on this very unique project. Boaters are seeking innovative marina amenities and services combined with added-value destination offerings and we were pleased that the marina owners called on us to help them achieve their goal,” said Tom Mukamal, CEO of IGY Marinas.

The Maximo Marina redevelopment is a critical component to the revitalization of the Skyway Marina District, one of five special commercial districts in the City of St. Petersburg – the marina is open with plans to participate in the block party celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Skyway Marina District on October 6th .

InTheBite Dock Talk: 62′ Spencer “Showtime!” Reconstruction

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Captain Wink Doerzbacher walks us through the reconstruction currently taking place on the 62′ Spencer Showtime! in this edition of InTheBite Dock Talk.

Tournament Kite Fishing for Sailfish– What is the X-Factor?

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By Captain Nick Gonzalez

Equipment

Kite fishing has been met by a number of innovations over the last 10 years. Electric kite reels have gotten faster, more reliable, and easier to use. To compliment these kite reels and increase efficiency, light, high-speed conventional reels with smooth drags and high gear ratios came into the market. A number of different rod manufacturers began making excellent rods with soft tips and moderate backbones that are ideal for kite fishing. In addition, circle hooks became mainstream and a number of different manufacturers make chemically sharpened circle hooks that are tournament legal and very affordable.

The Boats

Kite fishing is such a specialized method of fishing that even the boats themselves have adapted to corner this niche market. Complex live well systems and rocket launchers are the standard for most boats in South Florida. In this day and age there are thousands of boats and crews that are more than capable of busting out a kite spread. You add all these different variables together and throw in kites designed for every wind speed and you have a system that is applicable to all conditions. Unfortunately, superior tackle won’t set you apart from the competition. It’s the status quo nowadays.

The equipment has become standard but kite fishing is an art that few have mastered. With a 15-knot wind and a 4-person crew, just about anybody can manage a 6-line spread. On the contrary, if you put yourself alone in the cockpit managing 6 kite baits, a mid rod, and a bottom rod while the wind fluctuates from 10-30 knots and squalls of rain push through, can you really keep up? For most mates, the answer is no. For most captains, the answer is no. Throw in a red-hot bite and you’ll see how quickly a perceivably “experienced” crew can be overwhelmed.

The Crew

There are a handful of boats that seem to always be at the top of the leaderboard. What is the prevailing factor that puts them in that position with such consistency? Do they have some extra special bait? Did someone find a way to cross breed goggle eye with spanish sardines? Do they use tinker mackerel on 10lb fluorocarbon? Do they practice Santeria? No! These crews just fish as hard as they possibly can and have logged thousands of days on the water. The x-factor that many teams look for boils down to that one thing: experience. The best teams have caught more fish and even more importantly, lost more fish than many of the other teams combined.

Experience isn’t something you can buy (with the exception of hiring a top notch crew). How do you consistently win sailfish tournaments? Go fish rain or shine 300 days a year. No matter how big, fast, or expensive your boat is, you will be the underdog if your team hasn’t logged THOUSANDS of days on the water. There are a number of different captains with a long list of tournament wins on their resumes. For even the best captains, the only thing longer than their list of wins is their list of losses. It sucks to lose but failure can be very insightful.

Experience

 Building experience is a marathon, not a sprint. I’m only 25 years old and in the last 5 years I have spent over 1,000 days on the water. Why does this matter? I learn something new every day. In this timeframe, my crew has experienced some of the worst and some of the best fishing Miami has to offer. I have been blessed with the opportunity to fish with some of the best captains and mates out there. I have witnessed first hand how a crew with thousands of days of experience operates vs. a less experienced crew. There is no comparison. To kite fish properly, everything is a delicate balance. With the right crew, baits are deployed and retrieved faster. Doubles usually turn into triples. Triples often turn into quads.

For a good crew, bait management is the standard, not an advantage. Seasoned goggle eye, threadfin herring, and Spanish sardines are a must. When it comes to tackle, everything needs to be meticulously maintained. You also need a good platform to fish on that has both vantage and speed. Most importantly, your crew needs experience and chemistry. A successful team adapts quickly to changing conditions. They fish regularly so they have a network of reports and know where the fish will be. An experienced crew also has a very high hook up ratio on bites. The best teams don’t just create opportunities; they capitalize on them. When it comes to communication, arguments should be kept to a minimum, instruction should be clear and concise, and criticism should always be constructive. When attention to detail and the bigger picture come together, the results can be tough to beat. There is no short cut to being the best. You just need to get out and fish.

Double Threat Fishing Charters

www.FishMiamiCharters.com

Help Buccaneer Marina and Tell Sailfish Marina NO

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We’re fighting to ensure The Buccaneer Marina’s future and to honor its past.

The marina’s dock was built 60 years ago in 1958. Since its earliest days, sport fishing boats and yachts have filled the Buccaneer Marina slips.

Join us in Telling Sailfish Marina NO! to a north dock expansion that would create a navigational hazard and NO! to any attempts to monopolize the area’s waterfront.

Sailfish Marina seeks to be an island monopoly, a marina that caters only to mega-yachts, controls the price of fuel and dockage, and eliminates nearby competition.

A part of the $60 billion international American Financial Group, Sailfish Marina is threatening Buccaneer Marina in the courts, and in state agencies.

For more details on the Buccaneer’s future plans, the obstacles ahead, and what you can do to help, head over to Tell Sailfish Marina NO Facebook page. 

A Captain’s Guide to Boat Salvage

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by Dave Ferrell

With all of the hurricane destruction in 2016, photos of destroyed, damaged, sunken or otherwise battered boats are floating across the internet. What becomes of these boats? How does salvage work and what about insurance coverage? The following is Dave Ferrell’s breakdown of the process. Whether a boat owner, captain or crew, this information is a must-know for anyone involved in boating.  – ITB

On August 24, 1867, the Blackwell, a British ship docked in San Francisco Harbor caught fire around 4 a.m. When the crew was unable to contain the blaze, it was forced to abandon ship. As the fire raged, a tug boat docked nearby named the Goliath raced over to the vessel and tied up alongside. With the help of local firemen and two fire engines that they had put onboard, the Goliath fought the blaze. After about a half hour, their combined efforts put out the fire, saving the ship and some of its cargo.

Consequently, the owners of the Goliath sued the owners of the Blackwell in the San Francisco District Court for a salvage reward, winning a judgement for $10,000. (The U.S. Constitution grants federal courts original jurisdiction in “all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, including salvage cases). That ruling was upheld by an appellate court, but the Blackwell’s owners appealed again, bringing the case to the United States Supreme Court.

Ultimately the Blackwell’s owners gained a minor victory when the judges determined that the firefighters’ efforts made up half of the salvage operation and thereby awarded the Goliath’s owners $5,000 or half the amount due. It wasn’t, however, the monetary award that made this ruling so compelling. Rather it was the Court’s creation of the elements that must be considered when determining a salvage reward. These are now known as “the Blackwell Factors.”

Salvage Rules, Sort Of

 In the Blackwell decision, the courts set six factors that should go into determining the “reward” that a salvage company can claim. They set the main details in determining the amount of the reward for “a salvage service:

(1) The labor expended by the salvors in rendering the salvage service.

(2) The promptitude, skill, and energy displayed in rendering the service and saving the property.

(3) The value of the property employed by the salvors in rendering the service, and the danger to which such property was exposed.

(4) The risk incurred by the salvors in securing the property from the impending peril.

(5) The value of the property saved.

(6) The degree of danger from which the property was rescued.”

Unfortunately, these factors don’t provide any formula as to how these different elements would be weighted in determining the amount awarded, however, all of these factors must be considered when setting the value of the reward due to the salvors. In 1989, the salvage industry came together to create an international standard for all salvage operations. This standard added several additional factors, including promptness of the services rendered; the availability and use of vessels or other equipment intended for salvage operations, and; the state of readiness of the salvors’ equipment.

These regulations are known as the SALCON 89 agreement. It also goes on to detail the responsibilities of both the salvor and the boat being salvaged. But again, there are no guidelines on how much weight each of the factors should play in determining the reward, except that the reward cannot be more than the value of the vessel and cargo itself.

Boat Salvage in Practice

According to Chuck Hansen of Fast Response Marine Towing and Salvage in Miami, most salvors base their fees on either a percentage of the value of the vessel or a per-foot fee. “There are two types of salvage,” says Hansen, “contract salvage, where you write up a contract and come up with a price up front; and pure salvage or ‘no cure no pay.’”

Pure salvage occurs when services are rendered voluntarily in the absence of a contract. To keep salvors from plucking up unattended boats there are three elements that have to come into play for a pure salvage to be valid, (a) a marine peril; (b) service voluntarily rendered when not required as an existing duty or from a special contract; and (c) success in whole or in part, or a contribution to such success. So if a salvor tries and fails to save the vessel, no matter how hard he tries or how much danger he put himself in, he gets nothing if the cargo and/or ship is lost.

“The standard per-foot rate for a sunk or sinking boat is around $175 to $200 a foot,” says Hansen, “or a percentage of the vessel’s worth…commonly 20-percent at the highest. You are allowed to bill up to 30-percent if it’s incredibly dangerous, at night etc. If you have a 30-foot Bayliner, I’m probably going to charge you by the foot. If you have a 45-footer worth a million dollars I’m going for the percentage. And that percentage will fluctuate depending on the Blackwell factors. You also have low order salvage that is usually between four and six percent. To get that 20-percent it really has to be a salvage performed under some pretty risky conditions. Any unmanned vessel that’s adrift is also a salvage, and even certain tows can be considered salvage as well. If you get inside the swim buoy or up on the beach, I can consider it a salvage if I so choose…so make sure you have a good anchor!”

Hurricane Damage, Vessel Owner’s Liability

With all of the hurricanes hitting the US this year the salvors are enjoying a bit of a business boom, but it’s not easy work. “About half of the boats will have good insurance and will be taken care of pretty quickly,” says Hansen.

“An owner or insurance company will contact us, and we will come and try to refloat the boat and get it to a haul out facility. But getting the boats from Irma has been very challenging. Most of our refloats have to do with a bad fitting or a failed pump, something that’s easily fixed to get the boat floating again. A lot of the boats we’ve dealt with from Irma had bottoms that looked like Swiss cheese. They don’t want to float, so we have to either make extensive repairs and patches or tow them submerged. Once we make it to a haul out, we will put it on a transport and let the insurance company make the call on whether it will be repaired or deemed a disposal,” the salvor continues.

One thing you see a lot of in South Florida are seemingly abandoned sail boats and old power boats on moorings. Are boat owners responsible for damage done by a boat set adrift during a storm? According to Hansen, probably not. “I’ve talked to a couple of lawyers and they said that hurricanes are an act of God. Just like if a neighbor’s shingle comes flying off his roof and breaks something, your neighbor is not responsible,” he says.

Here a boat sets aloft on its bottom in Cudjoe Key as a result of Hurricane Irma.

At the same time, if your vessel is leaking fuel or damaging the environment you can be fined heavily if you don’t respond to the Coast Guard in a timely manner. “Let’s say your boat sinks and it’s spewing fuel, and you cannot afford a salvage fee. If you can’t get someone there to take care of the problem in short order, the Coast Guard will federalize the vessel. They will pay a government contractor to salvage the vessel, usually at a huge price, and then go after the owner for the money. A lot of folks just don’t understand the kind of liability they can face when their bargain basement 30-year old trawler sinks at the dock. That great deal can come back and haunt them,” says Hansen.

All of the leaking boats from Irma created a huge natural disaster. In response, the Coast Guard made a nationwide call after the storm to get as many port teams as possible into the South Florida area as soon as possible. They are tasked with finding possible environmental hazards and getting the folks who own the boats to take care of them. If you do not respond in a timely manner, you will be fined into submission.

During normal times, when there’s no hurricane boats to salvage, Hansen and his crew will go on patrol looking for sunken boats or vessels in distress and try to locate the owner. “I can get a name and address from the FL numbers. I’ll often look up the names on Sunbiz because most owners of nice boats have some sort of business. A lot of the folks don’t even know that their boat is sunk,” says Hansen.

Hansen also works with the city to take care of some of the derelict boats littering the bays and canals around the City of Miami Beach. “They have a great program that gets rid of these boats quickly. They put the job up for bid and once you win the job you have 24-hours to remove the vessel. On a larger scale, sometimes a municipality or government body will contract a single salvage operator to take care of all the derelict boats in an area. They will bring in a barge and haul out 50 boats at time. That’s what’s going to happen to most all of these hurricane boats here in South Florida…the state’s going to have to do something.”

If You Run Aground

There are no hard and fast rules about what to do when you’ve grounded a vessel but there are some things you need to consider before you jump into a life raft and float away. Once you leave the vessel, it is considered unmanned and it is now fair game for the first salvager that appears on scene.

“You probably want to try to get pulled off first,” says Hansen. “Of course, that depends on what kind of bottom you are stuck on, rocks versus sand, and the configuration of the boat. An outboard or an I/O will probably come off just fine, but if you have inboards and shafts, you can do a lot of damage trying to pull it off. Even if the boat is in calm water and it looks super simple, the way salvage is if you are on the ocean, it’s an automatic salvage.”

The price you end up paying for a salvage can take months or even years to make its way through lawyers, insurance companies and adjusters. “The higher the reward the longer it takes,” says Hansen, “and you rarely have someone pay the bill that you give them. Since the adjuster has to make himself look good, they will fight every bill, no matter how fair. It’s customary to overbill, since we know that they are going to refuse to pay on the first go around. I’ll have to tack on an extra $500 or so just so the adjuster can cut it and show that he’s looking out for the insurance company. It’s a pretty crappy business in that respect.”

InTheBite Dock Talk: “Shoe” 75 Spencer

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Captain Devin Silas hosts a walk through of the new 75 Spencer, Shoe. Equal parts work of art and high performance fishing machine, the Shoe is highly customized for comfort, class and fishability. With a fuel capacity of 5,000 gallons and a top speed of 45 knots, she is a sight to behold.

InTheBite’s First Sportfishing Social

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SAVE THE DATE. Sept. 13, join InTheBite for our first ever Sportfishing Social! Come rub elbows with our industry of crews, captains, owners, fishermen.. All are welcomed! Shoot us a message if interested in attending, we hope to see you there!

New Bertram 61: Unveiled

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The new Bertram Yachts unveiled its latest edition—the Bertram 61—at a VIP launch party in Fort Lauderdale on Friday July 20, 2018. The CEO of Bertram Peter Truslow launched the boat with a champagne toast delivered from the bridge. Sitting back to back the newly released Bertram 35, Truslow proclaimed the 61’ as the future direction of the brand.

Photo courtesy of Chris Rabil

InTheBite’s Dale Wills and Elliott Stark were on hand to check out the goods and talk with the men and women making it happen. The new Bertram bridges the historic past of one of sportfishing’s most illustrious names with the future of boat building. The progress is exciting.

Exterior

  • Construction features an infused vinylester solid fiberglass hull bottom with Kevlar centerline and strake reinforcements.
  • Twin CAT32s, 1900-HP diesels to provide top-of-the line performance and speed.
  • A spacious and easily to maneuver cockpit, when the bite is on.
  • The center console helm gives great visibility and offers a comfortable ride.

Interior

  • The open salon-galley layout, wrap around windows, and full-beam master stateroom, are just a few of the features that make the interior one of luxury and comfort.