North
to Alaska...Blackman Style!
When
I left the slip at Port McNeill in the afternoon of June
14, 1999, I was finally underway after nine months of
planning and preparation. I would be single handing until
I met my first shipmate, Ken, who was to fly in and meet
me at Ketchikan on June 19th. My boat was Sea Legs, a
Blackman 26 Outerbanks. My destination was Glacier Bay.
I had owned Sea Legs just two months and had been at
the helm twice. I had much to learn about the boat and
the waters upon which I would spend the next six weeks.
This is
the travel tale of my trip through the glacier-cut fjords
and islands covered with dense rainforests that define
the west coast of Canada and Southeast Alaska. It is written
from a boater’s perspective, with an emphasis on
preparation, routes and facilities in case any of my fellow
Blackman owners are looking north.
Read the Artcle
Excalibur,
Twenty Years Old and Still Running Strong!
By Capt. Art Vroman
Finding a trailer boat that
could be launched from the dry storage at Channel Islands
for weekend trips became easy after talking to Don at the
LA boat show. I remember noticing that two boats he had
on display were made like pieces of fine furniture and
they certainly looked rugged. But they were decked out
for fishing, and I wanted a boat for diving. I asked Don
what he knew about making a boat for scuba diving. He replied
that he had made the Bottom Scratcher and the Sand Dollar,
55 foot charter dive boats out of San Diego. I had been
certified on the Bottom Scratcher in 1976 and that was
all I needed to hear. After several months of planning,
I ordered the Excalibur and the adventure began.
Read the Article
Trailer
Boating to Cabo - By Water! :
Taking
a trailer boat to Cabo by water requires careful planning.
Boat size determines not only fuel capacity, but crew
size and the room available for everything from a spare
anchor to spare oil. For a fishing trip lasting over
three weeks, planning is the most important part of the
trip. Once you get to Cabo, supplies are available.
A trip of this length on the open seas can be a dangerous experience even
for a big boat. So why not do it? Lots of anglers enjoy trailering down to
access
good fishing areas, but going by water is an adventure and gives you a chance
to fish locations inaccessible to trailered boats...
Read the Article
Progress or Ruin? Mexico's Escalera Project
:
For 50 years, Mexico's government mostly
ignored this cluster of fishermen's houses battered by
wind and sand. To this day, there is no electric plant,
no water well, not a single gasoline pump.
Then with little warning a black-topped road began working its way through the
desert toward the little bay. Explosions rang out from a nearby hillside. Trucks
rumbled from the quarry past fishermen's pangas, carrying boulders for a $3 million
barrier against the crashing surf.
Here on this lonely stretch of Baja California coastline, the first step of a
bold and controversial proposal is taking shape: La Escalera Nautica, or the
Nautical Staircase...
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Interview with Jeff Gammon of Terrafin
Where did the name
Terrafin come from? “Terrafin” was the
name of our boat, at the time we had a 20’ Grady.
When we started the business, we were searching for a suitable
name, and
it seemed appropriate. The name originally came from a
combination of the words “Terra” meaning land
or earth, and “fin” which is Spanish for “end”...
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Recommendations for On Board Handling
of Tuna
Experienced
fishermen know that albacore, and all other tunas, have
higher body temperatures than salmon, rockfish and most
other fishes. The body temperature of most other fishes
when landed is the same as the water temperature. A recent
study found that the backbone temperature of troll caught
albacore ranged from 75°F to 92°F and averaged
84.5°F. An average albacore was 25°F warmer than
the temperature of the surface waters where they were
caught. Actual body temperature depends on fish size,
the extent to which the fish struggled during capture,
and water temperature...
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Rebuilding the Redeemed
The Redeemed has been a labor of
love for Bob Davis. The following is Bob's account of what
started out as a simple fuel tank replacement on a Blackman
20, and what turned into a major hull rebuild!
The whole thing really got started
about four years ago, when I was fishing in San Quintin.
Kelly Catian, owner of El Capitan Sportfishing, was telling
me that if he had a choice of any boat brand he would choose
a Blackman. I took this as pretty good advice, since Kelly
has been fishing professionally for a lot of years, and
he knows a lot about boats...
.
Read the Article
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