The Miami Boat Show is the best in the world. There are literally miles of the finest sportfishing machines ever built. Imagine a row of 50 yachts all lined up–boats that just scream blue marlin fishing! Then cross over to the next dock and see another row of 50 in the same class or even better.

Mix in Miami weather, South Beach night life, and a healthy stock of sailfish and swordfish within 15 miles of your hotel, and you have the makings of an Atlantic paradise.

While Bertram, Viking and Hatteras shine in the production yacht category, my favorites are the Carolina customs that dominate the tournament circuits in that part of the world. These customs are in a class of their own, and one who has turned his family’s fishing passion into a custom yacht building business is Paul Spencer of Spencer Yachts.

Captain Spencer grew up fishing the waters off the Atlantic and started working as a mate at just 12 years of age. At 19, he got his captain’s license and earned a living in the charter business and competing in local tournaments where he quickly became one of the top captains in competition.

In 1996, Spencer decided to try his hand at boat building. Drawing on his years of charter-boat experience, he combined both performance and function into elegant “Carolina Style” craftsmanship. The Spencer Yachts style also draws influence from other areas and has evolved into something unique.

The result of his efforts has been a series of progressively innovative, masterfully crafted sportsfishing yachts that Spencer Yachts is known for today. Paul is happily married to his high school sweetheart, Shelly, for 39 years and they have five children and 12 grandchildren.

During this hectic Miami Boat Show schedule, I managed to track down Paul’s son Daniel Spencer for some feedback on their new Spencer 62. Captain Daniel is also a skilled captain and mate and has won numerous tournaments throughout his ongoing fishing career.

He has worked in the family business since graduation from high school and enjoys the building process of each boat. Daniel is the “go-to” man representing Spencer Yachts in tournaments. He has two children with his wife, Rebecca.

Here is the text

of that interview:

Daniel, tell us about the Volvo IPS 1200’s on the 62-footer

“These Volvo IPS power systems are new to the sport fishing industry. We did our first hull with Volvo IPS six years ago, which was a 43. I ran the 43 for a guy for several months prior to us selling it and it took some time to get used to the joy sticks–especially when backing down on a fish. I was used to working the throttles and steadying the wheel some. With the IPS pulling more from the center of the boat you learn to steer the boat with the joy stick.”

How does the wake look on the Spencer hulls with the Volvo IPS power?

“I think they are actually a little bit cleaner. The props are smaller in diameter and they are also closer to the hull’s center line which gives it cleaner lanes where the flat lines are supposed to be–especially when we’re bait fishing. We also have the low speed by-pass which you can turn on to get rid of the exhaust bubbles and have them run out above the water line. Other times when you are steaming or booze cruising and you don’t want the smell of diesel fume exhaust around the boat, you can turn the bypass on so the exhaust fumes are underwater and out behind the wake.”

The 62’ has a center mounted fighting chair for tackle up to 130-pound class. It also has a cockpit bench seat for crews to watch the trolling spread. What other sportfishing features were built into this hull?

“Depending on what you are doing, this cockpit was designed to handle the heavy tackle 130’s from the chair and there is also plenty of room for stand-up style fishing. Depending on customer preference, when building these boats we design everything about the boat to meet their style of fishing.”

The bridge is designed with the ladder on port side. Tell us about this design feature.

“Depending on your ladder application, many are built with the latch type that will take away space for a helm chair. Our boats tend to get a little bit narrower on the bridge as you get up top–I like the way it looks; the sleekness of the boat–versus many custom boats that do a ‘shoe box’ look on the bridge.

Our boats do the opposite and get narrower on the bridge. We don’t have as big a bridge when compared to a production boat like a 61-foot Viking or a Hatteras.”

Thanks Daniel, for your time. I can hear engine in the background, so I know you are literally pushing off the docks for a sea trial.

“Thank you. One last thing on the Volvo IPS power systems, one of the biggest advantages is the amount of room we save in the engine room. The IPS are literally tucked under the mezzanine. On the 57’, check out the virtual tour, where there once was an engine room is now another stateroom. Everybody wants more room out of their boat today, so we switched the fuel tanks and moved them up forward and moved the engines back.The pod is 33 percent more efficient. That Honda (Spencer 62’) at 40 knots burns only 88 GPH at wide open throttle. You’ve got the capability to be cruising in the 31 to 34 knot range and burning from 50-60 GPH in a 60-foot, four-stateroom boat. So there really are a lot of different pluses in that power system. We can build these boats with a lot more range and a very fast cruise. If your weather window is short, you don’t have to carry extra bladders or anything like that and can steam out at 30 knots the whole way there and you are burning less fuel, which everybody loves in this day and time.”

After reading about the epic blue marlin fishing a couple hundred miles offshore Costa Rica last season, this is the boat I would want to live that dream. Having seen first-hand Spencer’s fish raising ability, speed and overall sleek “Carolina” classic lines, Paul Spencer and family know how to build custom sport fishers for any gamefish in any ocean.

Learn more about Spencer Yachts at spenceryachtsinc.com. ■

It was July 16, 1958, when Richard Bertram laid his eyes on the first Ray Hunt designed hull. It was Ray’s prototype 23–foot deep vee. It was cutting through the six–foot seas at 30 knots with ease. It handled the seas like no other hull Bertram had witnessed and he knew this design would change boating forever. Richard then had Ray take him out the next day, and he commissioned Ray to design a 31–footer on the spot. The new 31 made its debut at the 1961 New York Boat Show and, as they say, the rest is history. The 31–foot Bertram earned its rank as the most recognized and loved fishing platform in the world—and for good reason.

Fast forward to 2015, when Beniamino Gavio purchased Bertram Yachts from the Ferretti Group. The experienced yachtsman’s company Gavio Group, which also owns Baglietto (one of the world’s oldest boat builders) and Cerre Cantieri Navali (CCN), soon made a commitment to rebuild Bertram in America. Enjoying a depth of financial resources that had not been available for decades, the new, modern Bertram launched its 35 footer in 2016 at the Newport International Boat Show in Rhode Island. Earlier this year, the first of these models hit the West Coast, and I was honored to be able to go out and give her a test run.

I have a history of fishing on the Bertrams. In my numerous trips to Tropic Star Lodge in Panama, I have accomplished many personal bests and first specie catches on the classic 31. We have been out in glass weather and also in some real rough stuff, and the old standby always performs. I also used to fish Drew Lawler’s 38 Bertram and had great experiences. To say the least, Bertram has a place in my heart.

I have always said that the 33- to 42–foot range is the most efficient platform from which to fish. A single owner can use his boat without a captain and crew. When fishing you are right there with your guests—and when billfishing, it is a much more intimate experience. When I heard 35 was the new size I was beyond pleased.

I met the guys from the West Coast Bertram dealer, 117 Yachts in San Diego, on a nice sunny December day. As I approached the boat in the slip, I noticed the design didn’t stray too far from the original 31 with its clean lines but also a modern, sexy layout.

Two of the first things that caught my eye were the stainless trim on the bulkhead door and the teak helm station. It’s amazing how a small amount of detail can break up the gel coat and really give you a yachty feel.

The guys raised the engine hatch, which is very similar to the 31 design, but with a much larger engine room area. The Seakeeper Gyro Stabilizer was a pleasant surprise. The addition of a Seakeeper is huge when it comes to adding to the comfort of your guests, as well as while drifting for tuna or fighting a billfish. Additionally, the 35 I tested is equipped with a Mase Generator and a specialty micro bilge pump system to keep the bilge extremely dry, removing even the tiniest amount of water.

Also, the Bertram 35 we tested is equipped with bow thruster. The great benefit here is the main engine controls have fingertip buttons to control the bow thruster. No more separate control to distract you while docking.

As we got under way, she hopped up on plane with ease, even at a solid 20,800 pounds. The twin CAT C7.1s have plenty of power to get out of the hole and even more at the top end, topping out at 37.1 knots.

She cruises at 23 knots sipping fuel at 24 gallons per hour. The 35 tops out at over 37 knots and is still only burning 48 gallons per hour at wide open throttle. A fast cruise at 27.1 knots gets you a burn rate of 29 gallons per hour—not bad for a 35 footer. For those of us who do a lot of slow trolling, it was good to note we were able to get her down to 3.7 mph with one engine out of gear.

The 35 handled head chop with ease (as you would expect from any vessel dawning the Bertram name) and was as good down sea as well. When making tight turns at high speeds, she leaned in and dug in—giving that race car suspension feeling. She carries 310 gallons of fuel and 50 gallons of fresh water so she’s in it for the long haul.

The cockpit is huge, providing plenty of space for you and your buddies to get the job done during that wide–open tuna bite. There is a large bait tank built into the transom that should carry plenty of live stuff.

The wake was very clean producing nice lanes for trolling at that 6-8 knot range. Below the deck are large fish boxes ready to take the day’s catch and keep it iced down. On this particular vessel, they opted for the Pipewelders hard top with rocket launchers, giving plenty of storage for rods and a great sportfisher look. She was also outfitted with aluminum outriggers and was ready to fish right out of the box!

The salon is incredible with a sleek, modern design. The refrigeration and freezer is provided through subzero drawers, maintaining the clean design. There is a nice seating area for dining as well as full kitchen amenities. In a very James Bond-like design move, above the salon is a drop–down compartment to store rods. The cabin is well laid out to enjoy a good night’s rest and ready yourself for the next day’s fishing. All parts of the 35 are designed with the most storage options possible with no nook or cranny left unusable. Likewise, the head is nicely appointed, continuing the sleek, clean theme.

The modern construction techniques, design developments and Tier Three diesels make the 35 one of the most efficient Bertrams ever built. The infused vinyl ester solid glass hull bottom with Kevlar centerline and strake reinforcements—as well as the structural grid—give the hull its rigidity and strength.

The 35 we tested is built like a tank but in a manageable package, with all the amenities. You are also able to go down and sit at the table to relax or go to the cockpit to rig up, yet never lose visibility with the standard iPad screen mirroring everything. You can operate the boat and monitor the gauges from the handheld unit.

After spending the morning on the new 35 Bertram, I can say that I was truly impressed. Keeping Bertram’s storied look while infusing modern design and class make this the hottest new vessel to hit the West Coast in a long while.

True to its legacy, the 35 is a great combination of strength, power and straight up fishability while flashing the sexy lines the modern boat owner relishes. In other words, spend Friday evening cruising the bay wining and dining family and friends. Then, in the morning, run to the Butterfly Bank and crush the big tuna. She can do it all.

Give the nice folks at 117 Yachts a shout at 888-BERTRAM to take a look at the new Bertram. You have two chances to see it in San Diego: at the dealership or the Jan. 25-28 Sunroad Marina Boat Show. Either way, you will not be disappointed! To learn more, visit 117yachts.com or Bertram.com.

If you are looking for a larger platform, Bertram is also coming out with their new 60 footer soon, which I am sure will be another show boat review first page stopper.

Black box boat electronics give you big-boat electronics with a small-boat footprint. You would need a helm station several feet across to fit all the stand-alone units that one small black box system can put on the helm station of a small fishing boat with maybe as little as 1.5 feet of space.

There is a profound functional advantage to a black box system and companion multi-use, programmable display. Instead of scanning a multitude of stand-alone screens, as is necessary with all such units, a black box system integrates displays into one large and manageable multi-purpose display screen. This technology makes your boat feel like a million bucks while helping you assimilate the various vital pieces of information quickly and easily as you simultaneously try to navigate, monitor engine and other systems performance and find fish.

“A black box system gives the flexibility to use virtually any size display,” says Jeff Kauzlaric, Advertising & Communications manager at Furuno. “In some instances, you can plug in two displays, allowing you to clone the display in another area, like the salon, deck or fly bridge. Another advantage that usually comes with a black box is expandability. The black box gives more room for network hubs, allowing you to connect more sensors. Finally, in some cases, the processor inside a black box may actually be faster and more powerful than a stand-alone Multi-Function Display (MFD) with a built-in screen.”

I put this to Kauzlaric: “I’m trying not to leave out possibilities. Stuff that can be connected to and displayed/controlled by a black box system include: transducer, radar, GPS, engine monitoring, cameras, music systems, auto-pilot and probably a few others. What is the newest gadgetry that can be connected and what am I leaving out?”

His response: “How about tablets and smartphones? Some other items are AIS, Weatherfax, satellite compasses, Sirius/XM Weather Receiver.”

He provided this good link to learn more: http://www.navnet.com/network/index.html.

Marine electronics have become much better marinized in recent years, thanks to better performing materials, so exposure to saltwater spray and air is not the death sentence that it once was. Even so, there is something comforting about mounting that black box computer behind bulkheads and down out of the way of wet air and salt spray. Aesthetics are important because we do enjoy an uncluttered, elegant-looking fishing machine. A black box system allows cables and leads and wiring to pass from sensors to the black box below decks. On the helm station is only a large screen with a cable harness coming from the black box. It just looks great!

Cockpit Organization

When the fishing gets fast and furious during a WFO bite, there is a time when nothing is more important than the organization of a boat’s cockpit. Thoughtful preparation can make or break a bite. It can aid anglers in being effective and help crew be efficient. When not done right, the results are lost fish, stumbling people, tools (gaffs, nets, etc.) where they can’t be quickly accessed and possibly even injury to people and crew.

The best way to organize a cockpit is to stand and stare at it while in your mind’s eye you envision an all-out hot, wild bite with multiple hookups and people scrambling to control their fish and get as many as possible aboard the boat. Then think about what people and crew members need to do: move freely and quickly around in the cockpit, untangle or cut lines, net or gaff fish, mark and stow the fish, bait up anglers and keep everyone fishing, all the while doling out just enough chum to keep the fish feeding around the boat.

Cockpit organization is all about managing chaos. The nature of the chaos is very different from one targeted fish to another, so rearrange your cockpit each time you go after another species of fish. Salmon fishing requires different tackle and tools than albacore fishing or halibut fishing or white seabass fishing or lingcod and rockfish. Your boat will be far too messy and inefficient if you leave out all gear needed for all the types of fishing you do throughout the year.

Here are a few important tips for organizing the cockpit:

1) Consider reorganizing your rod holders and rocket launchers. Gunnel-mounted rod holders should be mounted at angles to support the types of fishing you do with your boat. If you mostly troll, angle your rod holders to increase your trolling spread. You can buy outrodders to change the angle of individual rod holders for those times when you mooch or sit at anchor and soak baits. Put your rocket launchers where you can get to them, but at angles that keep those stored rod tips out of the way of the action. Rocket launchers mounted at angles that put rod tips back over the fighting cockpit spell nothing but trouble.

2) Remove anything and everything that will not be needed for the type of fishing being done today. Just doing that tends to clear the cockpit and allow some degree of organization to the chaos of a great bite. Only keep what you will need today in the cockpit. Never have spare rods leaning on rails, just in case they are needed. Stow them out of the way, in rocket launchers or in the cabin (when there is a cabin).

3) Clear the deck for action! During a good bite, everyone’s focus is outside of the boat; on the rail they have to maneuver along to stay in front of their fish, or at what is coming over the rail. No one is looking at their feet, so any tackle or other stuff that is sitting on the deck will become stumbling blocks. Stow everything safely out of the way of the action. Make people go get the hooks, lures, weights, etc., that they need, out of their boxes which are placed well out of the way of the action. Doing so will save injuries and lost fish.

Here is something that ranks right up there with clearing the deck for action: Keeping the deck clean. When fish start coming over the rail, or bait/chum is dropped on the decks, they get really slippery. It is most often people who are hooked up to fish who move the quickest and slip on the slimy deck. Keep a bucket of seawater at the ready and take a moment to sluice the deck. ■

 

Part of the joy and part of the pain of outfitting a new boat is figuring out how to best organize everything you’re going to need to navigate, communicate, find fish, operate the fishing gear, handle fish, process and store fish as well as stow food, drinks, jackets, tackle boxes and lots of other stuff. Planning it all out is a big project, which I usually begin by standing quietly and staring at the boat for a very long time.

In my mind, I’m working through all the scenarios, thinking about what helpful products are available and what will work best to make this particular boat a wildly successful fishing machine. But you have to start somewhere, so let’s look at towers and rocket launchers for now.

A tower—built atop of a boat—places someone up at a height where it is much more effective to scan for surface activity, temperature breaks and far-off bird activity. That, right there, is sufficient justification for the cost of a good tower because you can measure the benefit in fish. That, my friend, is the coin of our realm!

But there is more. A tower also provides numerous places to mount other things that help organize your gear and help streamline your processes, including fishing. For one, the underside of the standing platform of the tower is a good place to mount VHF or single sideband radios and perhaps display screens or standalone marine electronics units such as radar, navigation and fishfinder. Doing so saves valuable real estate on the dashboard, which can become awfully crowded with equipment.

That dash will still be busy with engine instrumentation, perhaps an autopilot and, of course, the most important piece of navigation equipment aboard: the compass. It is wise not to crowd your compass with electronic devices which can cause compass deviation, which puts you off course.

Other things that can be mounted on the tower and aid in rapid deployment are gaffs and nets. I’ve even seen tackle tray holders mounted in spaces between tower supports. One of the most important things you can attach to your tower is a row or rows of rocket launchers (rod holders). These handy devices really help get rods out of the way, yet readily accessible when the fishing action starts.

One important piece of advice I offer as a seasoned charter captain: Keep those rocket launchers aimed upright, rather than raked back toward the stern. They look really nice angled aft and it is indeed easier to grab the rods they hold at that angle, but it puts those sensitive rod tips right smack in the way of casting.

One last and very important thing before you strike a deal with a tower builder and sign a contract: Make certain that your boat can handle the change in center of gravity of the combined weight of the tower plus the gear you attach to it and the person you put up there while at sea. In boat-building terms, this issue is called the “righting moment” and can be expressed mathematically. The basic concept is making sure the boat can right itself in heavy seas, even with more weight up high. You may need to talk with your boat’s manufacturer to get an idea of how much weight your tower, all attached gear and personnel should be limited to.

How GPS Helps

Catch More Fish

Ohhh, this topic makes me feel old! Heck, I was fishing from skiffs when all we had was a compass and dead reckoning. Back then, fisherfolk had to put in their time (and lots of it) to find productive spots. It was important to find good visual lineups (such as a certain telephone pole lined up with a break in a rooftop behind it) to find that same spots again. We kept notes … on pen and paper, no less. Hey, at least I was beyond quill, bottle of ink and parchment!

When conditions limited visibility and we couldn’t see our lineups, we were reduced to compass course and speed/distance/time calculations. Those were flawed because we were really guessing at our speed. Veering off course and coming back to course threw off the calculation enough to miss a smaller reef or wreck. Finding a hotspot again was not taken for granted and successfully doing so was a source of pride.

Back then, I could not even conceive of the electronic advantages of the advanced marine electronics we have today. I began to understand when LORAN C became available to the public. The term “repeatability” became important because we could find a small hotspot again with reasonably good (but far from great) repeatability. In other words, the device would put us within 30 yards or so from a saved spot.

GPS (global positioning system) works relative miracles, especially when combined with scanning sonar and with radar interface that allows us to save a GPS waypoint at a location we spot on the radar. With GPS, repeatability means putting you back right smack atop a small pinnacle sticking up off the bottom and loaded with “lingasaur,” vermilion and copper rockfish. Time to break out the Lingslayer and go to work!

Integrated, networked and “black box” systems allow us to set up routes to navigate treacherous waters more safely than ever before. It allows us to set up a trolling pattern which the boat happily follows for as long as we allow it or until we’ve caught our limits or filled the fish box.

There is always room for improvements in technology and I just have to believe that what the future of electronics holds will be just as mind-blowing as GPS systems were to those of us who fished the old school way. Here is something on my wish list for improvement: GPS chartplotter manufacturers will cozy up to online sea-floor mapping resources (Google Earth is one example and there may be far better ones) so that we can look for topographical anomalies with sea-floor maps and then mark them for our GPS units to do a much better job of taking us to exactly that spot.

Hey, it’s a thought. ■