by The Captain | Apr 17, 2018 | Articles, How to
Are you a bit confused about the catch-and-release code these days? What species are socially acceptable to fillet? What species should be set free? It’s enough to leave you holding your limp gaff in hand on the back deck, paralysed with uncertainty. Never fear, The...
by The Captain | Mar 13, 2018 | Articles, Project boat
Time to rip and strip Nub Tub, the Captain’s Haines Hunter 445F back to bare bones before building her back up to survey class, courtesy of Erick Hyland from Whitepointer glass boats in Cann River, Victoria. Erick shares his version of events… The...
by The Captain | Mar 13, 2018 | Articles
With your best interests at heart, this hit list of “bad shit to watch out for on the water and how to deal with it if it happens” (compiled by The Captain’s favourite seagoing sawbones, who has more letters after his name than the alphabet) should keep you...
by The Captain | Mar 13, 2018 | Adventures, Articles
The Captain’s phone rang earlier this year. It was John Haines Junior, boss man of Suzuki Australia and heir to the Haines Signature fortune. In his polite but matter-of-fact manner he asked, “what are you guys doing in June?” “Let me check my calendar, John,” I...
by The Captain | Mar 13, 2018 | Articles, How to
The Captain tugs hard over his tow machines. Here are his top 10 adventure rigs. Did you just drop more than $200K for your deep-vee machine built with 37 layers of ‘glass in the transom and fitted with hardtop, commercial-grade sounder, radar, pie warmer,...
by The Captain | Mar 13, 2018 | Uncategorized
The Captain discovers why the White Pointer from New Zealand is considered the apex predator of plate boats. If you call your boat a White Pointer, you better have the chops to back it up. After building them for more than 24 years, Rex Briant, top of the food chain...
by The Captain | Mar 5, 2018 | Articles, How to
Rule one: keep your eyes open. Peter Pakula shares his wisdom on reading the signs and finding the fish. Electronic aids (sounder, GPS, temp gauge) certainly help you find fish, but they’re not the most important tool in your belt. They don’t tell you where you should...
by The Captain | Feb 8, 2018 | Articles, Captain's ships
Four pumping plate rigs fight it out bow to bow in the captain’s alloy shootout at Jervis bay. The only good thing that comes in tin is beer, right? Some among the glass-lovin’ class still beat that drum on Facebook forums. Their opinion is probably based on...
by The Captain | Jan 31, 2018 | Uncategorized
Richard Freeman has been a professional solo fisherman for more than 40 years in his trusty Shark Cat. Spending so much time on the water, his usual companions are dolphins, sharks… and seabirds. In this regular column, Richard shares a few stories about his salty...
by The Captain | Jan 31, 2018 | Articles
After 50 years and 3 million outboards, Suzuki release their biggest one yet Just a couple of months ago, in sunny Florida, Suzuki announced the arrival of its new DF350A outboard with a launch fandango to rival a Hollywood movie premiere. The 350HP V6 four-stroke is...
by The Captain | Jan 31, 2018 | Articles, Uncategorized
Honda Marine used this year’s Melbourne International Boat Show to take the worldwide wraps off a posse of new outboards – the BF75, BF80, BF90 and BF100. With their sleek silver styling and swept-back “crouching” appearance, they look the business and have the...
by The Captain | Jan 31, 2018 | Articles, Uncategorized
If you’re in the market for a primo glass battlewagon, you’ll be stoked to hear legendary US boat builder Grady-White Boats has picked Short Marine as its latest dealership outlet in Sydney. Located at Ferguson’s Marina on Sydney Harbour, Short Marine runs one of the...
by The Captain | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, Rations and rum
Scallops are a delicious seafood treasure – and they also have a secret skill most seafarers don’t know about. They are “free-living”, capable of rapidly swimming short distances and even migrating a long way across the ocean floor. Here’s my favourite scallop recipe:...
by The Captain | Jan 22, 2018 | Adventures, Articles
A canny old cod hunter reminisces about golden days on the mighty Murray and rejoices at the resurgence of cod fishing, sport of champions. Growing up on the Goulburn and Murray rivers, it was inevitable that Murray cod, VB beer and sunburn would be a big part of my...
by The Captain | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, Project boat
The Captain goes in search of a fuel tank for the Nub Tub, their custom Haines Hunter 445F project boat. In the backblocks of Williamstown they find a man of steel, Kane McQuarrie from McQuarrie Fabrications. Picking a fuel tank is harder than picking a good rum. For...
by The Captain | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, How to
The Captain’s crew heads to the Daly River in the Northern Territory to rendezvous with Paul Williams, the proud owner of a GS Marine prototype centre console fitted with a Lowrance and Simrad combo – and a massive Merc donk hanging out the back. Ah, the fishing...
by The Captain | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, Captain's ships
Ever since the Battle of the Big Vee, Matt Webb, owner of the Edencraft 233 Formula, has been nagging The Captain because he wants a 15ft boat for his 17-yearold son, Tom. Tom loves his diving and fishing, so Matt wanted something safe and indestructible, but also...
by The Captain | Jan 22, 2018 | Articles, Captain's ships
Grahma Harris won a bridge-to-bridge in record time, Caressing the helm of a 1000HP Connelly. These days he mooches around the Hawksbury in a 800HP Al Dhaen. Yep, We had to meet this bloke… The Captain’s crew are belting around...
by The Captain | Dec 12, 2017 | Adventures, Articles
Two mates leave the bright lights of Brisvegas to follow a dream of adventure. The Captain: A’hoy fellas. Tell us a little bit about Back to Basics Adventures. Who’s in the crew and what do you do? Jack Strickland (Strick): Ahoy Captain,...
by The Captain | Dec 12, 2017 | Articles, How to
Just how much sex appeal do boats have? We laid down the challenge to Jack Murphy, recently single and ready to mingle. With nothing more than his bristling beard, a cup of charm and a Whittley SL25 hard top, We set him loose among a flock of amorous young females....
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Articles, Captain's ships
The Captain and Western Australian salty SEADOG Nick Davys go deep to discover the family history of the Formula 233. Ah, the Formula 233. It’s the undisputed hero hull on Australian seas. It’s the most copied, most admired and most spoken-about hull on Facebook and...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Adventures, Articles
TROPICAL CYCLONE Having conquered the Kimberley by sea and by sky, it’s time to test our mettle like most tourists do in these parts – by 4X4. We have a bit of a problem, though. The Gibb River Road, that iconic stretch of dirt road that runs between Kununurra and...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Adventures, Articles
NICK’S TRICKS Having conquered the Kimberley by sea, it was time to take to the skies again. We head down to Kununurra and meet up with the guys from HeliSpirit. They specialise in scenic flights and heli-fishing, which involves spotting the best fishing grounds,...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Adventures, Articles
The north-western tip of Australia is remote, wild and beautiful. Well, that’s what Malcolm Douglas had me believing after watching his many videos. He traversed the Kimberley with his dog Boondie, a cameraman and his trusty ol’ alloy Trailcraft. The legend of the...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Articles, Captain's ships
You may have noticed a secret new project stashed between the pages of the Builders’ Survey in the previous issue of The Captain. It was the fourth generation of the Haines Signature 495F hull – and it’s just been released to the public. The new hull features an extra...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Articles, Captain's ships
Evinrude launch 150, 150 H.O., 175 and 200HP G2 E-TECs In March, a muster of new Evinrude G2 E-TEC outboards hit the water. This follows the release of the first G2s back in 2014 with the 200H.0. -300HP range. The new outboards consist of a 150HP, 150 H.O., 175HP and...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Articles
Richard Freeman has been a professional solo fisherman for more than 40 years in his trusty Shark Cat. Spending so much time on the water, his usual companions are the dolphins, sharks… and seabirds. In this regular column, Richard shares a few stories about his...
by The Captain | Nov 28, 2017 | Articles, Captain's ships
Within the next couple of months, The Captain is planning a trip to Seventeen Seventy, a fishing mecca six hours north of Brisbane. He put out the call for a ride and surface slayer Mathew Scholz answered. Armed with a sparkling new Haines Signature 543SF, Matt’s rig...
by The Captain | Nov 2, 2017 | Articles
This hit list of “bad shit to watch out for on the water and how to deal with it if it happens” (compiled by The Captain’s favourite seagoing sawbones, who has more letters after his name than the alphabet) should keep you safe and sound while you’re on the hunt....
by The Captain | Oct 26, 2017 | Articles, How to
If your lure is on its last legs, Peter Pakula explains how to re-skirt in seven simple steps. All skirted lures will need a re-skirting eventually. They get chopped up by toothy critters and become old and brittle without a regular lube (see issue #3 Skirt Dirt on...
Recent Comments