And It all started for me at the age of 25 when my brother-in-law invited me to go Deap Sea fishing. Having never done any fishing of any kind before and knowing even less about deep sea fishing, I more or less went along for the ride. This 10 day trip was most successful with 9 game fish caught and I was so enthralled and excited that I determined one day to build my own boat. In the meantime for the next 15 years around easter, four mates would travel by car 300 mile north to the Bay of Islands for 10 days of Deap Sea Fishing, the primary target was Striped Marlin, Black Marlin, Kingfish & Mako Shark. It was 1965 on our 7th year that I was estatic with the good fortune to strike and land a 291lb Striped Marlin (photo above). In those days most of the catches were smoked and what we didn't keep for our own consumption was distributed to the locals. Today most of the Marlin caught are tagged and released for scientific research.
The Kingfish above are superb eating fresh as steaks and when smoked . The smoking process, usually done ashore in the evenings and overnite, preserves the flesh for up to 10 days, but normally eaten well before then.
From the day my first boat (the yacht Rubicon) was launched in 1960, and for the next 40 years, as a family we spent all the weekends possible and holidays sailing and cruising, living and sleeping at sea. Each Xmas holidays, for 4 weeks we would cruise north 200 miles up the coast, each nite anchoring in safe shelter in one of the hundreds of sandy bays and coves on the way up and through the Bay of Islands, and eventually returning back home via Great Barrier Island. The area to this day still abounds with fish of such variety and plenty, the most common and most favoured for eating and for export to Japan is the Snapper (upper left, also known as Bream ). Of the 8 boats I built, Aquilla, 45ft, is my favourite. She has twin 235hp Volvo Diesel engines with Duoprop outdrives, sleeps 8 and cruises at 28 knots per hour 24 hours a day.

The magnificent fighting fish (above right) is called Kingfish These inhabitants of reefs are rare and difficult to find and more difficult to hook than most other desireable species. When one is fortunate enough to hook one up, sixty per cent are lost because of poor ability, and lack of experience and broken lines usually caused from snagging on a reef. When a Kingfish is hooked, the first instrict of this very powerful adversary is to dive to the bottom, deap into the reef, this action inevitably results in a severed line. If your lucky to avoid this manuvre and keep the kingfish out of the reef, you will have a long and exciting experience, full of suspense. They will take only live bait and ignore all others. The most successful method is to take a live small fish and quickly pierce the hook through the top and back of the head returning this live bate back into the sea approximately 3 metres deep and wait. The bait will swim around in a somewhat agitated state which soon attracts the kingfish and WHAMO. On rear occasions you may unfortunately attract rays and common sharks. However should it attract a Mako Shark then you really will have some fun. Boating and fishing for the last 50 years has been a time of wonder and excitement, with enormous pleasure & joy experienced together with a growing family and friends.