Captain John has El Jefe tied up at Pier 66 in Port Everglades!  The first leg of the trip on the long voyage to Oregon is done. Many thanks to Captain John for making the trip on schedule.  Now we sit and wait for a schedule update for our load time on the cargo ship Thorco Logic. Currently scheduled to load on December 5th. Happy Thanksgiving!

I must say I was a little disappointed to hear a practically brand new boat had a major component failure. The Glendinning electronic control boxes were completely fried. Both main and backup controls.  When you're on a schedule to board a freight ship in Florida you must be on time or be left behind. Oh, and likely lose a large sum of money in the process.

A day of stress came to an end when Glendinning came to the rescue. Captain John explained the scenario, our timelines and in less than 12 hours Glendinning had 2 new processors built and installed along with some diagnostics to uncover the cause of the failure. I think the Glendinning representative/tech stayed up all night to get the job done. I couldn't have been more pleased! Amazing service from Glendinning and thanks to Captain John and Henriques for coming together to get El Jefe back on the run.

Turns out you can't use a 12 volt wire on a 24 volt system.

​Captain Mike

El Jefe started the journey south from NJ and stayed the night in Virginia Beach after a full day run. Captain John Lewis at the helm, running 28-30 knots in a fairly decent ocean.

Day 2 the plan was to make Southport or further. However, Captain John sent me a text message early a.m. indicating an alarm was sounding on the boat. The alarm was due to an error code indicating the Glendinning electronic controls at the helm were having issues. After trying to reboot the system the controls shut down and required use of the backup controls. The back up controls saved the day so onward towards Southport.

Just South of Diamond Shoals the wind kicked up and the seas turned nasty. The decision was made to cut the run short and head for Beaufort which also is the home port for Jarrett Bay Boat works. They make killer boats and have some folks that might be able to help diagnose the electronic controls.

Around 4pm El Jefe arrives in Beaufort to tie up for the night. The good news is the boat is tied up. Bad news is the backup controls have now failed. Talked with Captain John and he has Glendinning overnighting new processors, a service tech on the line and taking care of business. I'm hoping we get good news in the morning!

Stay tuned!

A little over 2 years ago I started looking for the absolute best offshore fishing boat for fishing off the Oregon Coast. I wanted a boat that was fast, seaworthy in big water, afforded shelter from the elements with a rear enclosed bulkhead, a large cockpit, big fish boxes and more.  While I had a long list of requirements these topped the list. I looked at every boat possible in the 38' to 45' range and kept coming back to Henriques Yachts.

There are a lot of great boats out there but not many hit all the marks on the requirements list. The Henriques 42' EX HT hit all the marks and then some.  Check out The Boat page on our website. Impressive! 

Over a year ago a friend of mine, Mike Colbach who owns Shake N' Bake out of Ilwaco kept telling me, repeatedly, you will not find a better boat for our waters than the Henriques 42' Express. Deep down I know he was right after having been on his 42' Henriques.  However, being stubborn or just finding the fun in boat shopping I continued the search for something better. Turns out, I could have saved my self a year or more of time and just conceded to Mike's advice.

Long story short, after a trip to New Jersey for the sea trial we purchased a Henriques 42' EX HT.  She's a beauty and ready to be rode hard! 

The trip West starts in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey where Captain John Lewis will be at the helm running the boat to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Stops will be made in Virginia Beach, Charleston, St. Augustine and Pierce, FL depending on weather. Godspeed Captain John!

Once in Florida, El Jefe will be loaded onto a transport ship that will set sail down through the Panama Canal and finally be offloaded in Victoria, B.C. sometime in December. From Victoria we will bring the boat to Portland, Oregon for a few months to complete rigging for the the 2020 tuna season. I expect to have the boat in Garibaldi by April.

More updates will come as we sail this boat West and prepare for the 2020 tuna season out of Garibaldi, Oregon. 
 

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