MAKO finished the crossing late this afternoon. For a new boat, things worked really, really well. A few bugs to work out, but that is expected. We are ready to GO!

The weather for the trip was much better than expected. We left North Carolina in calm conditions with the ocean like glass. We made good time that first day, despite all the fuel weight aboard. We averaged in the low 20 knot range all the way until dark.

View MAKO’s First Crossing in a larger map

We had a quiet night making about 10 knots until dawn. The new Garmin electronics sure performed well. More on that later — Garmin is a new brand to me and relatively new to the sportfishing market but I think they have a really good set of products and I want to do a report on just that in the coming weeks.

Around 6:00 am we sped her up with about 220 miles to go to Blue Cut (the most direct cut in the reef system). Things continued to run well, with an average speed again in the low 20s to conserve fuel. We pulled into the customs dock on Ordinance Island around 4:00.  Not too shabby!

To the crew at Briggs Boat Works, thanks for building such a great boat. We cannot wait to put her through her paces in Bermuda.

Joe, Brian, Peter…thanks.  It was a great trip.

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

It is true!  Mako went overboard on May 15 thanks to all of the guys who really pitched in to get an awful lot of work done in a shiert period of time.  The crew at Sunny’s, James and the guys at Electronics Plus, Bobby and Wayne at Bluewater, Joe Moore and a lot of other people deserve a gigantic thank you.

Coming to the end of finishing a boat consists of trying to get a thousand details remembered and completed.  That is what we will be up to over the next week or two until we bring her over to Bermuda.  We are dying to go fishing!

Thanks to all the friends that have been calling to arrange their trips.  I can tell you that you will enjoy the new ride!

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

The first leg of the trip was an overnight run from West Palm Beach to Key West.  Here is De Mako sitting in the marina in Key West.  It is worth noting how the docks look as we stopped along our way.

 The next leg was to Isle Mujeres, near Cancun.  Who did we see coming around the corner, but the old Anne Warrick…built by Sunny Briggs just before he built De Mako.  It is a small ocean!    We saw some sights.  Isle Mujeres is really ready for large scale tourism, with a HERD of tourists coming down the dock to the charter boats – the picture nearby shows the start of the stampede.  Nice place overall.  Lots to do it seemed and generally a pretty spot. 

The next stop was Roatan.  This is a really small island that belongs to Equador.  Interesting how big the commercial fishing fleet is.

The first marina we tried in Roatan.  Everything was lovely except there was no water or electricity.

This ia the fueling process at Roatan.  Honestly.

Unfortunately, it is true.  Every single person we say in San Andres was having more fun than we were.  This pair’s giggling could be heard from our speeding golf cart!

To see all the pictures, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackandbluefishing/sets/72157617648948405/

As promised, the first trip report from De Mako and the first from Panama!

After our trip from Florida around to the Canal, our first set of members came down to try out the fishing.  While the water quality certainly wasn’t great, we all had a great time and managed to catch a Black Marlin and five Sailfish.

After the members landed, they made the 30 minute trip to the boat using a driver that I have known for years.  Before long, De Mako was out of the slip and headed to overnight in the Las Perlas islands, about 60 miles from the Marina in Panama City.  The weather was ok, calm seas but cloudy.  We had a great dinner on the boat anchored in the lee of those beautiful islands.  We went to sleep anxious for what the day would bring.

I was concerned about the fishing as I had heard that an unusual amount of green water had pushed into the fishing grounds.  The first day of fishing we certainly found this green, green (maybe coffee would be a better description) water.  We looked for the blue water but did not find it that first day.  As we moored in Pinas Bay,  we were all hoping tomorrow would be better.  After a good night’s rest we set out in rainy conditions.

The water did seem a little better today and it wasn’t long until a Black Marlin came up on the short left teaser.  Jason was on the rod and decided to pitch the 30 because the fish did not look all that big to him.  Well, on the bite, we all changed our mind.  That Black looked like a rolling Tarpon as it took the pitch going away from the boat.  After about 30 minutes, Chowie released the fish – about 300 pounds.  Take a look at the photos the members took of the fish.  Pretty work on the rod and behind the camera, I would say.

The day continued with what I would describe as pretty slow action.  We ended up catching 5 of 10 Sailfish bites.  The fish were their normal selves, putting on a show on the light 30 pound tackle.

That night, the members had a cocktail and dinner at the Tropic Star Lodge.  They said that the food and atmosphere was great.  It sure is a beautiful place.  Quiet and still, with jungle all around.

The next day we steamed back to Panama City to catch the return flight.  All in all, a great start despite difficult condiitons.

We are going again soon, so stay tuned and book your flights down!

- Capt. Mike Springer

You recall that our boat in Bermuda (MAKO) is being built as we speak by Sunny Briggs and the team at Briggs Boat Works.  Well, she is about to splash in the next few days.  Now, I know we are biased, but check her out!

MAKO

Captain Allen is going to Carolina to oversee the frantic details from here until the end.  We are confident that MAKO will be ready to go by June 1.  More pics after his upcoming visit.

As many of you know, the Roosterfishing in Costa Rica is really good. (Roosterfish are jacks with ‘roid rage and a bad haircut.) Anyway, these fish like to hang around the rocks on the shoreline. To fish for them you have to get really close, too close for a 57 foot boat. As a result, I am proud to announce the newest member of the Black and Blue family, Lobo Del Mar. Lobo is a 25 foot Contender, perfect for Roosterfishing or just running around. The boat will be kept at Los Suenos for members’ use.