Tag Archives: snook

Off season

Actually filmed during 2019 MLB Spring Training , Orvis just released a short vignette profiling Rick Porcello and his love for fly fishing.

Rick and I have been sharing the water together in Mosquito Lagoon and SW Florida for around eight years, so when he asked me to come down to help by running my skiff in support of the effort, it was an easy yes.

Working around his daily workout at Fenway South, we managed to spend a fair amount of time in the afternoons and evenings on the water.

My skiff makes a cameo appearance in the back half of the video.

Here is the result of David Mangum & Cavin Brothers work behind the lens.

Thanks to Simon & Tucker from Orvis for taking good care of me while I was there!

Old # 33 – A Term of Endearment

I searched for months for the skiff I have now owned for the past 9 years.  After missing a couple of similar models, I finally got the jump on everyone and got the first look at my 1998 Hells Bay Whipray – “Mosquito Lagoon” Edition, (the 33rd hull built) when my son was less than a day old.  I left the hospital a day later to see it for the first time.  I wrote a check that afternoon, knowing I had found my saltwater soulmate.

The near decade we’ve spent together has been epic.  She’s taken me on lots of adventures across the Sunshine State.

There is something special about that old skiff.  Today, I watched Flip Pallot opine, in the way only he can, the History of Hells Bay Boatworks.  It was fantastic.

In addition to hearing his thoughts on the journey that lead to the revolutionary skiffs we love, I’ve talked a lot with Chris Morejohn, the architect behind the design.  Having him remember my skiff and sharing details of its history was fulfilling and deepened my bond with it further.

A lot of people say there is no “perfect” skiff.  They’ve never been on mine.

Nomadic Drum

The Kennedy Space Center occupies only a small part of NASA’s property along the Space Coast in East Central Florida.  Much of the land is also managed as a National Seashore and Wildlife Refuge.  There are areas of the Mosquito Lagoon estuary that are widely considered the oldest marine preserve in the nation due to having been included within the security buffer zone that has protected America’s space program for decades.

A unique by product of the space mission has been the opportunity to study relatively unchanged habitat that rarely sees influence from man made craft or pressure.  The results of one of the programs, a tagging study, was recently included in an article in Spaceport Magazine , a NASA publication.

Take a look at the article on pages 32 – 35  in the June 2014 Volume 1 No. 3 issue by clicking here.