Hatteras Yacht’s newest ad has hit the street.  This piece is for their GT series of sportfishing boats, and encourages readers to visit them at the FLL boat show and see their new GT70.  The photo they chose for this campaign is from a series of high energy shots I took from a chase boat in San Juan harbor.  It was all I could do to hang on to my camera while 40 sportfishing boats powered up and out the inlet during a Bimini start.  This Hatteras GT caught some boat wakes just right and was almost launched while passing in front of El Morro castle.  She landed gently and flew past.

It’s amazing how easy it is to cancel weekend plans when the phone rings for work. Particularly when it’s Hatteras Yachts and they need a few shots of a unique vessel. This photo shoot was a few quick shots of a Cabo 44 that was transiting thru South Fla on it’s way to the Gulf. I only had a brief time as this delivery crew was anxious to keep moving and beat a cold front that was bearing down on their destination. Luckily they found an overnight slip near Port Everglades and gave me the next morning to work. A few quick shots and they were on their way. What a cool express boat configuration. I can’t wait to take one fishing…

My last trip here was aboard the Revenge when we fished one of the Barcardi Billfish Tournaments about 16 years ago. What a treat it was to return and see what has changed. This trip was sponsored by Hatteras Yachts and I was hired to shoot three of their latest products – 54′ GT, 60′ GT, and a 63′ GT. These new boats are some of the nicest looking production boats to roll off the line so they made great subjects. Hatteras didn’t hold back on design or performance either with all of these hulls breaking the 40 knots barrier.
 


 
 

The weather was perfect and the only change on the island that I noticed was the Bimini Big Game Club was completely redone and better than ever. The club is now branded as a Guy Harvey Outpost and management has gone to great lengths to bring the facility up to modern resort standards. I’m happy to say that the Kalik’s are served icy cold and the cracked Conch is just about perfect when served at the upper deck restaurant overlooking the marina. They have brought in lots of talented charter fisherman to cater to their guests too. For the shallow water crowd, they have the veteran guide Ansil Saunders. Just last week Ansil celebrated the 40 year anniversary of his still standing world record Bimini Bonefish. To help him celebrate, the legendary Stu Apt was on island to try his luck. And no doubt hoping to best that amazing catch.
 

 
 
For the offshore angler, you can charter another legendary guide named Billy Black. The same Billy Black who spent 30 years running charters out of Walkers Cay. Billy now has an incredibly restored and beautiful 1966 Rybovich named “El Viejo” and is ready for business.
 

 
 
While I was there shooting, we even got to see a little bit of the behind the scenes action of Southern Boating’s annual swimsuit photo shoot. Those snapshots however, can’t be posted here. You’ll have to wait for the Southern Boating issue to hit the news stands.
 
And on my final day I was shooting from the beach, and being a spectator. From the sky came Forrest Johnson in a chopper for the arial angle. The light was great and the water color was off the charts. I’m looking forward to seeing the next advertising campaign from Hatteras Yachts to see his work in print.