Quick trip to Coromandel
Sarah, me and the kids stayed at the Top10 in Coromandel last night and went out fishing today. Lovely day, good test for getting boat in and out on the ramp… Livvy caught the...
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The Bluefin comes home!
We’ve finally bought the Mancave boat back home to the Waikato. Towed really nicely but it’s time to leave the drystack and look at some different waters… New adventures are afoot!
Ben and Julian’s day off…
Ben and I both managed to get a free day so decided to go on a mission. We left Pine Harbour after work on Friday and headed to Matiatia where we anchored for the...
The Bro Trip 2015! (Great Barrier)
Another successful annual Bro Tip! We headed to Great Barrier again on a fairly calm weather pattern. Nothing much over 10 knots the whole time and a bit of glass. We tried a bit...
Glenny’s Fishing Day!
We gave Glenny, a friend a trip to Auckland fishing as a Christmas pressie. We had a great time and she even got a Kinghy! Below is Livvy’s first fish! a wee Snapper!...
How to make a Berley Bomb!
Easy! Grab a few pipe fittings and hardware from the hardware store, drill some holes and screw it together! Job done and works well!
Quick Coromandel Trip!
My brother and I popped over to the Coromandel peninsular today for a fish. The plan was to get livebait and catch a Kinghy but weather was pretty rough so we had to settle...
3 guys on the water…
Just a quick 1/2 day trip to Rakino with my brother Grant and Dad. Caught a good few keepers but mostly was just nice hanging out with Dad and Grant.
The Bro Trip 2014! (Great Barrier)
Here’s some random photos from the Bro Trip 2014. For those who don’t know, Simon is my brother and we started a tradition of an annual boys fishing trip where we challenge ourselves with...
Quick trip to fish at The Coromandel
I took the family out for a cruisy day on the water. It was such a great day it was glassy conditions most of the time! We went around Waiheke, then ducked across the...
Jack’s Auckland Fish
Jack came to Auckland with me on the latest tri. We stayed with the AK Stones and made sure we got in a good fishing trip. No huge fish but got a keeper. The...
Night Mission with the ‘Hodge’
Peter and I took off last night to have a night fish around the back of Ponui Island and Waiheke. We found it a little dead so popped behind Pakatoa Island and got into...
Gav, Nic and the kids…
I popped over to Waiheke with Gav, Nic and Estelle and Lachlan for a quick fish on Saturday. Not many fish about on the finder, but Lach’y caught all the ones we saw! Had...
When real men go fishing!
The weather was Westerly, 25-30 knots, gusting 35-40 during the day. Me and Ed were men with a free fishing day and a mission to get dinner. She’s a solid vessel, no kids in...
Auckland Family Trip
The Stone crew popped up to Auckland this week to see the Auckland family. I’ll post a few updates, but here’s a few pics from a nice day out on the water today. We...
Mau Mau for dinner!
Nothing so delicious as a nice bit of Great Barrier fish for tea! Here’s a photo of the fish (Blue Mau Mau) before I caught him . This was from the Bro Trip 2013...
Fishing with the kids & Grandad!
A day out fishing with the boys… It was a pretty good day so the lads headed out to the rear east side of Pounui Island. Got into a workup on the way out...
The Bro Trip 2013! (Great Barrier)
My brother Simon and I have just arrived back from 3x days at Great Barrier Island fishing (and a day in the Hauraki Gulf). We had a fantastic time, caught plenty and experienced a...
Gran and Poppa on the boat!
We had a nice gap in the weather so took out Gran and Poppa for a fish! He caught a nice keeper and had it for dinner. Go Poppa!!
Sorting the Sonar
We had an issue with the Garmin 750S sonar crashing and not finding the floor if we went over about 10 knts. Was a total pain! After some research, we found it was a...
Diagnostics Day!
I had a Mercury Technician come out to the boat and do some diagnostics. It’s been running a little guzzly and not quite getting up the the top end 5800 revs I would expect....
Family trip to Waiheke
We took some of the family over to the lower end of Waiheke today. Smooth seas, no wind, clear skies. Jack was first in the water and also caught his first Snapper! We had...
Day off fishing with Dad…
Just had a nice day on the water with Dad. Mostly we caught tiddlers, but was still a great day with heaps of sun! We went around Waiheke and tried everything, but mostly just...
Si and Jane’s day out!
Here’s some photos from Si and Jane’s recent trip out. They took out the kids and had a great day on the water. Gurnard, snapper, kahawai. Kids sleeping, smooth water and fish in the...
The Family meet the Man Cave!
I took the family to see the boat this weekend for the first time. They all loved it, but Jack was all over it! He totally loved seeing the family boat. A few days...
Past the break in!
I popped out today to push the motor over the break in period. All done! No fish around at the moment, but still nice getting out there. Was a pretty smooth day on the...
Cruise to Waiheki Island – Test run!
We (Dad/Brother) decided to do a run to the island to see how the boat handled a fairly rough sea in 25-35knt winds (prob gusting 40!). We al agree it did an excellent job....
The boat gets Sorted!
I spent the day at the Marina today on the work cradle getting it set up the way I want it. With kids and families coming on board at times, safety is paramount. I’ve...
Launch Day! The bluefin hits the water!
The boat was delivered today and looks awesome! Jamie and Wayne from Sportcraft delivered it and ran through all the systems. We were very impressed with the clean layout and sensible design of all...
Nearly at the finish line!
The boat is nearly finished! They took it for a water test and said it went well. Last thing is to have a think about some scuppers or a road cover so the boat...
Bluefin Boat Spaghetti!
Looking at the latest photos, I’m glad these guys know what they’re doing!! I’m sure when done it’ll be all tucked away neatly. Quite interesting seeing what goes into the boat! Very cool seeing...
More Build Photos…
Looking good! Bit more to do yet, but the Sportcraft guys are doing a great job. Can’t wait to get this tank on the water and catch some fish! Note: That’s not our upholstery...
Mercury 200hp OptiMax vs. Evinrude & Yamaha
I found this great article that shows a good comparison of the top three motors in the range. Looks like we chose the right one! Referenced from: this article… . Top Speed Test: Maximum...
Change of Plan – Mercury 200 Optimax!
I couldn’t resist. The 175 just didn’t quite feel right. I decided to upgrade to the Mercury 200hp Optimax. I think it’s just going to give the extra grunt I want without going too...
She’s Painted!! Very cool!
Getting there! All painted and ready for fitting out I guess. I went with a Resene Double Cod Grey. It’s a very dark charcoal. (I didn’t choose because it had ‘Cod’ in the name)....
The Bluefin 720 takes shape! Heading off to the painters this week!
The guys hard at work! Man these guys work fast!! The electric dunny is in!! No more hanging over the sides! Check out the bow rails! Man they look tough!
More updates on the Build!
Some more photos the guys have just sent through. These guys work fast! Looking good! Need to take the Bluefin out to catch some Bluefin!
Naming the vessel!– The Man Cave!”
After throwing around some ideas, we settled on “The Man Cave” as the name of the boat. I think it’s a pretty awesome name. Here’s the logo I whipped up and a visual of...
the motor – Mercury 175 Optimax
Here’s some specs on the motor we’ve chosen for the boat. I did a great deal of research on motors before settling on this model. Powerful, economical and reliable! . BEST-IN-CLASS FUEL EFFICIENCY The...
Visit to the Factory!
I took a day off and went down to the factory to see the boat being built. Caught up with a good mate and took him along as well. It was fantastic seeing it...