Blackfish (tautog), wreck fishing chartersStriped bass (stripers) charters, trolling and chunking Karen Ann II - New Jersey Charter Boat35' Custom Downeast Sportfisherman / New Jersey Charterboat Bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, chunking and trolling, inshore and canyonMako shark, offshore fishing
  Wrecks - Bottom - Trolling - Inshore - Offshore 29 March 2024
Building The Karen Ann II

Part 1 - The Search

The original Karen Ann...a great charter fishing boat.
The "Karen Ann"

For the past 4 seasons, I've had a perfectly good 28' boat under me. When the decision was finally made to "move up", I didn't want to be going through the same process another three to four years down the road. I was keen on finding a vessel that would be under me for substantially longer.

When I first started looking last August, the idea of building a boat was about the farthest thing from my mind. I was looking for a commercial quality vessel in the 30 - 33 foot range, that was my target. My main goal was to find a boat that I didn't have to fight; I'd spent a lot of years trying to get boats to do something they weren't meant to do: fish hard.

I began my search in the usual ways: boat shows, boat shopper magazines, local boat dealers and brokers, etc. Nothing against the local boat shopping magazines, but it didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't going to find what I was looking for in them. Thus, I turned my search to my two favorite commercial fishing publications, the National Fisherman and Commercial Fisheries News. I came to the conclusion that somewhere in New England I could find the Karen Ann II.

National Fisherman cover   Commercial Fisheries News cover
The National Fisherman and Commercial Fisheries News
publications were instrumental in my search.

While most captains were lamenting the windy weekends of last fall, I was actually pleased because I spent most every weekend of last October (my wife is truly the greatest!) canvasing the working fishing towns of New England. Snug Harbor, Rhode Island. New Bedford, Green Harbor, Scituate, Newburyport, Massachusetts. Kittery, Oguinquit, Maine. I looked at Sisu's, BHM's, Duffy's, H&H's, even a couple of Novi (built in Nova Scotia) boats. The Camel, Ridla, Sinbad. This was the stuff of which my weekends were made.

There were a couple that I was close to buying, real close. I probably would have bought a 30' Novi boat built by Levy Boats & Marine. (I mention them specifically here because Susan and Randy from Levy were fantastic about getting me information about their boats when I did finally decide to build.) The only hold up: the nearly century-old Jones Act and Coastwise Trade Laws, that restrict the use of foreign built vessels for commercial endeavors in US waters. (There had been a three year waiver period, but wouldn't you know it, it expired last September!)

Update: As of the Fall of 2003, the Maritime Administration has authorized the Small Vessel Waiver Program. This program has simplified the process whereby a foreign-built vessel MAY be used to carry passengers for hire.

Let me also take a minute to thank everyone that I met in my travels. The working fishermen (and women) of New England know their sh--. Just that simple. I learned something from everyone, and more than a few things from most. One captain even wanted to know every time I was coming through so he could take me Giant Bluefin fishing "down off P-town" (Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod). (I missed out on that one when I showed up one morning to find the head of 600+ lb. fish in his cockpit that he caught the day before!)

On Sunday morning, October 20th, I found myself in Kittery, Maine. There was a light rain accompanying the 20 knot plus easterly. I pulled on my slicker as I made my way down the dock to meet Arnold. The boat was moored right across the harbor from Portsmouth Naval Station, and as we motored away from the dock we had to call the Naval Station to let them know we'd be in the harbor. I watched guards armed with M-16's patrol the wharf and throw cautious looks our way. The world sure changed an awful lot in 13 months.

Arnold had built a brand new RP 35. Designed by Willis Beal of Beals Island, Maine (where the boats are "born in them"), the 35 footer had a 13' 8" beam with a full keel. Her high sides were perfect for charter fishing, and as I jumped down from the gunwale, she hardly rocked. The boat was mostly unfinished. She had a 315 HP Cummins in her, had a short 6' top with an open back, and a 4' by 4' companionway door to an open, unfinished cabin. We took the boat down to the inlet in a 3' chop, and in the inlet I got to run her through steady 8 footers. I was sure my search for the Karen Ann II had ended. I informed Arnold that on Monday I would be calling some boat shops to make sure I could get her wheelhouse enclosed and cabin finished down forward in time for the Spring and would be in touch by the end of the week.

<< Introduction Part 2 >>
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