One of the Best!
Apr 27, 2009
What a great little boat. I have no idea when she was actually launched, but my understanding of her history is that she was built in the late 70’s for Brisbane restauranteur, Arthur prince and named Cordon Blue after his famous restaurant. I have heard the Governor General of the time fished on her during Arthur’s ownership.
Bob Jones bought her in the mid eighties and gave her a top speed of 28 knots. She was called Karma then. I’m not sure if Bob gave her that name, or Nick Jackson.
I fished on Karma out of Scarborough with Bob, and Ross McCubbin in the 1985 light tackle season and we caught truckloads of fish. These were the days when there weren’t many boats fishing, double headers on little blacks were common and schools of sails were everywhere slurping on puddled up baby toads.
I know Jonesy took her up the reef for “the season”; I’m not sure how many times though?
I ran charters out of Manly almost every day the weather permitted. My crewman was Brad “Tappet” Bobbermein and we forged a great team which lasted many years. Dean Beech did a few weeks one year when Brad went north with Fergie for the season and it was his first marlin fishing experience.
We fished her very hard on light tackle and in late 86, started chasing blues on the continental shelf. She was really way too small to take out there in the weather we did. But the fishing was so hot we had to be there.
She frightened me once or twice coming through South Passage bar on big days and a couple of times I got turned around 180 degrees by big swells out on the shelf, but the little girl always got us home.
I sold her in 89 to Dr Barry Knight, but continued to run her for him while waiting for my new Pleysier 40 to be built. During that time I moved to 7 news, so she got a name change …. again.
Barry sold her in the early 90’s to a guy in Sydney and I believe she is still running charters and is called Wright One. http://www.gamefisher.com/
Probably because she had so many names, she’s not a “famous” boat, but that little 32 Cresta has an important place in the history of game fishing in Qld. Jack Erskine fished on her regularly, Billy Pate caught world record little blacks on fly on her in the mid 80’s and she was there right at the start of the blue marlin fishery in southern Qld.
You better believe me when I tell you that she saw more fish get caught than most of us have had hot feeds. She is only 32ft, but she’s a ripper and still going strong. For my money she was every bit as good as Cervantes for fighting fish and I could spin her on a dime.
Some of the best fishing memories of my life come from that little girl. Long may she live!
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