By John Brownlee
Life in the Bahamas can be hard on a boat. Such is the case with this rehab project, a 1996 Action Craft that saw extensive use at the Walkers Cay Resort, taking the owners and their guests fishing for bonefish, permit and tarpon with Capt. Gerald Rolle. When Walkers closed in 2004, the boat was moved south to Crown Haven where Capt. Sidney Thomas, another former Walkers flats guide, took control of its management. John Abplanalp, son of the former owner of Walkers, Bob Abplanalp, used the boat frequently,fishing with friends and clients under Sidney’s guidance. But as time went by it became clear that the boat needed to be either retired or made over. Abplanalp chose the latter approach.
The boat was brought to Stuart, Florida and underwent a complete rehab, from new power, paint and electronicsto a total rewire. The hull was still perfectly sound but everything in it had to go. Abplanalp enlisted the aid of Capt. John Corbin of Stuart, who oversaw the extensive renovations. Mike Flavin of Master Marine Repair helped put the finishing touches onthe boat and Yamaha supplied an F150 for power. They also worked with several metal fabricators to create a fairly elaborate poling tower and raised forward rail to facilitate fly casting, even in choppy conditions like you sometimes encounter on the Little Bahama Bank.
“What a gift and honor it has been to be able to preserve, restore, and enhance a wonderful little skiff that opened the northern Bahamas for us in a fly-fishingsense,” Abplanalp said. “We quickly evolved into bringing everything from five-weights for wading for big, tailing bonefish, to 11-weights for tarpon, and every weight imaginable in between for everything else. While not a modern poling skiff, the Peaceful Easy Reelin’ (Abplanalp’s daughter, Chessie, came up with the name as they are both huge Eagles fans) has enough modern innovation to let us go from tailing bonefish, albeit we might have to get out and wade for them, to pursuing other nearshore species. And the support and encouragement we had from friends old and new was SO worth the effort!”
After some extensive sea trials, the boat was sent back to Capt. Thomas in Crown Haven, where it reentered service chasing bonefish on the flats. It should be good for another 30 years of great catches and memories!
