UVI 11 at TSL

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Aug 29th, '11, 08:21

Sure glad all you Faithful made it thru Irene with little or no damage, & hope the next one(s) miss us all.

Thought I'd give y'all a brief report on my recent trip to Tropic Star in Panama with my son Brent & son in law Chuck. It was my 5th trip there and their second. The traditional "hot time" for marlin fishing there has always been in Feb. and early March and their pricing is higher in the winter. Their late spring and summeer season is mostly sailfish, tuna and inshore for roosterfish, etc with a few marlin. And about 25% less expensive then too. They usually closed up shop about the first of September and did't reopen until December. But a few years ago a real hot marlin bite was discovered in late August and early September and I have been lucky enough to be there twice for it. Last August the trhee of us released 9 marlin in 4 days fishing and this year 3 in 4 days with multiple shots per day.

I caught my first Black Marlin, a brute the captain & mate estimated at 500 pounds. Here are two videos of that battle, about 15 minutes to the release:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7KSbVAXl10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aeiy_Zr28U

And yes, those screaming engines are oil slingin' dump turck motors....DD 4-53 Ns....no tachs, run 'em wide open all the time....and some people say you can't back a B31 down hard? They use mostly live bait - big bonito and skipjack tuna - bridled to circle hooks and slow trolled, but we found high speed trolling with 6 or 7 hookless Moldcraft Wide Range Softheads raised the most fish, then tossed a circle-hook rigged live or dead pitch bait to them did the trick.

Many of you have been to TSL and I'm happy to report the place, the food, the people, the boats, and the fishing are as good or better than ever.

And we held the 11th annual Uncle Vic International Invitational and I managed to eke out a win, again. There were several other black marlin caught last week, but the second biggest one was caught by a guy from Alabama and I disqualified him due to Nick Sabin being a jerk. So I won.

Here are a couple of videos of my son battling a nice blue marlin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FeafUjsbV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbJZCGb6jXg

The fishing was great but compared to the week before, slow. We had one weather day were it was rough as a cob due to Irene sucking stuff up across Panama all the way up to Cuba. The B31s handled the 15 foot seas with ease but we called it a day early and soaked in the swimming pool while the newbees got beat to a pulp....been there, done that a few million times.

Mike Andrews, one of the owners, has designed and built some "flip out" ice chests that eliminate the need for beer and lunch boxes on board that are slick as owl s**t. I'll write about them later.

UV

capy · Post by **capy** » Aug 29th, '11, 08:29

Absolutely awesome UV, I am jealous.

Sounds a lot like my boat.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Aug 29th, '11, 08:49

And the winner is . . .
Surprise! Surprise!
That had to beat hell out of chasing Irene.

All good here on the Rappahannock River on the lower Chesapeake. Thought we were supposed to catch the big end, but thankfully we were in the Western quadrant (the good side?) and not much.
Hope the rest of you fared as well.

jackryan · Post by **jackryan** » Aug 29th, '11, 09:53

Uncle Vic,

Congrats on the win. If those video's don't get your blood pressure up, you're dead. It's fun to watch how aggressive they are with the boat handling. I would love to make it down there some day.

JR

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Aug 29th, '11, 12:57

Their goal is to get the release as quickly as they can so as not to stress the fish too much. The hollerin' is a fun part too.....I just realized this Black completes my lifetime marlin grand slam.....Atlantic Blue, Pacific Blue, Striped, White, and now the Black. I'ze be'z done......time to work on the blowboat.

If you like to fish, big time fish, and like the B31s, you gotta make it to TSL before you get too old to enjoy it. There is little honor in being the richest guy in the cemetary.

UV

Al · Post by Al » Aug 29th, '11, 13:21

Awesome! What a great father/ sons experience! Congratulations.

Gert van Leest · Post by **Gert van Leest** » Aug 29th, '11, 16:11

damn , iÃ¡m jelous ,just came back from la Gomera trolled for 3 days ,....nothing !!!

Nice fish !!

Capt. DQ · Post by **Capt. DQ** » Aug 30th, '11, 20:56

Congrats UV to you & your son Brent, you a lucky man UV, great videos, we just needed to see you sweat some more doing that work-out?

DQ

Harry Babb · Post by **Harry Babb** » Aug 30th, '11, 22:01

Vic wrote:There is little honor in being the richest guy in the cemetary.

So I gather that you have never seen an armored car following a hearse to the cemetary either....

I used to say "He who dies with the most toys, wins" then one day my brother shows up with his Harley and informs me that "He who dies with the most miles wins"........I thought hhuummmmmmmmmmm! ! !

hb

JohnCranston · Post by **JohnCranston** » Aug 31st, '11, 00:55

UV,

Talking about a winning streak! You're unbeatable! I think that ya'll booked your trip just right...My friends in Tx, went in march of this year, and ended up with one sailfish and a few small tuna for the week. They had a fantastic time anyway, and are planning on going back. I'm glad that you finally got your black...it took me 8 yrs and the help of Brian and Lisa Barragy to finally get my black and my grand slam. I need a bluefin and a bigeye and I'm done.
great job, UV.
John.

Ed Curry · Post by **Ed Curry** » Aug 31st, '11, 01:26

Come up north John, I can help you.
UV will still win the pool though. Just because.

JohnCranston · Post by **JohnCranston** » Aug 31st, '11, 13:01

Thanks Ed,
We'll take you up on that next year. How did ya'll weather the storm?
John.

Matt Holcomb · Post by **Matt Holcomb** » Aug 31st, '11, 15:29

Congrats UV. The streak goes on.
Nice fish. The Tropic Star Lodge is a great place.
I am going to Panama to fish in two weeks.......I will let you know how it goes.

randall · Post by **randall** » Aug 31st, '11, 19:12

UV...its all good.....when you have a good time everyone here smiles.

Mack · Post by **Mack** » Sep 7th, '11, 15:26

Thanks for sharing UV. Ditto Randal's comment.

Got to do Disney with the kids this year, but I am going back to TSL some day!

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Sep 7th, '11, 15:39

I managed to avoid Disney with our kids and they turned out okay, so it ain't a necessity like the women & kids try to shame you into thinking.

Doc - the marlin bite in Panama right now is reeeeeeeel good. We used bait & switch a lot and seemed to raise more fish than slow trolling livies.

Me & the Bride just got back from the camp where we cleaned up the mess from 22 inches of water in the downstairs from TS Lee. The good news was the water was very clear and left little or no mud behind and apparently it was all fresh water so the grass may survive. 22 inches is a lot for us.....we had 21 during Katrina and 31 during Ike three years ago, but both of those pushed in muddy salt water so it was a lot worse.

Anyway, the price of having a place on the water....and some really nice brand new lumber floated into the yard, so I made money on it, and AJ, she floats and don't care one way or the other.

UV

Ed Curry · Post by **Ed Curry** » Sep 7th, '11, 19:25

Just got my $13k bill for cleaning the mud out of the ground floor from Irene. The money would have been better spent at TSL . Tell me the secret of flood proofing the house because I'd rather give the money to a travel agent than the contractors
Congrats on another successful UVI. And thanks for reminding of me of the truly important things in life.

Hueso · Post by **Hueso** » Sep 8th, '11, 09:53

This is the way Puertoricans build to avoid the problems of high flood areas. Cement----living space on second floor-----party and garage space on first floor. Usually the car doesn't make it.

mike ohlstein · Post by **mike ohlstein** » Sep 8th, '11, 09:58

Gotta put a parking deck on the roof.....

TailhookTom · Post by **TailhookTom** » Sep 8th, '11, 10:08

Mike:

How about a vehicle lift instead?

Tom

Hueso · Post by **Hueso** » Sep 8th, '11, 11:40

Mike:

Wives will not allow it....looks ugly.

Tom:

Wives will not allow it.....looks ugly.

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Sep 8th, '11, 11:41

That's the way our camp is built - party & parking on ground level (with a workshop and half bath) and the living areas upstairs. A few tricks for dealing iwth flooding:

1. put your outside a/c unit on a 3 foot tall stand;
2. NO SHEET ROCK downstairs;
3. all electrical at least 3 feet off the ground, including outlets;
4. no hollow core doors downstairs, or make sure to take them off the hinges if flooding is coming and haul them upstairs; metal exterior doors for shop work fine;
5. no flooring or carpet downstairs, just concrete or tile;
6. build a ramp for your golf cart & mowers;
7. rig a way to pick up any heavy furniture you leave downstairs - we have a large cypress buffet that I pick up with a one ton chain hoist and a big nylon strap and put on some sawhorses. One man job, takes only 5 minutes to do.....hook the chain hoist to a loop of steel cable thru an overhead beam;
8. Metal patio furniture fares well, plastic stains and makes a mess. Put plastic up out of flood waters;
9. A 50/50 mix of Clorox & water sprayed out of a Hudson sprayer does wonders to kill the flood water odor on walls & stuff;
10 build stands for your downstairs frig/freezer and ice machine.
11 A big squirrel cage blower works good to dry the enclosed areas after you hose them out.....and try to get to it as the water is going down and befoe the mud dries up - a lot easier to clean up with just a hose while its still wet...try to avoid a pressure washer as it tears up the wood and paint.
12 tie down stuff that floats, like propane bottles, garbage cans, some bbq pits, firewood and lumber.

UV

I am set up to withstand a 3 foot flood and so far the 31 inches in Ike is the historic high.

TailhookTom · Post by **TailhookTom** » Sep 8th, '11, 12:35

Hueso:

Wives won't allow me......for the same reason!

Tom

Hueso · Post by **Hueso** » Sep 8th, '11, 13:50

Women down here will kill you if you "submit them to such monstrosity".......and you better put some tile on that polished cement downstairs!

Hueso · Post by **Hueso** » Sep 8th, '11, 13:52

UV:

You know what.....you have it all figured out!

Bob H. · Post by **Bob H.** » Sep 8th, '11, 18:26

UV, Nice videos of the black...that fish had some shoulders..the mate is no tiny tim and he got tossed around pretty good..looks like a slice of heaven...31 Bertrams all around..BH

Stephan · Post by **Stephan** » Sep 8th, '11, 21:02

I pestered UV about the flip-out ice chests and he sent along the following:

The TSL B31s are set up as SF models with wide benches on each side of the cabin flanking a companionway. This shot shows the two ice chests in the closed position.

Here they are flipped out. They flip out on a piano hinge along the bottom and the opening into each is alog on a piano hinge.

Front view showing them closed. The handle is the same as came originally on the fly bridge console doors of the B31. I'll explain the loop of bait rigging dental floss hangin out.

Front view with it flipped out. The flush hatch ring lift to open the access door into the box sticks so I put a loop of the dental floss they use to rig live baits to the ring to make it easy to get at the cold Panama brand beer stored inside. They use one for beer and the other for the boat lunches & soft drinks.

With the beer box open showing the delicious Panama beer....the boxes are insulated and seem to hold ice all day with ease.

In the TSL glass shop where they make the flip out ice chests. These are to be installed in the B31 that's on the ways in the background. About half of their 17 boats have them now.

The mold in which they make the flip outs.

Several under construction. They have a drain plug inside and when pulled the ice water drains into the bilge

So there are the photos both installed and in the shop where they make 'em. Mike Andrews is the husband of Terri Andrews who owns TSL and he dreamed them up as a way to eliminate the two ice chests aboard for drinks and lunch that were constantly underfoot.

The TSL B31s are as SF configuration that have been customized to gut the interior and have a wide bench or bed on each side of a central companionway. The very forward "V" contains the head and storage. The space under the side benches is void and these flip outs make use of some of that space. The idea could be modified to use on more "stock" B31s.

The boxes are balanced very well on the bottom piano hinge and have a "cam over" effect that keeps them both open and closed - the turn lock was not used on the boat we fished - the Canada - and in fact both of them were broken. We got in some very rough seas and neither box ever came open by itself. Someone at the lodge said a client lost the tip of finger when one slammed shut but I was not able to verify that....but see how it could happen if you were not paying attention when closing it. I forgot to ask Mike how the insulation is applied to the boxes, but suspect its sprayed foam. I was very surprised how well they kept ice all day in the Panama heat.

PeterPalmieri · Post by **PeterPalmieri** » Sep 9th, '11, 10:20

I'm not sure how it happened but every time I go to a web site on my iPad or work computer it populates with ads from TSL. Been happening for a week now. These darn things are pretty smart.

TailhookTom · Post by **TailhookTom** » Sep 9th, '11, 10:47

And mine populates with adds for Cialis -- lmao!

PeterPalmieri · Post by **PeterPalmieri** » Sep 9th, '11, 10:58

Tom if our browsing history is any indication of our interests and the types of ads we receive.......

Well we could both name our boats "wet dream" with very different meanings behind it. Mine being a bit easier to explain to family.

TailhookTom · Post by **TailhookTom** » Sep 9th, '11, 12:05

Peter: I think the key factor for me is I hit a new age demographic this year - 50 - now my snail mail always includes ads for hearing aides, Sr. Living communities and pharmaceuticals, lol.

The electronic advertising either tries to hook me up with "hot and 18," expensive cars, vacation resorts, and home refinancing.

The only thing hot and 18 I have in my life is my Weber Jr., my volvo is no luxury car, vacationing for me is on a sportfish, and I have no mortgages and don't care to refinance -- I guess they target what they think and not what it is!

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » Sep 9th, '11, 12:31

The information age is quickly becoming the too much information age! If you use a computer for any reason, your privacy is gone!

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Sep 11th, '11, 21:26

TailhookTom wrote:
The electronic advertising either tries to hook me up with "hot and 18,"

Tom

There is hope for you with these ads. When I turned 60, they changed form hot and 18 to married woman looking to have fun.

I just can not figure out how they target us. The only sites I go to have to do with boating and fishing. Yes I know boring. But I figure why go to the others when it does me no good. Same as going to a strip club. At the end of the night you get to go home with the newspaper. I don't need a strip club to do that.

PeterPalmieri · Post by **PeterPalmieri** » Sep 13th, '11, 13:40

Vic,

I remember when combing through all the old threads you mentioned TSL considering going to John Deere and not being happy with fuel Econ of the yanmar.

Any new news?

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Sep 13th, '11, 14:01

I had dinner one night down there with Mike Andrews (one of the owners) who said it ended up costing him $58K for a pair of 4 cyl. John Deeres when the dust settled - import duty, transportation, etc and that was just way to high. Their experience with the 4 cyl. Yanmars was they used a third more fuel than the tired & true DD 4-53s. They put about 2,000 hours a year on the motors and rebuild the 4-53s every 3 years. They have trouble getting some 4-53 parts such as governors, but most are still available even though the engines went out of production in the mid-80s. They have a complete machine shop on site and can rebuild the 4-53s and the Velvet Drive gears right there in the rain forest. Apparently the Nanni engines didn't work out - I was told they burned holes in the manifolds after about 1300 hours and I fished on the one with the Nannis in 2008 and they were dogs - constant trouble.

Most of the boats are run 6 days a week for about 9 months a year and most do not have tachs.....the captains run the on the pins all the time or at slow trolling speeds. I was told the original 140 hp DD 4-53Ns are de-tuned to about 100 hp which is why they last so well. The boats are pretty light with no real interior to speak of - I'd guess they average about 8,000 pounds wet and thus do pretty well with the little oil slingin' dump truck motors, in the 18-20 kt range.

It is very hard to argue with the success ot the DD 4-53s at TSL, or with the B31 for that matter. No other boat would come close to standing up to the kind of use these get every day....bashing through rough seas at full throttle there is not a squeak or rattle or a flex....good as the day the hull popped out of that mold at the Bertram factory in Miami.

Very interesting indeed. Bring your ear plugs tho.

UV

TailhookTom · Post by **TailhookTom** » Sep 13th, '11, 14:49

In case anyone wants a pair -- look what I just found on Craigslist in Colchester, CT = oil slinging dumptruck motors!

2 Detroit Desiel 453s.. 120 hp. 1500 hours on them. Both have transmisions an are ready to go. 9500 for both
Call tyler 8602356324

Location: colchester
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Sep 13th, '11, 16:23

Thanks, Tom....I'll pass that on to Mike Andrews.

UV

Garry · Post by **Garry** » Sep 13th, '11, 19:44

UV,

Nice Black. Happy to hear the longest winning streak in major sports history is still alive...

Garry

Capt. Mike Holmes · Post by **Capt. Mike Holmes** » Sep 13th, '11, 20:24

Gary, I was meaning to ask Vic if you still posted on the board. Evert find the boat you were looking for?

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Sep 14th, '11, 17:44

Well, guess the TSL party's over on the dirty little secret late August bite....just checked their 2012 pricing and yep, they now consider August and September to be "premium" time like December - thru Feb., their traditional "hot time" when the black marlin are there in numbers...but its turned out the past 3 years or so that there is a huge run of blue and black marlin from about mid-August thru mid-Sept. when they used to be winding down their season and had to guarantee your boat would catch a marlin or they'd give you a partial refund to drum up business. I sort of stumbled into that bite because my son and son in law's kids started school in mid August and they could better fade the domestic heat leaving for a week with the old man after the kids were back in school. The past two years the three of us fishing 8 days total caught 12 marlin. I'd been there many time before in June and earlier and good, but nothing like that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just musing over how supply & demand runs the world in a real way, as opposed to dumb clucks like Obama who think they actually can "create" jobs out of hot air.

For most of us who own and run our own boats offshore, the pricing at TSL even during the "premium" seasons is silly cheap. Not to mention the finest fishing on Earth, the finest staff, boats, food, and did I mention the coolest swimming pool on the planet, complete with a mosacic of a sailfish laid in little colored tiles in the middle? Both times I was laid up with cancer and told to get my sh*t in order 'cause I was on the way out I just dreamed about sitting in that swimming pool having Jorge' hand me a dry martini. That got me thru and the dreams became reality. The place is still a bargain at twice the price and run like the Swiss Federal Railways.

UV

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UVI 11 at TSL

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