On July 13 of last summer, 18-year-old Harry Besley left Lyme Regis on the English Channel, aiming to be the first person to circumnavigate Britain in an all-electric boat.  He and a rotating crew of friends stopped at more than 45 locations in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland before completing the clockwise round trip on August 14.  The team covered 1,708 nautical miles in Electra, a 21-foot Galaxy P7 aluminum-hull rigid inflatable boat (RIB) modified for electric propulsion and powered solely by a 90 kW (120 hp) Evoy Breeze outboard motor. The Evoy system consisted of two 63 kWh liquid-cooled, lithium batteries, a 6.6 kW AC charger, a DC fast charger, and a battery management system that could be remotely monitored. We caught up with Harry for some insights into his epic voyage. —Capt. John Page Williams

What prompted you to develop the Round Britain Electric RIB project?

“I’ve been on and around boats since I was three years old,” Harry explained. “I love sailing, water-skiing, and exploring along the [English] Channel in powerboats. I’ve also taken advantage of local courses in first-aid, lifesaving, and boating safety. For the past couple of years, I’ve thought a lot about circumnavigating Britain.”

“But I didn’t want to burn a lot of petrol making a trip like that,” he continued. “I wanted to show how powerboaters can reduce carbon emissions and promote clean boating. That goal is very important to me as a young person with much of my life on Earth ahead of me. I wanted to show that an electric boat can take this kind of extensive journey now, though I knew that planning for charging along the route would be a logistical challenge.”

Harry’s mother and project manager, Jaqui Besley, adds: “Right from the start, our intention was to help the marine industry move towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future, accelerating the change and encouraging industry investment. Our world-record attempt showcased some of the technologies which are leading the market in zero emission propulsion and helped develop knowledge, skills and infrastructure at the 40 locations we visited around the UK.”

This expedition required both training and logistic planning. How did you meet those challenges?

“The whole process took a couple of years,” Harry told us.  “It was a huge, all-over-Britain team effort. My mother is a deeply experienced project and business manager. Our stakeholders provided invaluable help in planning charging stops. Jim Thomas, a local geography teacher and retired Helm for the Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station for Royal National Lifeboat Institution, was a great help in developing my skills on the water. More than 50 sponsors helped us with everything from seamanship training, electrical systems, shock-absorbing seats, and foul-weather clothing to insurance, fire protection, and funding.”

Distance between marina-charging stops ranged from 35 to 50 nautical miles. Though the shore support crew carried a petrol backup generator in case charging wasn’t available in an outport, Harry never had to use it.

Where did you sleep?

“Mainly in a tent on the roof of the shore-support landrover. The crew had short naps on board Electra but I couldn’t! Only eight nights in a real bed on a 32-day trip. To work around weather, tides, and charging availability, we had to start some days well before sunrise. At least Electra’s deck was long enough for one of us to nap while we were underway.”

Read Next: Decoding the Horsepower Ratings of Electric Motors

Which sections of the trip were your favorites? Which sections challenged your seamanship the most?

“We loved the dolphins that showed up periodically to play in our wake, and the seals, and the puffins. The scenery varied, of course, but it was often stunningly beautiful. We had to navigate some serious waves, strong winds, and big tidal currents, but I enjoy it when the water is rough. Electra is a very able boat, especially with the weight of the batteries that allowed her simply to crush choppy seas. The instant torque of the Evoy electric motor made it easy to handle seas, and our suspension seats helped a lot. Our technical clothing—especially our dry suits—was crucial to both comfort and safety.

“The seas were especially rough on the run from the Isle of Man to Northern Ireland, but with such a capable rig, we weren’t worried. The scariest incident came in our attempt to round the southwest corner of Wales, from Milford Haven to Fishguard at night in rough seas, when the electronic display showing charge data cut out. We had to turn back. Otherwise, the trip wasn’t bad—except for the lack of sleep. Balancing daylight, tides, and proper charging availability was a constant challenge, and they didn’t always line up conveniently. Staying sharp when fatigued was not easy; we made some silly mistakes, like tying up the boat overnight with lines too short for the tides. Thank goodness none of those mistakes were too costly.

“All told, it was a great adventure, but the next time I do this, it’ll be in a boat with a cabin!”  [Get a feel for the trip by visiting Harry’s YouTube Channel at youtube.com/@RoundBritain_eRIB.]

What comes next for you?

“Well, I’m now on my gap year and having spent 3 to 4 months in the Mediterranean, I’m heading off to work in Australia. Then I’m back to London to go to university next year to study paramedic science. Maybe I’ll be able to combine boating with being a paramedic—who knows?”

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New York Times bestselling author Randy Wayne White has written more than 40 novels, but he’s best known for his “Doc Ford” series, set on Sanibel Island, Florida. Doc Ford is a biologist with a “certain set of skills” that his bookish appearance belies. White’s latest novel, One Deadly Eye, is set during Hurricane Ian in 2022, and because White hunkered down on Sanibel Island for the blow, he gives a terrifying bird’s-eye view of the destructive force of Ian’s winds, storm surge, and worse, the seedy looters and assassins that wormed their way into the devastated zone. I met up with White at a book signing in Sandman Books in Punta Gorda, Florida, one of his favorite bookshops, on his latest book tour.

Your main character, Doc Ford, is clearly a skilled boater with near-limitless local knowledge. You must certainly be a boater yourself.

I got my Ocean Operator’s Unlimited license in 1974. I worked as a licensed fishing guide in the Sanibel area. Getting a license was hard back then. I had to apply to the US Coast Guard for the privilege of testing. The USCG accepted me, and I had to overnight in the Tampa barracks while taking tests on international rules, inland rules, and safety. It was tough. After a physical, they swore me in as a captain. I’m not positive, but I think there were only two-dozen licensed guides between Estero Island and Captiva backthen. Now, with six-pack licenses, it’s much simpler.

You began guiding in 1974. When did you stop?

My marina was shut down in 1989, and I no longer had a home port. I had boys to raise and feed, and I had to make some money. So I started writing more. It took me 10 years to write something I’d put my own name on. Along the way, I wrote thrillers under a pseudonym. I had a bunch of DNF books and the stuff I sold for groceries—“duck and f-cks,” we’d call them. My big break was when Rolling Stone started Outside magazine. I wrote for them and soon editors from some of the best paying magazines in the country started asking me to contribute. 

Did you miss guiding?

I loved my clients. Many would come back annually. I’d watch their children grow from kids to college kids a decade later. I always disliked my peers who spoke poorly about their clients. They come down to have a good time, don’t really have any fishing skills or wouldn’t have hired you, and the guide would get frustrated with them. I adored my clients.

Did you have any bad clients?

In the years I guided, I had only two who should not be allowed to reproduce.

What’s your current boat?

It’s a 25 Dorado with a half-bridge; I really like it. I got the Doc Ford stencils on it.

What is your favorite boat?

I had a number of Shamrocks. Beautiful boats! But God almighty, they run like a John Deere tractor in the rain. The torque on that boat! It’s a true inboard. I could run across almost anything, but if you ran aground, you were aground.

What boat do you wish you still had?

The Maverick 21 Master Angler, Kevlar. A magic boat. I just loved it. I had inshore red lights with night vision and ran Sanibel, Captiva, and Boca Grande islands. I avoided channels like the plague.

What’s your favorite bit of new boating tech that was unavailable when you began in ’74?

The Power-Pole! My God, don’t you wish you had invented that? I also love my automatic-deploying Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor.

What are you nostalgic about in your career?

Not being a gimp. (White grins wryly, acknowledging his struggles with back surgeries and arthritis.) I miss the time when there were no jet skis. Times when other guides would honor your place, give a wide berth. Then suddenly all these six-packs crowded in, and honor was gone. When my marina closed, I guided off a trailer and boat ramps for a few years. The guidingculture was different. The veteran guides were so good to me. All the guides wanted all the guides’ clients to catch fish. Everybody caught fish. It was fun.

In One Deadly Eye, Doc Ford, your mysteriously skilled, spectacled biologist protagonist, gains access to a futuristic weapon. Are you a techie guy?

I’m very thorough in terms of research, and I have friends who do unusual things, so I have access to some crazy techie stuff. After Ian, we went to the Bell Tower Hotel on US 41—it was like Casablanca. Everybody wanted something. Especially boats. I met this English doctor. He got interested in thermal technology and got patents on this device, which you can put into a Walmart or anywhere, and it can read body temperatures of people walking past. This was done before the pandemic.

Read Next: On Board With: Capt. Boomies

He sounds like an inspiration to you and Doc Ford.

Oh my God, he has won three consecutive Queen’s award, is friends with King Charles, and has won the King’s award. He has done well. He’s shared some about his thermal technology, and another company has sent me some pretty high-end stuff to test. It is like science fiction.

As were some of the weapons in One Deadly Eye. How many people asked if you’re a spy?

It happens all the time, but when agencies start hiring people like me, we’re all in trouble.

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Maria Galati Hill literally grew up in the boating industry, hanging around her family’s Galati Yacht Sales brokerage business on the west coast of Florida and going to work with her dad. As a member of Galati’s marketing team, she has helped the company grow to an international level with her savvy understanding of social media. You’ve probably seen her in several industry videos such as the ones from last fall’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. We caught up with her to talk about her life in boating.

You grew up on boats. What’s your earliest memory of being on the water?

As a toddler, I vaguely remember being in my car seat, alongside my younger brother, strapped to the helm chair with a belt while we were underway  My parents hosted Galati Customer trips just as I do today and it’s all about making boating safe for all ages!

How young were you when you got involved in the business side of things at Galati Yacht Sales?

My parents believed in instilling hard work at an early age, something I plan to do with my two daughters. After school, my mom would take me to the marina where my dad would find small things for me to do around the office, such as putting the address stickers on the back of yacht pamphlets and alphabetizing files. Working with my dad was the highlight of my day as a kid. Luckily, I still get to work closely with my dad to this day. My first formal job was also within the company working the receptionist desk on Saturdays.

When did you start to realize social media could be an effective tool for your company?

The luxury-car world was a big inspiration on social media for me in regards to where I could see the company going. The yachting world hadn’t quite caught on yet and I was determined to make Galati one of the first in our industry to utilize social media to its full potential. Now being one of the most-followed yacht dealerships in the world, I feel like we’re doing our job to bring global awareness to all of our favorite pastime—boating.

What do you try to show on your social media feeds to appeal to prospective boaters?

The quality time you spend with your loved ones on the water is something that’s hard to put into words, but easier to portray in a video. I believe our followers love getting a sense of that feeling even if it’s through their phone. It was my brother’s idea for me to be on camera, putting a face with our brand. And my goal ever since then has been to make watching the videos on our page feel like a personal tour, a personal experience, rather than just a sales ad.

You’re on camera a lot. Any funny outtake stories?

There’s honestly too many bloopers to count, but the funniest is probably when I nearly walked off the dock focusing more on what I was saying than where I was going. The takes with my hair flying straight up are pretty funny too.

Do you still boat for fun with your family?

It’s my favorite thing to do. My happy place is on my parents’ 23-foot center-console zipping around the bay with my two girls on my lap catching the sunset.

Read Next: On Board With: Monique Richter

What’s a typical day on the water?

Believe it or not, a typical work day is actually behind a desk, but when I am fortunate enough to get on the water, it’s either during a video shoot or hosting a customer event. Both ways are extremely busy and yet extremely fun.

What is the biggest misconception about you?

That I’m a sales broker. My title is Social Media Manager and all leads we get through social media go to our sales team. But every time I see a comment like that I feel proud of how far I’ve come with learning every detail about these boats as if I were one of our sales professionals. I just have a deep passion for both the company and the brands we sell.

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After a long time working as a songwriter in the country music genre, Niko Moon broke out as a solo artist in 2019. Since then he has grown his fan base and had chart-topping hits, including his recent single “These Are The Days,” a song about lake life that features a Sea-Doo Switch in the video. We caught up with Niko to see how he’s been enjoying the lake life as a bona fide country music star.

Did you grow up on the water?

I grew up about 30 min from the lake and every chance I could get, I’d be out on the lake.

How did you get involved in country music?

I was born into a musical family so music has been in my life since day one. I’ve been singing and playing country music for as long as I can remember.

You started out as a songwriter for a lot of other famous country acts such as Zac Brown and Rascal Flatts. How was it switching gears and putting out your songs as a performing artist?

It’s been amazing! I love collaborating with other amazing artists but there’s nothing like doing your own thing.

Your recent album “Better Days” hit No. 1 on the charts. What’s your current tour been like?

I’m all over the country playing shows and couldn’t be happier! Every show is a lakeside vacation.

How did your love of the water inspire your new song “These Are The Days?”

This song is all about getting lakeside — life’s too short not to, right?

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You even feature a Sea-Doo Switch in the video. Did you get to spend much time on it during the shoot?

I love the boat. It’s such a cool feeling steering a boat, but it feels as intuitive and easy as navigating a PWC.

When you’re not touring or recording, do you get to spend much time on the water?

All the time!

What’s an ideal day on the boat with your family?

Rolling slow on a pontoon with my fam and dog: heaven on earth.

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A former charter captain with a background in competitive wakeboarding and fine arts, Jupiter, Florida, resident Monique Richter has carved out a name for herself as one of the premier artists for painting faux-teak transoms on big battlewagons. (You can view her work on Instagram and at mrichterdesign.com.) We caught up with her to find out how she makes boat-name magic.

How did you get your start painting transoms?

I used to work as a captain in the British Virgin Islands. All the while I was working on fine art in my spare time. I would come home from trips and paint canvases and murals. In 2017, I happened to be on a trip to the Bahamas and I saw a faux-teak transom with marine art on it. I went to Roy Merritt [of Merritt Yachts] and told him I could find a better way to do it. He took my samples and also passed them along to [the builder] Rybovich. Merritt was in the process of building a 72-footer with a faux-teak transom and he told me, “This is your canvas.”

How many transoms do you paint a year now?

My original goal was to do one a month, but business soon exploded to around 20 a month. Now I do about 30 transoms a month. I also hooked up with Viking and do most of its transoms. We also created a faux-teak vinyl option for smaller fiberglass boats and center-consoles. I work with 43 boatbuilders all told.

How long does it take to complete a custom transom?

It’s a production. The boat company team will prep the boat first. It takes me a couple of days to do.

How does it compare to your fine art work?

With the boats, I work directly with the carpenters, who taught me the different properties of teak and how it responds to paint. I use Azkonobel Awlcraft 2000, which is an adjustment from regular paint. You need all the safety gear and have to use spray guns and air brushes rather than pencils and paint brushes.

Read Next: On Board With: Alexa Score

Did you grow up in Florida?

I grew up in Fort Lauderdale. I’ve been boating since I was five. I grew up fishing right off the docks for snook and tarpon. I had a little Boston Whaler when I was 13 and my parents let me boat around the local waters. I still love being on the water. I eventually got my 200-ton captain’s license and started working charters. I was also a professional wakeboarder right out of high school. I competed for about 10 years.

Do you still got on the water for fun?

I fish a lot of billfish tournaments and also still fish for snook and tarpon when I can, and I still wakeboard and wakeskate for fun. It’s been great to combine my passions and I love what I’m doing.

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A former competitive wakeboarder, Alexa Score is one of the busiest people you’ll ever meet. From her work as a producer and on-camera talent for three outdoor shows as well as working for the Minnesota Vikings and appearing in Zac Brown Band videos, she is living her best life—especially when you consider she has been battling chronic myeloid leukemia since the age of 16. We caught up with her about her life on the water and her efforts to help other childhood cancer victims through the Surf to Save Lives event benefitting St. Jude’s Children’s Research hospital.

You grew up on Green Lake in Minnesota. How did you get involved in watersports and wakeboarding?

My family wasn’t really involved in watersports, but I got involved in the Little Crow Ski Team when I was nine. I was a swivel skier and even stood on the top of a 42-person pyramid. I have the bumps and bruises to prove it.

I got started wakeboarding when my older sister came home from college and started doing it on the lake with her friends. I started realizing I could be competitive when I won the women’s amateur national title at the WWA Nationals in 2011 when I’d really only competed a couple of times.

You were first diagnosed with leukemia at age 16. How did that change your life in general and your passion for wakeboarding?

There was a period of nine months where I struggled to get out of bed or do basic things like just walk down the stairs. Then when I turned 17, when I started feeling better, I graduated early from high school and said, “I’m moving to Orlando and nobody can stop me.” I found healing and passion in competitive wakeboarding and being on the water. I didn’t know how long I had to live and with my prognosis. I was literally riding the wave.

Are you now in remission?

I’m not in remission. I still take an oral chemo medication every day and see an oncologist every three months. I’m very fortunate—there are a lot of people under the same circumstances who can’t work and struggle on a daily basis.

What is your involvement with Surf to Save Lives?

I’ve been partnered with MasterCraft for three years now and this our second year doing the Surf to Save Lives event. From May 22 to October 1, all you have to do to participate is download the MasterCraft Connect app—it doesn’t matter what kind of boat you have. When you’re on the water participating in any kind of towed watersport—tubing, kneeboarding, waterskiing, wakeboarding, surfing—for every minute you log on the app, MasterCraft will donate $1 to St. Jude’s [up to $75,000.] All you have to do is log in while doing something you love.

I attribute a lot of my success to the first pediatric doctor I had. The drug I’ve been taking since I was 17 to stay alive was new back then. Now, thanks to research, there are five drugs to help people like me. St. Jude’s is on the cutting edge of care and research to help kids who have cancer.

You no longer compete, but do you still get out on the water?

Watersports was my first passion and still is my number one passion. When I’m home in Minnesota during the season, I spend every free minute on the water (I just got my new MasterCraft XT24 yesterday) taking friends and family wakeboarding and wakesurfing. I also still swivel ski and foil. It’s all about having fun on the water and creating memories.

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Like a lot of aspiring watersports athletes, Brian Grubb traded water skis for a wakeboard in the late ’90s, but it was a picture of a pro riding skateboard-style that would prompt him to trade bindings for sneakers and grip tape. Grubb would go on to be a driving force behind the burgeoning sport of wakeskating, capturing National and World Championships in his rookie year on tour and forging a career that would last for decades. It’s his relationship with Red Bull, however, that’s thrust the now 43-year-old into the national spotlight. Grubb’s recent drone-towed wakeskate session across the rooftop infinity pool of a Dubai skyscraper—followed by a 77-story BASE jump to the beach below— has become the energy drink behemoth’s all-time most viewed clip on Instagram.

Why wakeskating?

I grew up water-skiing and wakeboarding in Florida. I saw some shots in the mags of (wake pioneer) Scott Byerly riding with no bindings and had to try it. I loved the freedom of it and hitting rails and kickers was super fun for me. It was such a new sport that we were doing tricks no one had ever done and that was very rewarding.

Still, it was a pretty niche sport. How did you attract Red Bull?

I got connected with Red Bull back in 2001 with some help from my friend Parks Bonifay who was already on the team. I was getting a lot of exposure in the mags and doing pretty good competing in wakeboard rail contests on my wakeskate. It was a new sport, but Red Bull took a chance with me and together we helped grow wakeskating into what is it today. Red Bull is the best sponsor in action sports and goes above and beyond to help its athletes achieve their dreams.

Your career has lasted longer than most. How have you managed to stay popular?

I’ve dedicated my whole life to watersports, and it has been very good to me in return. I’m always trying to do new things and ride in places no one ever has. I’ve had some amazing opportunities to do this with the help of Red Bull and my other sponsors. I don’t turn down opportunities and am always on the move. I have a friend group that also lives like I do and we are always chasing the next adventure.

The latest stunt in Dubai was crazy. How do you dream up something like that, and what goes into making it happen?

The wakeBASE was my dream project. It was just a wild idea for a while, but started really coming together after we built the drone and now had a way to tow it. Red Bull has an amazing team that helped with the logistics in Dubai and with the Address Beach Resort. It’s a 79-story building and the pool is the highest infinity-edge pool in the world at 965 feet. It’s an awesome BASE jump with about 7 seconds of free fall.

Read Next: Thomas Herman’s Triple Flip Pushes Wakeboarding Forward

So what’s next?

I’m always looking for the next adventure and traveling around the world to find it. Lately I’ve been chasing big waves on the e-Foil and looking forward to going on the road this summer with Malibu Boats on the Just Ride Tour.

The post On Board With: Brian Grubb appeared first on Boating Mag.

Some people truly go overboard at work. While at his job roughing-in electrical systems in new houses, Jeremy Dennard reminisced about idyllic days as a teenager scuba diving off South Florida, so he took a job with Barnacle Busters. That was 18 years ago, and Dennard now manages a dozen divers as they scrub running gear, replace zincs and change props on Florida’s east coast from Stuart through Fort Lauderdale. We asked him about his job. —Vincent Daniello

What is busting barnacles like compared to electrical work?

“I was tired of getting shocked and climbing ladders as an electrician. Now I jump in the water and get shocked and climb ladders.” [Apparently, sonar pulses from big transducers on sportfishers can give a pretty interesting zap. —Ed.] “It’s one of those shocks where you want to touch it again to see if you were really shocked, but you don’t want to touch it again to find out.”

Seriously, though, what’s it like diving in a marina?

I was certified and started diving at 13 in South Florida, mostly on nice flat days with 60-foot visibility. It was a shock to jump into a marina where you can’t see the bottom, you can’t see your feet, sometimes you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. I’m trying to get back into diving for fun. I have a 13-year-old son who just got certified, and it’s everything to him just like it was to me at that age.

Do you worry about wildlife?

Under one big motoryacht, there’s this 6-foot, 500 pound Goliath grouper staring at me, literally a foot and a half away. It followed me around like a puppy dog. Another time, I’m pulling props and everyone at the boatyard is saying, ‘Have you seen the big gator?’ I finally said, ‘No, and if you want these props off, stop telling me about the big gator.’

So is it more Jacque Cousteau or Mike Rowe?

There are days where I get home and brush my beard and find dozens upon dozens of dried-up sea monkeys coming out. And there’s the time the ENT pulled broken barnacle pieces out of my ear.

Read Next: On Board With: Sue Wicks

What is a good day working beneath boats?

On a big, difficult prop job—maybe 50-inch-diameter props that weigh 700 pounds—sometimes the props won’t come off. To have those props pop, to hear that ring while you’re tightening the prop puller bolts, that’s a good day to me.

What are the biggest and smallest boats you’ve cleaned?

The biggest is a 315-foot Lurssen. The shafts are as big around as buckets. I sat on the hub of the propeller to scrape the blades, and they’re as big as I am. The smallest is a 9-foot little plastic rowboat we cleaned every month, sitting in a 50-foot slip.

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In October 2023, Princeton Electric Speedboating, a club of 45 Princeton University students, used the tiger-striped 14-foot hydroplane Big Bird piloted by veteran racer John Peeters to set a new Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) Circuit Outright Electric Class record speed of 114.2 mph, topping the previous record by more than 25 mph. The effort was inspired and led by powerboat enthusiast Andrew Robbins, who joined PES in 2021 as a freshman majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering. We spoke with Robbins by phone from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January.

What are you doing in Jeddah?

Princeton Electric Speedboating has signed on as Official Engineering Partner with Team Blue Rising for the UIM E1 World Championship, a one-design competition for foiling electric-powered boats.

When did you get interested in powerboating?

I grew up around performance boats in Michigan. The story goes that when I was one year old, I fell asleep on a poker run in the family’s Baja 26.

How did PES come to chase this speed record?

The team worked to get a D Stock hydroplane up to 42 mph. I did some calculations and determined that with a bigger boat we could probably beat the record of 88 mph. It took about 13 months to complete the boat.

How did you assemble the powertrain?

Flux Marine, an electric outboard startup founded by Princeton grads, supplied a 400-volt 24kWh battery pack and the motor from the 150 hp Flux outboard. We modified the controller/invertor so the motor would run at peak power for the duration of a pass through the 1-kilometer course. The motor can now produce about 180 hp.

What is the next challenge for Princeton Electric Speedboating?

We want to keep pushing the record. Black Sheep Racing is building us a bigger boat and we have a more power in the works. The target is 149.9 mph.

Read Next: On Board With: Mark Gomez

What has Princeton Electric Speedboating accomplished by setting this record?

I think we are helping to raise awareness of the potential for electric marine power, and any project like ours is an opportunity for technical advancement. This has also been a great resume builder for everyone in the Princeton Electric Speedboating club.

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Texas angler Stephanie Hemphill-Pellerin recently finished her fourth season on the professional bass circuit, competing in the National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) in tournaments all around the country. We caught up with her to discuss her career.

How long have you been a professional angler?

For four years now, but it’s my second time as a pro, because I took several years off to raise kids.

Are you a Texas native?

Yes, I was raised fishing the Sam Rayburn Reservoir [about a two-hour drive northeast of Houston], and that’s always been my home waters.

Did you grow up fishing?

I’ve literally been fishing since before I could walk. My Mom put a crib on our pontoon boat and took me out when I was a baby. My Dad says I caught my first bass on a Barbie rod and reel when I was two.

How many tournaments do you fish a year?

Between 10 and 20, depending on my sponsorship. This year I expect to fish around 20 tournaments.

Who are your main sponsors?

My main sponsor is joefromtexas.com and also Rayburn Resorts. My boat’s wrap will be joefromtexas.com.

What kind of boat do you fish?

This year I’ll be running a Phoenix 921 with a 250 hp Mercury outboard on the transom.

Do you fish for anything but bass?

I like to fish for redfish and flounder. I really like to catch reds from a kayak and be pulled around for a bit.

Read Next: Five Cities With Great Bass Fishing

Do you like to do anything else on the water?

If I’m on the water, I’m fishing. Whenever I see water, I need to be working it and getting better. When I’m not fishing, I really love to golf.

What’s the main difference between fishing and golf?

With fishing, you’re trying to catch something that has a brain and decides when and where it wants to eat. With golf, the ball has no say in how you do.

What’s it like being the only woman fishing on the NPFL?

If I get any attention, I want it to be because I’m working really hard and fishing really well. That’s all that matters.

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