Tom,
Weather is blowing and it's raining up here so I thought I'd
take the
time to let you know how much I enjoy my Waterman. In 9 months
I've fished from south Texas to the Florida Keys and trailed
over 6500 miles. I couldn't be happier with the boat, everything
is perfect and it has far exceeded all my very high expectations.
As you know the one concern I
had with getting a Waterman was how it would handle crossing
long stretches of open water from Mississippi to the Louisiana
marsh. I've made that crossing 20 or 30 times now in all kinds
of weather and the boat has handled it all. I also made a
wild "E-ticket" run down Big Spanish Channel from
the Content Keys to Big Pine when Alberto moved by the keys
last June. That run really cemented my confidence in this
boats capabilities to take the slop and get me home.
Everyone talks about your boat's quality, fishability, great
poling,
super shallow draft and how quite they are. After owning one
all I
can say is Amen to all that. I'm sending pictures of three
redfish
that bottomed out a 30 pound boga. Two of those fish were
caught in a small pond in less than 10 inches of water (the
deep end). We watched both fish "crawl" through
the pond with their backs out, dragging their bellies and
leaving long mud trails. Makes sight fishing
easy:-). I don't know of another boat that could have gotten
us into that pond and let us fish it.
Thanks again to you and your crew for building such a great
boat.
Brad
Greetings Mr. Tom Gordon,
You don't remember me, however, I meet you 3 years ago when
you were with Hells Bay. I designed a boat with Mr. Broderick
and felt it was a little expensive at the time and passed
on the Hells Bay for a Ranger Phantom. At the time the Hells
Bay shop was very well handled and organized! I was impress
by HB professionalism, which really was your doing, as we
see today.
A little history about me, I am a part time charter captain
on the flats. In addition, I am a full time Air Traffic Controller
at the Orlando International Airport. I love fishing professional
redfish tournaments, which is why I went with Ranger Boats
and Yamaha outboards. I have seen every flats boat out there
on the waters, so I feel I have a good understanding of skiffs.
So lets get back to what I wanted to say. I had a few flats
photographs that needed to be framed. I had my wife drop them
off at a local Port Orange framer. When I went to pick them
up, I meet a Mr. Tom Leedy. He really liked the one photo
I had and we got into a discussing about fishing and the Gordon
Waterman. Tom told me he recently purchased one and that if
I had some time, would I like to go fishing some day. I said,
sure, give me a call. Last Wednesday, I had a chance to ride
on Tom's Waterman, and I had a great time fishing off your
product. What I wanted to mention was that we had a hard time
locating tailers because of the wind and I took Tom back behind
the Clinkers, we found a ton of bait but not any tailers,
so we decided to relocate to Tiger Shoals. I really didn't
want to pole out for 30 minutes back around the spoil island,
so we decided to try and take a short cut towards a sand bar
that had a little water over it. As we poled over towards
the bar we would eventually bottomed out. I got out and would
you know it, the water was just over my big toe, but not over
the top of my foot (well below the ankle). We both got and
lifted the boat over the bar, 8 feet? Just enough to drop
it into the deeper side. I was certainly impressed with the
draft and off course the poling.
So there you have it. I know your reputation as a boat builder
and quality control you still maintain from your Hells bay
days. I am in the market for a new boat and will certainly
consider your boats.
Take care!
Captain Steve Alqueza
386 295-9452
www.redfinatic.com
Tom,
The boat performed awesome while we were in Islamorada this
past weekend. We had to cross a few bays on the way to our
Gulf side spots. We had a two foot chop but the boat handled
it with no problems. I ran 70 miles on Saturday and 42 miles
on Sunday. Both were excellent fishing days. The pictures
are from Saturday's catch - 19lb permit, 10 lb Tripletail
and some nice trout. I left the grouper, snapper, mackerel
and bluefish out of the pictures. All these fish were caught
on artificials. Only used 17 gallons of gas, but was running
"fast". Thanks for a great product and package.
Bill
Tom,
I have had my boat for four months now, and have fished most
every weekend with many different people. All have been impressed
with the ride even in a chop, the fit and finish, the detail
of the wiring of the boat and how well the boat poles in inches
of water.
I want to thank you for asking me all of the questions that
you did on items that I thought that I wanted. Not only did
you save me lots of money on the unnecessary items, but it
also reduced the weight in the boat. Your attention to each
angler’s needs and how you outfit their boat is a real
plus. I also would like to thank you for still working with
me on the prop issue, even after I took possession of my boat.
I know I have been a pain trying to get it tuned just right.
Keep in mind that I now have two props and you are going to
send a third. Most people would have requested that I send
the other props back before sending another. I want to thank
you for letting me test them before sending the others back
to you. Your continued support is most impressive.
Jim Durante
Tom,
My new 16' Waterman is incredible! At a time of mass-produced
flats skiffs, it's rare to find a manufacturer who pays such
great attention to detail and still custom builds each boat
one at a time according to their client's wishes. The workmanship
and pride that you and your skilled staff put into my Waterman
(and all of your boats for that matter) is truly unsurpassed.
It rides great, poles effortlessly and silently, tracks true,
and gets in shallow water that other boats can't reach. It's
the finest skiff I've ever owned.
My thanks to everyone at Gordon Boatworks.
All the best,
Jon Cave
http://www.joncaveflyfishing.com
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Gordon Boatworks
I spent most of the day at Gordon Boatworks over in Edgewater,
Florida. I was with Jon Cave while he had some last minute
work done to his new 16-foot Waterman skiff. I've know Tom
Gordon for a while and I will simply say he seems to do things
the right way.
Now before this goes too far -- I don't own a Gordon boat,
I'm not getting one for a great deal and he's not paying me
a penny for any of this. Being in the fishing industry for
a while and an editor with several magazines that did boat
reviews, I can honestly say they all pretty much pander to
the advertiser and serve to console and convince the manufacturer
to advertise. They all say the same thing -- the boat is great,
it floats in a puddle (albeit a deep one) and they all ride
smoother than silk. Just change the name. I always had a problem
with boat reviews as an editor because I wasn't allowed to
say anything that was less than flattering. Heck, I even made
some honest comments that pissed a few manufacturers off --
and they weren't derogatory at all. My only way to say a boat
was bad, was not to review it, but if they might be potential
advertisers, even that was not an option. The only purpose
boat reviews serve is to give you an idea of what's new and
what its features might be. Beyond that don't waste your time.
Any magazine that has boat ads in it will cater to them at
all costs and the review will be glowing and wonderful. Boats
and engines pay far more than rod and reel manufacturers.
That said, I did a review of Gordon Boatworks' Waterman last
year when he first started up. He bought the mold from Hell's
Bay, which he worked for for quite a while before he went
off on his own. Hell's Bay's problems aside, Tom Gordon bought
the best hulls Hell's Bay ever made and changed them around
a bit and then improved them. He impressed the hell out of
me with his attitude and his attention to detail. And he's
impressed a lot of others along the way. He now has orders
for nearly 100 skiffs and its almost all through word of mouth.
This is one of the very few boat builders I can honestly write
about. What I said in that review is true and I'll say it
again here... they are simply among the finest flats skiffs
you will find anywhere on this planet. And its quality does
not stop with the finished boat. The attention to detail,
the years of experience, the quality materials and the customer
service are all impressive by today's standards.
Every boat is custom built and you will talk to Tom Gordon
to order it, and when you have questions, and if you want
to come visit, and when you pick it up and four years down
the road when you need something fixed or changed. These skiffs
are Tom's babies and the entire production crew feels the
same way. And Tom's not out to milk anything either. With
as many orders as he has, he could clearly charge far more
than he is, but he won't. Maybe a small yearly increase, but
not a drastic one. (He may rethink that if orders get out
of hand.)
Tom will talk with you about any aspect of your boat you want
-- curious about Kevlar? Sure, he can build yours out of Kevlar
if you want. Want one that you could literally lift and move
with a friend? What ever you want, Tom and his crew will figure
out a way to make it happen for you. I saw one boat nearing
finish that was headed to my hometown in Mississippi -- and
it literally had everything but the kitchen sink added on
-- a Power Pole, trolling motor, leaning bars, sissy bars
and electronics out the wazoo.
I guess what impresses me most about Gordon Boatworks is their
attention to detail and to the customer. They are still small
enough that you matter. Can you imagine getting a custom built
car built to the standards of Rolls Royce or Bugatti but for
the price of a production model sedan? This was the same concept
that made Hell's Bay so great to begin with before it all
got way out of hand. Tom remembers that situation well and
you can tell he's determined not to go down that same road.
The other thing is that what they build is simply an awesome
flats skiff. No compromises whatsoever. Nope, it won't float
in 4 inches and they don't care. (Frankly I've run into so
few boats that will float in water less than 6 inches it's
scary.) But it will run shallow and it will float very shallow
and it will pole straight and easily and give you a smooth
ride in the waters it was designed to fish. It's simplicity
and functionality, nothing more.
Anyway, if I owned a boat, it would be a Gordon Waterman.
His operation and his skiffs impressed me enough to write
this commentary. If you're looking for a skiff, I suggest
you take a good look at Gordon Boatwork's boats. If Tom and
his boats don't impress you, your standards are far above
mine -- and I'm a picky SOB.
posted by Scott Leon of The
Southern Fly Fisherman
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