Johnny Walker had Blackwell Boatworks in North Carolina custom build his 57-foot center-console boat, which he docks at the Galveston Yacht Basin. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
New boat joins an old profession
Johnny Walker has made a living fishing and guiding anglers for 27 years. The politics and economics of fishing have become more and more complex over those years, but he’s committed to fishing. And when the time came to order a new boat, he knew just how it should look.
The vexing issues around fisheries management have recently involved the division of quotas for the red snapper catch among recreational, charter boat and commercial anglers. Walker wears all three hats. The greater part of his livelihood comes from commercial fishing, but he also takes out parties and fishes for his own pleasure and dinner table. His new boat, which he named Katana, had to suit all three roles.
With the help of naval architect and engineer Darron Roop, Walker designed Katana and had her custom-built by Blackwell Boatworks in North Carolina. The 57-foot center-console vessel is able to take parties of up to six sport anglers as far as 150 miles offshore for a day in pelagic, or deep ocean, fisheries, as well as for shorter trips in coastal waters.
“She is fast, but with great fuel efficiency, and she’s built like a tank,” Walker said as he tidied up around the deck. “You’re not going to get a squeak out of this boat.”
The hull itself is a complicated sandwich. Layers of marine-grade okoume, the lightest, strongest and most expensive plywood, made from trees that grow only in Equatorial Africa, are encased with layers of fiberglass core and West System epoxy. Laminated fir stringers, also encased in fiberglass and epoxy, as well as three watertight bulkheads, provide additional rigidity.
“You could lift her up by one end, and she wouldn’t flex or deform,” Walker said.
Johnny Walker uses his boat for commercial and recreational charter fishing. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
Her hull shape is a “modified deep V,” with a sharp entrance and forefoot to cut through the water, but holding a rounded shape all the way aft.
“That means she rolls some in a seaway, but the ride is much smoother and more comfortable than in a speedboat,” Walker said.
Power is supplied by the single 1800-horsepower Man diesel in her spotless, white engine room. Katana can sprint at up to 43 knots. At cruising speeds of 20 to 30 knots, with her 1300-gallon fuel tanks topped off, she has a range of more than 1,000 miles.
A galley and bunks that sleep four, as well as a bathroom, allow Walker to take parties on overnight fishing trips. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
With bunks, shower, head and galley, she can take parties overnight on deepwater hunts for swordfish and tuna. She is fully equipped with ice-maker, coolers, fish-hold, live tanks and air conditioning, in addition to sophisticated electronic navigation, radar, communications and fish-finding sonar in the wheelhouse.
Walker made the long delivery trip earlier this year from her builder’s yard in North Carolina, across the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston, so he has seen how she behaves in the capricious conditions of the open ocean. He has confidence in her conduct in a seaway.
Recreational red snapper season began June 1 and goes on only until July 18. Walker and Katana are ready for it.
That boat is not even close toa center console. I can’t believe a reporter would make such A big mistake and an editor would not find it.
Mr. Crawford,
I spoke to David Canright, the reporter, who said: “I called the boat a center console because the manufacturer, Blackwell Boatworks, calls it that, and, when I asked, so did Capt. Johnny Walker.
The reader may be confused by the absence of the usual flying bridge, an elevated control station above the main console–which is indeed in the center of the boat. Johnny Walker opted to omit the “fly bridge” from his order, because he didn’t want to be climbing up and down, and wanted to be closer to his passengers when at the helm.”
I fished on the Katana a week ago and have booked it again for August 19. It absolutely is a center console which is great because my kids had to walk several big fish all the way around the boat several times.
Whoa! This is impressive. I’m just sitting here pondering everything you said. Really cool.
Johnny is the best captain in the Gulf of Mexico.
He has the nicest most comfortable boat I have ever had the pleasure of fishing in. It rides like a 60 foot Viking!
For the trip of a lifetime ..every time..my choice is Walker Sportfishing!