They say pictures speak 1000 words; so before I banter on here is a picture of the completed masterpiece just after she left the Hooker Boats factory for the last time coated in her custom wrap designed by Fishwreck wraps.
Our vessel Insidious is a custom built 8 metre Hooker Boats Pro Fishermen series 2, these boats are built here in Cairns and ideally suited to the local conditions.
We are very proud to have her in our fleet and Insidious has exceeded our expectations already; in every possible way.
As John from Hooker boats put it "Even sitting on the trailler this boat looks like a weapon."
Well John we can tell you, she certainly is a weapon on the water
This post is dedicated to Insidious, showcasing her features and customisatations courtesy of the team at Hooker Boats. So here is a run down on our weapon of choice from stem to stern.
Perched proud on the bow, or pointy end for non-mariners, is a Lonestar Marine Stainless Anchor.
Kitted with 10 metres of stainless 8mm chain and 150 meters of 12 mm silver rope, all stowed in a double anchor well. We rarely use her but it's good to know she has the holding power should it ever need to be deployed, besides it looks bloody good.
The forward casting deck is spacious, thanks to Hooker Boats customisation. The team cut out the standard forward bench seats in order to provide this space, countless hours of reshaping and glassing were involved to get the finished product and it is certainly paying off in the fishability stakes.
The deck is constructed out of what seems to be a space age material; it never gets hot, we love it. No shoes required equals maximum grip and comfort whilst hooking the big ones.
We chose one of the new Hooker Boats consoles, these consoles are big. There is plenty of storage under the console for all your gear..... and mine, access is provided via a large hatch on the front of the console which also doubles as a small seat where you can perch yourself for a quick breather between casts should you ever need it. Inside the console houses 4 batteries, all the power distribution for the vessel and the network hub for the Simrad electronics package.
Our Simrad gear includes the following items:
- 16" NSS Evo2 touchscreen panel
- Wide angle thru-hull transducer
- 3D Structure Scan
- 3G Broadband Radar
- Auto Pilot
- AIS receiver
- 2x VHF Radios
- GS25 GPS antenna
- RC42 rate compass
- Sonic Hub 2
- Sonic Hub Dock
At the helm station we have a custom built dash that encloses all the electronics and gauges to help protect them from the elements, the guys at FNQ Plastics did a fantastic job of putting this together for us, it looks the goods and performs admirably in it's duties. We have a switch panel that controls an array of ancillary equipment, obviously a helm wheel, throttle control for the twin Yammahas and a couple of simrad speakers for the Sonic Hub. Up on top of the console is a large shelf for storage sheltered behind the large windshield. Perfect for cameras, phones etc.
Enclosing the console is our custom T-Top small enough to allow unobstructed casting but big enough to provide shade, there are 4 custom upright rod holders on each side and 4 across the rocket launcher at rear as well as two outrigger mounts. Up top houses our Simrad radar dome, our 2 VHF aerials, gps antenna, nav lights and spreader lights.
Our helm seat is another customisation thanks to Hooker Boats, we had a box glassed up to provide us with a big comfy helm chair complete with back-rest and custom upholstery.
On top of the back-rest are 4 recessed rod holders, these make a perfect rigging station or just general rod storage whilst traveling from reef to reef. This box provides us with more storage not only for the essentials like fishing tackle but also for our 80 Litre Waeco upright Fridge that the Hooker Boats team fitted up for us. I have to say I think I have one of the best office chairs in the world; I don't know anyone else with a built in fridge in their office chair. We have a couple of other customisations instore for the helm seat such as tackle drawers and a built in fresh water tank.
Directly behind the helm seat is the rear casting deck, again nice and spacious and the same space age material underfoot as the forward casting deck. There is a massive 300 litre insulated kill tank under the rear casting deck; so ample room to store any catch of the day.
The transom houses a livebait tank and a walkthrough door allowing access over the stern. Bolted on the stern are a set of twin 175HP counter rotating Yammaha inline 4 cylinder 4 strokes. Thats a total of 350 ponnies, plenty to get us up and moving; and being Yammahas you know you can trust in their reliability to get us home......... every time.
On top of all this Insidious has a steep deadrise that enables her to eat up the chop comfortably letting us cover the ground effortlessly, she holds 500 Litres of fuel enough to take us a long way off the beaten track, she has good height in her gunnels that lets you brace yourself well for those protracted battles and custom fabricated handrails that keep her legal, yet have spaces strategically placed to allow you to work the lures easily.
So thats it............. Our weapon stem to stern, we hope you will come along and enjoy Insidious as much as we do.
