Against The Grain

IF YOU LOVE THE LINES OF A SPORTFISHERMAN BUT THINK MASS-PRODUCED BOATS ARE NOTHING SPECIAL, YOU MAY FIND A CUSTOM WOODEN YACHT LIKE THIS MERRITT 46 TO BE YOUR PATH TO FULFILLMENT.

- Capt. John Wooldridge

The late afternoon light arced at right angles across the dock in front of me, a dock lined on both sides with large sportfishing yachts of every stripe. The light splashed into the cockpits of the battlewagons tied stern-to on one side of the dock, electrifying the gold and black grain of deeply varnished, teak-planked transoms. Imagine, if you will, a long row of blazing transoms side by side—it was a mesmerizing sight, particularly for anyone new to the thrill of sportfishing yachts.

I wondered out loud how many of the boats tied up here for the tournament were made of wood. A more experienced colleague walking the docks with me stopped and pointed at two, identifying one as a fiberglass design of some renown, and the other as a cold-molded Merritt Custom 46. The exterior finish on both was impeccable, with nary a black streak from some corroded fitting or sooty bloom from a poorly maintained engine.

I remember seeing that particular Merritt at the check-in and weighing station as its experienced owner deftly backed into a slip next to the scales and crane. Standing on the after edge of the flybridge, his back turned to the steering console, he slipped the shifters in and out of gear with precision; the corners of the cockpit followed the motion of his shoulders in a powerful, yet controlled, approach as dozens of onlookers watched. Judging wind and current, he backed in quickly and then stopped, the boat unmoving and suspended off the dock by maybe a foot. I remember thinking, I want to do that! And I wasn’t the only one.

This all came back to me as I considered the Mollie Whopper, a Merritt Custom 46 located in Beaufort, North Carolina, and offered in brokerage sales by Tom Harris at Harris Marine in nearby Morehead City. Since he sold fishing boats both small and large, in fiberglass and wood, I asked him which type would be right for me, if I wanted to take up big-game fishing seriously.