Fishing For The Best.

By John Wooldridge

Although he lives near Ft. Lauderdale in Pembroke Pines, Fla., Richard DeLizza keeps his Intrepid 377 Walkaround in Islamorada, down in the Keys. There, he’s close to the Gulf Stream and the fishing action. Because he has many fond memories of family vacations in that tropical locale, he and his brother bought a place in the Keys about 10 years ago, where the 377 now resides.

“In the winter and early spring we go after sailfish, but in the spring and summer we’re chasing dolphin,” says Richard. “Occasionally we’ll get into tuna.”

Richard learned to fish on some of the inboard-powered boats his father had owned, but he flatly asserts that he’s always been an outboard guy. “I wanted an engine that was easy to manage, one that I could take care of myself,” he says. “When it’s time to re-power, I only need to unbolt the old motors and bolt on the new ones. I know how to maintain outboards. Inboards, on the other hand, have through-hulls, shafts and stuffing boxes to consider, on top of routine maintenance.”

Before he bought his outboard-powered 37, Richard owned two Intrepid 33s. When he was ready to trade up, he knew he’d need a boat that could be put in high-stack dry storage. “That’s where I keep it four or five months of the year, but it’s in the water the rest of the time. I’ve depended on the service techs at Caribee Boat Sales down there, longtime Yamaha service guys. Those three Yamaha 250 four-strokes have 450 hours on them. Other than the 100-hour required maintenance, they’ve given me no problems. They’re amazingly reliable.”

Richard moved up to the 377 because he wanted a platform large and wide enough to support a tower. “The layout is versatile, designed to fish hard, easy to clean up at the end of the day and looks good then we take it out in the evening to a restaurant,” he says. A full cabin with a queen berth, galley and settee encouraged Richard to take it to the Bahamas at least once a year.

Richard has been a loyal Intrepid owner because he’s long admired the quality of the boats and contends that the service provided by the builder is incredibly good. “The folks at Intrepid will put whatever you want on your boat. I’ve added a custom tackle station and underwater lights for night fishing.”

Overall, Richard is very happy with his 377, although he says if he had his way, he’d like to have more cockpit room and a better time to plane. He’s been looking at the new Intrepid 39 for both of these things. “The 377 has every fishing amenity, and it was going to be my end-all boat,” Richard says. Whether he chooses to trade up remains to be seem, but even if he does move on to his next ride, he says he’s sticking with an outboard-powered Intrepid.

MotorBoating (April 2007)
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