New Sailfish owner Chris Ferry went from catching his first fish on a new 242 Center Console this Spring to running with a MarineMax crew nearly every day of the week, hauling catches in the back bay off Somers Point, NJ. Sounds crazy, right?

True story! The opportunity to reinvent oneself is always present, especially with a boat.

Chris started his boating experience as a bow rider owner, cruising and tubing with his wife, Daneen (pictured above), and their children. One day, smoking his customary cigar at the helm, it occurred to him: “I thought: Wow - you know what would be nice? If I could drop a line and fish a little bit.” 

Chris got through his second year of owning the bow rider. “With no further premeditation, I went to the In-Water show in Atlantic City last year, the week after Labor Day. And there I saw the MarineMax booth, with a shiny new Sailfish 242 Center Console. Jon Bartels from Sailfish and Mike Cerchiaro from MarineMax got on the boat and showed me every little thing, it was like, ‘Oh man, I'm buying this’.”

Chris purchased his Sailfish and arranged for Marine Max Somers Point to display it in its showroom during the Winter prior to taking delivery in the Spring. “I went and visited it on Saturdays. I'd go in and talk with the guys. We had pizza sometimes. It's almost like being in a club. I was a member of a country club for darn near 40 years, but they are my club now,” he adds.

Seasoned MarineMax Captain Mike Pinto finally delivered the boat to Chris in March. “I had never fished in my whole life,” Chris says. “I lived at the Jersey Shore, been around boats, never much of a fishing guy. But the team at MarineMax got me to drop my first line, and five minutes after, I had a flounder. 65 years old, first time.”

“The MarineMax guys drive those boats like I put my shoes on. They don't even think about it,” Chris adds. “Now that I’m fishing so often, I enjoy the times I get to bring them along. One of the guys, Mike Mara, ties all my rigs for me. They're so nice over there. I can't tell you. I mean, it’s hard to express how professional and how nice they are.”

Chris decides to use every opportunity to watch and learn from the superstars at MarineMax. “I watch and learn from them whenever I can. It's just such fun running the boat,” he adds. “It's new. I'm always trying to absorb things and reinvent. I played golf for 40 years. I played football through high school. I played ice hockey from 10 to 30. I played tennis. I played racket ball. I played squash. I snow skied. I mean, you name it, I did it. I played basketball. I played little league, just like everybody else. I completely changed my whole deal this year, and I’m loving it.”

Chris notes that his favorite features of the boat are undeniably Sailfish Center Console-specific. “The deep, padded gunnels, the ability to move around the boat with ease, the hard top, the electronics and helm width. I love every nook and cranny of it, and thanks to MarineMax, I know them all.”

Life takes us many places. A Sailfish boat will put you in a new place, different from anything you’ve experienced, and offer a way to reinvent and reconnect. And that is time well spent. Just ask Chris.