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Penn Presents: |
The Ultimate Pilothouse |
- By Ray Hsieh
- Published 10/18/2008
- Latest Updates
- Unrated
The Journey Begins
Not too many people in this life get to do everything they love. I consider myself one of those truly blessed to be able to work in an industry that is directly related to my passion with fishing, boats, and business.
I have always admired and thought of the Parker boat line as one of the best fishing boats money could buy. I have always respected the design and the heritage of what these boats are about.
When my cousin Anthony decided to get into the boating business, we talked about many different types of boats. I still remember the day in May of 2007 as we were running out of San Diego Bay. I pointed back behind us as we saw 6 of these Parkers and passed another 3 as we were running out to fish San Clemente Island.
Fast forward the clock over a year, I find myself involved working side by side with friends and family in the boating business with Sundance Marine and Crow’s Nest Yachts.
I got the call from Anthony. We were to plan a trip to Beaufort, NC to order the new flagship of the Parker line, the Parker 3420 XLD.
I was pretty excited because I was going with our team of Rod Halperin, Cullen Thompson, Barry Brightenburg, and Armando Roldan. We flew out on a Sunday at 9AM from Lindberg Field in San Diego. We arrived that evening in New Bern, NC by 8:00PM and took a drive of 45 minutes to Beaufort.
On Monday morning we met with Russell Norris of Parker Boats and given the tour of the entire factory. It is unbelievable how organized and methodical they are about building boats. I can now truly see what goes into every Parker boat that is out on the water. We got to see the entire process from start to finish of every model that is made.
We were soon joined by Linwood, Robin, and Wood Jr. to look at what would be hull #8 and our boat for the west coast. Our Sundance and Grander team sat at the table with their Parker team as we discussed what our needs are being a private boater and fisherman in Southern California. We left no detail out and covered everything from the wiring system to the bait system, nothing was left out as we climbed into every compartment of the almost completed boat of Hull #6. At the end of the day, I was truly amazed at what I had seen and excited for what everyone will see for the 2009 season.
The Parker 3420 will carry 400 gallons of fuel standard, powered by twin Yamaha 350hp outboards, she will cruise at 33MPH and get 1.2MPG at this speed. Our boat will be equipped with a Bow Thruster, 6kw Fischer Panda Diesel Genset, 16,000 BTU air conditioning / heating, teak and holly floors in the interior, a second helm station on the outside, and a custom Pacific Edge 180 gallon bait tank.
We are still considering other customization but will wait until the boat gets here to California.
We left the Parker factory completely satisfied and knowing that we will be taking delivery of the largest Parker built to date.
At this time our boat is in 3 major pieces and being assembled. I have included pictures of this process.
Here is our Service Dept. guru Cullen Thompson looking over the inside of our hull. Cullen is an expert in rigging and brings in many years of experience with running boats and fishing in the local area.
Here is a picture of the superstructure. You can see the heritage of every pilothouse that Parker has built in this item.
Here is myself and Cullen looking at the area where the custom bait tank will go. There is a ton of room.
Here is picture of the helm. There is plenty of room to install large screen displays for the electronics. We have not decided yet on what will go in but we are doing the research now.
Here is the new grid system. This is the internal structure of the 3420.
I have always admired and thought of the Parker boat line as one of the best fishing boats money could buy. I have always respected the design and the heritage of what these boats are about.
When my cousin Anthony decided to get into the boating business, we talked about many different types of boats. I still remember the day in May of 2007 as we were running out of San Diego Bay. I pointed back behind us as we saw 6 of these Parkers and passed another 3 as we were running out to fish San Clemente Island.
Fast forward the clock over a year, I find myself involved working side by side with friends and family in the boating business with Sundance Marine and Crow’s Nest Yachts.
I got the call from Anthony. We were to plan a trip to Beaufort, NC to order the new flagship of the Parker line, the Parker 3420 XLD.
I was pretty excited because I was going with our team of Rod Halperin, Cullen Thompson, Barry Brightenburg, and Armando Roldan. We flew out on a Sunday at 9AM from Lindberg Field in San Diego. We arrived that evening in New Bern, NC by 8:00PM and took a drive of 45 minutes to Beaufort.
On Monday morning we met with Russell Norris of Parker Boats and given the tour of the entire factory. It is unbelievable how organized and methodical they are about building boats. I can now truly see what goes into every Parker boat that is out on the water. We got to see the entire process from start to finish of every model that is made.
We were soon joined by Linwood, Robin, and Wood Jr. to look at what would be hull #8 and our boat for the west coast. Our Sundance and Grander team sat at the table with their Parker team as we discussed what our needs are being a private boater and fisherman in Southern California. We left no detail out and covered everything from the wiring system to the bait system, nothing was left out as we climbed into every compartment of the almost completed boat of Hull #6. At the end of the day, I was truly amazed at what I had seen and excited for what everyone will see for the 2009 season.
The Parker 3420 will carry 400 gallons of fuel standard, powered by twin Yamaha 350hp outboards, she will cruise at 33MPH and get 1.2MPG at this speed. Our boat will be equipped with a Bow Thruster, 6kw Fischer Panda Diesel Genset, 16,000 BTU air conditioning / heating, teak and holly floors in the interior, a second helm station on the outside, and a custom Pacific Edge 180 gallon bait tank.
We are still considering other customization but will wait until the boat gets here to California.
We left the Parker factory completely satisfied and knowing that we will be taking delivery of the largest Parker built to date.
At this time our boat is in 3 major pieces and being assembled. I have included pictures of this process.
Here is our Service Dept. guru Cullen Thompson looking over the inside of our hull. Cullen is an expert in rigging and brings in many years of experience with running boats and fishing in the local area.
Here is a picture of the superstructure. You can see the heritage of every pilothouse that Parker has built in this item.
Here is myself and Cullen looking at the area where the custom bait tank will go. There is a ton of room.
Here is picture of the helm. There is plenty of room to install large screen displays for the electronics. We have not decided yet on what will go in but we are doing the research now.
Here is the new grid system. This is the internal structure of the 3420.
