BOATING
OLD MADE NEW A total rebuild of a 16ft Dorado
By Erwin Bursik
W
E often hear complaints that acquiring a ski-boat is hugely expensive and out of the financial reach of most aspirant offshore anglers. There’s no doubt that’s true, which is how Mark and Brad Justhom’s project began. With a lot of homework and a great deal of personal effort, they now have a craft that more than fulfils their fishing needs and is as good if not better looking than when she was first taken to sea nearly 20 years ago. I came to know this craft when I used it as a photo boat during the recent review of Natal Caravans’ Explorer 510 CC. During the run out to sea I experienced a ride that brought memories flooding back. “Mark, what hull is this?” I asked. “Not sure,” he replied. “I’m sure it’s a Dorado. I won’t ever forget this ride,” I commented before continuing my work of photographing the Explorer 510 CC. On the way home I inspected the craft more closely and paid more attention to its ride. To cut a long story short, Mark, who has his Natal Colours for light tackle gamefishing as well as bottomfishing, had given up his Tongaat beach launching days and wanted a bigger boat that would allow him and his brother to fish out of Durban harbour, yet still travel long distances to productive fishing grounds. So started a story of the magnificent and practical offshore fishing craft on which I was riding, and how it came to fruition ...
The rebuilt 16ft Dorado, Wet Dream, completed and ready to go fishing. By Mark Justham
M
Y brother Brad and I decided a while back that we wanted another boat, but after looking at many new and new used craft we realised that short of “hocking” our souls and homes to the bank, a craft such as those we were looking at was out of our reach.
While window shopping at Natal Caravans I stumbled on a weather-beaten old craft on an even more decrepit trailer. I took a closer look at the hull itself and, seeing that it was still solid and showed no sign of osmosis, I found myself mentally redesigning the deck and forward console area to suit our style of operation. Then I called Brad; “I think we can
SKI-BOAT July/August 2018 • 73