Happy Holiday's All!
Wishing everyone a healthy & happy, just wanted to share some recent captures aboard the fine gunning vessel the "Commanding Mistress" to some, this boat may be familiar to a few as myself, Steve Sanford & Craig Kessler featured her in the 2017 Documentary "When Broadbill Was King". At that time the boat was owned and operated by Red Oster and his brother Stevie. They ran the guiding outfit: Redhead Guide Service out of Sayville, NY.
As our season's became more scarce here on LI especially with the Broadbill and a move ahead in Red's future to upstate, NY the outfit was broken up and sold about 5-6 years ago. I recently acquired the layout boat built in the late 1960's, this past July from one of Red's former clients in New Jersey and Jim Jankowski purchased the late 60's Commanding Mistress specifically 1968 by Raymond Lofstad from Islip Terrace, NY
The boat having served it's entire life as a battery rig was once again ready to sail the seas here in 2024 with a fresh dose of new life. The owner Jim and friends put countless hours of labor into the boat constructing her with more modern materials and upgraded equipment.
Here in 2024, she has been upgraded to a new exhaust system, rebuilt motor single screw, new windows, planking, wiring and wrapped around some fresh paint epoxy. There are still similar features that remain such as the layout roller, the nostalgic bow broadbill and cabin bell!
Yesterday December 23rd some close friends and I steamed out of Sayville, LI once again for the first time for me in about 6 years. The Mistress now towed a beautiful restored 17' Bristol Skiff outfitted with a brand new 2024 Mercury 30hp. The decoys (Plastic Final Approach) are the new replacements over the ole' E. Allen Decoys once placed into barrels. Nowadays this rig is neatly nestled within individual decoy bags among some spinner & motorized decoys. Definitely a more modern approach. Lastly, the double man layout was replaced by the AREA-51 2-Man boat built by Waterfowl Works Tony Homer.
We left the dock approx 6:45am and enjoyed a beautiful morning sunrise looking to our east on the Great South Bay, LI NY. The Mistress cruses at a steady 15kts in tow so the ride is slow & steady for sure. The bay was like a lake with only 3mph winds from the NE. Captain Hunter noted some broadbill and bufflehead along with "Long-Tails" aka ("Old Squaw's" years ago). The decision was made to set up the rig a bit further then planned in the east and enjoy a morning hunt.
I had the honor of hosting my friend & writer Ryan Chelius from Field & Stream who got a chance to enjoy the maiden voyage along us all. Ryan now living in Colorado was in awe of the nostalgia surrounding this hunt for sure! I was glad to have camera in hand capturing the moment..
Ryan & I jumped into the layout first and enjoyed a nice shoot of butterballs aka bufflehead. The action seemed to have slowed down quickly given the sunny no wind conditions. Although temps reached around 10-12 degrees we were excited just to be there enjoying the warmth of the cabin heater once back from the hunt and of course the fine amenities the Mistress offers like Bacon, Egg & Cheese sandwiches.
It was surely a day to remember and I look forward to next time!
Happy Holidays all & continued safe season ahead!
Wishing everyone a healthy & happy, just wanted to share some recent captures aboard the fine gunning vessel the "Commanding Mistress" to some, this boat may be familiar to a few as myself, Steve Sanford & Craig Kessler featured her in the 2017 Documentary "When Broadbill Was King". At that time the boat was owned and operated by Red Oster and his brother Stevie. They ran the guiding outfit: Redhead Guide Service out of Sayville, NY.
As our season's became more scarce here on LI especially with the Broadbill and a move ahead in Red's future to upstate, NY the outfit was broken up and sold about 5-6 years ago. I recently acquired the layout boat built in the late 1960's, this past July from one of Red's former clients in New Jersey and Jim Jankowski purchased the late 60's Commanding Mistress specifically 1968 by Raymond Lofstad from Islip Terrace, NY
The boat having served it's entire life as a battery rig was once again ready to sail the seas here in 2024 with a fresh dose of new life. The owner Jim and friends put countless hours of labor into the boat constructing her with more modern materials and upgraded equipment.
Here in 2024, she has been upgraded to a new exhaust system, rebuilt motor single screw, new windows, planking, wiring and wrapped around some fresh paint epoxy. There are still similar features that remain such as the layout roller, the nostalgic bow broadbill and cabin bell!
Yesterday December 23rd some close friends and I steamed out of Sayville, LI once again for the first time for me in about 6 years. The Mistress now towed a beautiful restored 17' Bristol Skiff outfitted with a brand new 2024 Mercury 30hp. The decoys (Plastic Final Approach) are the new replacements over the ole' E. Allen Decoys once placed into barrels. Nowadays this rig is neatly nestled within individual decoy bags among some spinner & motorized decoys. Definitely a more modern approach. Lastly, the double man layout was replaced by the AREA-51 2-Man boat built by Waterfowl Works Tony Homer.
We left the dock approx 6:45am and enjoyed a beautiful morning sunrise looking to our east on the Great South Bay, LI NY. The Mistress cruses at a steady 15kts in tow so the ride is slow & steady for sure. The bay was like a lake with only 3mph winds from the NE. Captain Hunter noted some broadbill and bufflehead along with "Long-Tails" aka ("Old Squaw's" years ago). The decision was made to set up the rig a bit further then planned in the east and enjoy a morning hunt.
I had the honor of hosting my friend & writer Ryan Chelius from Field & Stream who got a chance to enjoy the maiden voyage along us all. Ryan now living in Colorado was in awe of the nostalgia surrounding this hunt for sure! I was glad to have camera in hand capturing the moment..
Ryan & I jumped into the layout first and enjoyed a nice shoot of butterballs aka bufflehead. The action seemed to have slowed down quickly given the sunny no wind conditions. Although temps reached around 10-12 degrees we were excited just to be there enjoying the warmth of the cabin heater once back from the hunt and of course the fine amenities the Mistress offers like Bacon, Egg & Cheese sandwiches.
It was surely a day to remember and I look forward to next time!
Happy Holidays all & continued safe season ahead!
