The Freeman Story

the coastal waters forecast for today some with 10 to 15 knots with gusts to 20 now these 4 to 5 feet showers and thunderstorms likely [Music] [Music] there's a lot of people that made this happen from 20 years ago on up to today that that should get the attention more than I get Billie Freeman the low Mount Pleasant guy small town South Carolina passion for offshore fishing honestly got tired of going offshore and getting beaten up and dreamed up that maybe there's a better way Charleston runs or 70 miles and it's always blowing Southwest 10 to 15 mana holes do not do well in that I asked my buddy said man what what can we do about this besides getting a 60-foot boat which I obviously couldn't afford at 25 years old he said you need to ride in a catamaran so I rode in a few and it was like why doesn't everybody have one of these it was that big of a difference number one as they were ugly number two there was slow 3 bill handling just weird characteristics the hardcore fishermen just wasn't going to go for it so we knew we had to design out all of those flaws this is where he came up to me and said Sally I have something to tell you and I said well what is it he said I'm wasting these hands I want to build the boat and I said the one you've been drawing for 10 years and he said yes because I don't want to be the guy that's said shoulda coulda woulda I mean what did you say to that you can't say anything but yes we came up with a plan financially to make it through the year to pay our bills once a month so this was where he did this for one year literally every single day no vacation from there that the boat goes to Venice Louisiana to the charter fleet down there he was warned do not bring you both to Venice these guys are really hard on equipment they're really hard on equipment and he said you know what that's exactly what I want I need to know right now if this design if this hull is gonna be able to hold up they were looking for something better because I knew they had been running a lot of catamarans down there and they were they were ready for more speed so I showed up with a 33 foot one-off catamaran designed by some no-name in Mount Pleasant South Carolina so he took the boat there when he got down there the cabin he'd been talking to you got on the boat loved the boats it was everything you said would be but just wanting to make it work they had some options on it and some little designs that maybe we didn't we weren't a hundred percent comfortable with Billy came back to South Carolina pretty defeated thinking that hey I may have just thrown a haul away but you know where it is and he called us up and said you want that you want it done this way with these options I got you covered sold two boats in one week it worked it really worked right here I mean this is America people you can do things like this [Music] [Music] having key employees that trust you and will do what you ask them to do without trying to reinvent the wheel very fortunate to have that way we would meet at Starbucks and design his 33 and then the business just slowly grew from there I've been working with Billy since then doing the design work with him Miami Boat Show a couple years ago things really seemed to catch I always showed up with a quad 37 you know the hook team purchased and it was a huge coming out it's pretty much started snowballing them there Freeman Boat Works is not a small boat builder and they're not a powerhouse they're the ones that set the bar on performance catamarans and everyone's still trying to catch up the Freeman family that's what keeps us going the phone rings 24 hours a day seven days a week we don't ever want it to be some big corporate feel of as soon as our customers become PIN numbers and aren't customers when you start calling me and haven't you recognized your name that it that isn't what we're gonna be we will not do that I know that we have been working really closely with them for a very long time the other guys the non-charter guys recreational fishermen down in Venice you know it's it's a Freeman family I don't know any other way to put it we want to continue to grow that it's not just another boat it's a way of life it's a family it's a unit it's not a golf course it's not a sporting event it's all shore fishing [Music] what makes Billy who he is is this never good enough and even today though he still gets it and want to change stuff I want to change stuff it's never good enough everything that everyone said you could not do he did it and made it work I started running charters and I was 18 years old I'm 33 years old now so for over 15 years I've been a captain when I got the Fremen I was running twice as fast as my old boat that gave me a couple hours extra everyday to fish you put in 2 hours extra every day a hundred days a year you're gonna catch more fish getting bigger you know fishing out of Venice a lot of times you know to get to the halay jaques sometimes we are running you know 70 to 100 miles off shore you're gonna get caught or whether it's gonna happen I've got to take care of myself my clients keep everyone comfortable and not beat them up Freeman Boat Works allows me to do that sword fishing is my favorite type of fishing when an angler a person goes in the boat and catches the first swordfish it's a major accomplishment fishing in the keys is not always sunshine and rainbows we get plenty of wind plenty of weather I take a lot of people fishing and someone that's not used to being on the water they get seasick they're not comfortable they get beat up having a boat that can take it and run 30 miles whatever we got to do to go swordfish ledge and fish comfortable is a huge game-changer Billie Freeman and the team at Freeman Boat Works I can't wait to see what they're gonna come out with next they have already broken every rule every mold and every stereotype that you could put on a catamaran you know we're always looking for a little more speed always looking for a little more economy but you know we may be holding some of that back knowing this competition coming

Channel: Freeman Boatworks

Views: 649,828

Keywords: offshore fishing, center console, yamaha outboards, mercury outboard, sword fishing, sport fishing, catamaran, sportfishing catamaran, Freeman 37, Freeman 42, Freeman 34, harpoon throw, american dream, boat builders, boat building, big fish, tuna fishing, boating, quads, huk, go fast, fishing

Id: BRo_v1eFuJg

Length: 7min 42sec (462 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 10 2018