Chittum Skiffs - Islamorada 18

From microskiff.com. With current economic trends to downsize and “do more with less”, cautious souls might be inclined to hunker down and wait ‘till things improve a bit before exploring new ventures. Not Hal Chittum, world-renowned guide and founder of Hells Bay Boats. Nope, Hal does a 360 from conventional wisdom and starts a new boat business with an ultra high-end skiff – the Islamorada 18 -- that, according to Chittum, raises the bar for flats skiff manufacturing technology and on-water performance.   Read more  

By Eddie Oliveras. I recently was invited to visit the factory of Chittum Skiffs in St Augustine, Florida and wet test the much-hyped performance and specs of this new boat from a “new” company. Hal Chittum received me at the shipyard entrance and rolled this beauty out of a garage where as he described it was still undergoing sea trials before delivery to the customer. Being a newcomer to skiff fishing and everything associated with the sport, I still had heard of Hal’s reputation and a brief history of his involvement with Hell’s Bay Boatworks and their designs.  Read more

Pete McDonald, boats.com.  Pete McDonald is a contributing editor to Power & Motoryacht. Previously, he spent 11 years on the editorial staff of Boating. He has won multiple writing awards and holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.   The cult of flats fishing has many commandments, two of the most important being “float shallow” and “don’t spook the fish.” The Chittum Islamorada 18 looks to do that like no other skiff around. “We solved many of the problems that a flats skiff typically has,” said Hal Chittum   Read more