"It’s the ride that makes the journey –and we’ve had some wild
rides starting back in 1965." ~JB
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| Veteran cameraman Wayne Baker & Jim Baugh filming West Palm Beach FL. Photo Credit: Ben Baugh |
Join us on a cruise back in time for a look at some of our show
boats and equipment we’ve featured during our almost 30 year TV history.
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| This is what started it all |
The list of companies Jim Baugh Outdoors has worked with is
extensive. We promoted and featured various marine manufactures including OMC Boat Group, Javelin Boats, Procraft
Boats, Kenner Boats, Fishing Ski Barge, Carolina Skiff, Sea Chaser, Zodiac, Mercury Marine,
Colonial Outdoors, Suzuki Marine, Evenrude, Bottom Line, Furuno, Hummingbird, Cannon, Lowrance,
Tidewater Sensors, Tideline Catamarans, and many others.
During this 30-year period, companies were bought, sold, merged,
or went bankrupt, and some are still thriving –bigger and better than ever.
Keeping up with the changing times and technology is not easy in any field. Our
experience in dealing with the marine industry has been an ever-changing
adventure.
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| Jacques Cousteau |
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| JBO TV Filming "French Pesto" on board the Alcyone |
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| Cousteau Ship Alcyone |
We produced several cool shows on the ten-foot Zodiac. We just loved this little boat
and landed a lot of Croaker and Flounder in that air-incased hull. We rigged
the boat with a 25hp tiller Evenrude and boy it was a flying ride! Only thing
missing were the red caps and none of us spoke French –but neither did the fish.
As they say, all good things must come to an end. Once we dragged
the rubber boat over enough oyster shells, the leaks far out numbered our time
to repair them. The boat ended up housing potted plants at the river house, and
then years later given to a very patient friend who needed a hobby. But it sure
was a fun ride while it lasted. The shows we produced flying around the Chesapeake
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| R.I.P. (it did make a nice planter for a while) |
The first marine sponsor we promoted was Javelin Boats and the OMC
boat group. It was a big deal for us since it was JBO TV’s first national, fiberglass
boat sponsor. No longer did we have to fear the wrath of oyster shells. We ran
several different Javelin bass boats
powered by Evenrude, the first being
a 20 foot 396 Javelin powered by a
200 hundred hp Evenrude. This was a
roomy ride for a bass boat. Back in the day, 16 to 18 foot bass boats were very
popular and a bass boat the size of the 396 entitled one to bragging rights.
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| Javelin 396 (Pic is not actual JB showboat) |
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| Javelin 409 (JBO Showboat was white with 200 Ev.) |
After Javelin, we were looking for more of a saltwater/bay boat
and ended up promoting Procraft for
several years. The Procraft 210 was
our official show boat powered by a Mariner 200. The boat would fly and was a
nice boat for big lake striper fishing and light bay angling. It wasn’t really
designed for rough water cruising, but that didn’t stop us as pictured here.
Other than taking some waves over the bow, the boat didn’t give us any
problems. However since we started producing mostly saltwater shows, duh, we
needed a saltwater boat. Our quest for a good saltwater boat
manufacture took us on the road to Fishing Ski Barge which eventually led us to Kenner Boats.
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| Procraft 210 Chesapeake Bay |
After Javelin, we were looking for more of a saltwater/bay boat
and ended up promoting Procraft for
several years. The Procraft 210 was
our official show boat powered by a Mariner 200. The boat would fly and was a
nice boat for big lake striper fishing and light bay angling. It wasn’t really
designed for rough water cruising, but that didn’t stop us as pictured here.
Other than taking some waves over the bow, the boat didn’t give us any
problems. However since we started producing mostly saltwater shows, duh, we
needed a saltwater boat. Our quest for a good saltwater boat
manufacture took us on the road to Fishing Ski Barge which eventually led us to Kenner Boats.
The first part wasn’t so lucky. After we ended up cutting a deal to
feature the Fishing Ski Barge on the
show, the boat was delivered. Its maiden voyage was almost straight to the
bottom of a Virginia
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| JBO TV 21 Mako Camera Boat |
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| Kenner 23V |
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| Kenner 23V Twin Suzuki 115 |
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| Kenner 23V just offshore Ocracoke Island NC |
On to a well-respected Arkansas
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| Custom Kenner with twin 115 four strokes |
This was
back around 1999 when we first landed our first four stroke outboard company. From this point on as Suzuki
grew in horsepower, so did the boats we featured. At the time the 115 was the largest HP the company produced.
The live aboard
During this this time we were spending so much time in the Hampton and lower Chesapeake Bay area I decided for the company to get a boat that we could stay on for extended periods of time while filming. We decided on a boat that was the same model as one my father had when I was a teenager, a 36 Trojan Tri Cabin. A great boat with two staterooms, two heads, full galley, central air, ice maker, and twin 350 Crusaders. We purchased the boat in Myrtle Beach and brought it back to the Chesapeake through the Inland Waterway. This was such a comfortable boat I ended up living on it full time for over 5 years. Our show boat the Pursuit would be tied up next to the Trojan in downtown Hampton along with our rubber dingy. The most fun 5 years of my life and lived to write a book about it.
The live aboard
During this this time we were spending so much time in the Hampton and lower Chesapeake Bay area I decided for the company to get a boat that we could stay on for extended periods of time while filming. We decided on a boat that was the same model as one my father had when I was a teenager, a 36 Trojan Tri Cabin. A great boat with two staterooms, two heads, full galley, central air, ice maker, and twin 350 Crusaders. We purchased the boat in Myrtle Beach and brought it back to the Chesapeake through the Inland Waterway. This was such a comfortable boat I ended up living on it full time for over 5 years. Our show boat the Pursuit would be tied up next to the Trojan in downtown Hampton along with our rubber dingy. The most fun 5 years of my life and lived to write a book about it.
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| JB 45th Birthday Party 2007 |
After promoting Kenner Boats for several years we ended
up simply purchasing a hull and totally customizing a 28-foot Pursuit with a full marlin tower running station –all
fabricated to our spec by Marine
Fabricators in Topping Virginia.
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| Marine Fabricators building custom Marlin Tower for Pursuit Show Boat |
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| Custom Pursuit |
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| JBO TV Show Boat 2800 Express Fisherman Hull. Was rigged with 3 power plants, twin 140, 225, and 250hp |
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| JBOTV 36 Trojan Tri Cabin & Pursuit 2800 Show Boat Downtown Hampton |
As the economy changed, basically going straight into the holding
tank (and not the one for gray water) so did the marine industry. Back then,
when you filled up the gas tank, you could shell out $1200 –easy. Boat builders
were closing up shop left and right, engine companies were looking for paddles,
and not many people in America
Time to GO GREEN!
It seemed a no-brainer to start promoting downsizing. This meant
smaller, more efficient boats with markedly increased fuel-efficient power
plants. JBO TV was the first to devise this custom boat package, along
with promoting the first ever GO GREEN FISHING MACHINE! A 20 foot JVX with 90hp
four stroke that
enabled one to go fishing with a fuel bill that coast less than your bait. No
kidding. Most days we did not spend over 2 bucks in gasoline.
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| Fuel bill average less than 2 bucks! |
The GGFM may have been my proudest show boat achievement. At the
time, there were not any other outdoor shows promoting fuel efficiency to this extent.
This was also a safe, reasonably unsinkable boat built by the number one
largest boat builder in the world, Carolina Skiff Thanks to this boat, people could once again enjoy a day on the
water without sacrificing clothes for the kids.
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| Producing some aerial photography for Jim Baugh Outdoors and Hampton VA |
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| Filming at the HRBT |
In 2015 we were proud to announce the introduction of Sea Chaser to JBO TV.
One of our first looks at the HFC line was at the 2015 Miami
International Boat show. JBOTV filmed several segments at the MIBS that later broadcast on NBC Sports. We featured the HFC line for two years on our program.
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| HFC 24 Miami International Boat Show 2015 |
New for 2017, JBOTV Announces sponsorship with Tideline custom built catamarans.
This exciting boat will be featured in our home waters of the Chesapeake Bay, offshore, and greater mid atlantic area. The boat comes in a 235 Hybrid and a 360 offshore. Jim Baugh Outdoors TV produced an introduction film promoting Tideline and the video received over 42,700 views in just the first few days. During this time the new boat also received over 50,000 page views on JBOTV media including blogs and YouTube Channels. Tideline also was the featured boat in the Jim Baugh Outdoors TV Coastal Angler Column April 2017 issue, annually over 160,000 copies.
The boating public has shown great interest the JBOTV launch of Tideline Catamarans as they should, it is a remarkable product!
During spring of 2017 JBOTV will film performance test and a factory tour and then offshore segments over the summer. Fall the boat will be highlighted in various JBOTV Tournament films. For more info check out their web site HERE
Godspeed,
Jim Baugh
Below pic is our favorite canoe that we have had for over 30
years. I have caught more catfish, bass, and crappie out of this boat than
anyone could possibly imagine. More fun than a barrel of monkeys and an
excellent go green alternative. Each year we use to host canoe trips down the
Dragon Run as well as the James River , then
wind up back at the house for a pig picking. We featured a few shows about this
awesome outing that we called the Pig and Paddle. You can watch it here. Great
times and something our kids will always remember.
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| My Favorite of all the boats |
