I first fell in love with the Conch 27 watching Jose Wejebe throw a cast net from the bow of his boat on the television show Spanish Fly. After I went for my first ride on a Conch, I fell hard and started to keep my eye out for one.

In 2008, I bought my boat, a 1994 Conch 27. The boat was built by Edey & Duff, which originally built sailboats in Massachusetts. The company moved down to the Florida Keys and started building boats there. Edey & Duff built Conchs until the early 2000s, and eventually the molds were bought by R&R Boatworks.

One thing I’ve always said is you either have money or time. I don’t have a ton of money, but I’ve made time to do most of the work on the boat myself. I ran the original Yamaha 250 HPDIs for four years while saving for new outboards. I cut the deck out and had new gas tanks installed. And I rewired the entire boat. 

It’s kind of an ongoing project. I tell my charter customers that I’m a part-time fisherman and a full-time boat mechanic. But to me it’s worth it. This boat rides soft and dry.

The new gas tanks went in four years after I bought the boat. That was a big, expensive project, but it had to be done. We would fuel up, and the bilge pump would kick on and pump out gas. I had to remove the entire deck to have the new the tanks installed the right way. The tanks are completely encapsulated in epoxy and fiberglass and should last another 20-plus years. The boat holds 190 gallons of fuel.

I plumbed a forward fishbox into a live well, and when I drilled the drains, I bought a normal bronze through-hull, but it wasn’t long enough. The hull is easily 2½ to 3 inches thick. I also replumbed the aft well. Live-bait fishing is kind of my thing, and we catch 95 percent of the bait we use. It’s nice to have the ability to load the boat with goggle-eyes for kite fishing.

For the last five years, I’ve been on the Mercury pro staff, and we put a third set of Mercs on the boat last October. I had gone from 200s to 225s and was going to stick with the 225s, but they were on backorder, so I went with twin 150s. The ride with the smaller engines is impressive — it’s the perfect charter setup. The boat’s great on fuel, and I still cruise at 25 to 30 mph. I’m getting 2 to 2½ mpg. I lost some top-end speed, but I hardly ever run wide open.

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Five years ago, I completely stripped the boat and repainted it from top to bottom. I had Bluewater build me a T-top, and I put on a new windshield. I pulled out the old wiring and spent three days sitting on a 5-gallon bucket in the console rewiring the boat. I have four batteries — one for each engine and two house batteries. The cool thing about doing it myself is I know where everything is.

I kept the classic Conch fiberglass shroud over the outboards. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it when I got the boat, but it grew on me. I use it every day. It’s my bait-cutting station. It’s nice for someone to lean on when we’re running, and when you’re relaxing at the sandbar, it’s a great spot for making cocktails or grilling.

I never really named the boat. My last name, Lemieux, is French for “the best,” so I just call the boat Lemieux. At least once a month, someone offers me a ridiculous amount of money for my boat. I counter with an even more ridiculous number. They say I’m crazy, but to replace my Conch 27 would cost that much.

I’m a lieutenant in the Boynton Beach, Fla., fire department, and I work 24 hours on, 48 hours off. I’m 39, and I’ve been doing that for 15 years. I fish 250 days a year, and if I’m not on the boat, a buddy runs it. This boat never stops.