About

Sweet Sadie is a 42 foot Merritt Sportfisher, a boat painstakingly crafted in 1968 by IGFA Hall of Fame Captain Alan Merritt.

Meticulously maintained her entire life, Sweet Sadie has been extensively refit to include new clean-running, odor-free Cummins diesel engines, a state-of-the-art Release Marine fighting chair, new comfortable interior finishes, fresh paint, and varnish, and an air-conditioning system that will keep you in comfort all day long. She is a fully restored classic, absolutely perfect for fishing Kona’s calm waters .

 

Some say it’s like fishing out of a vintage Ferrari — her ability to maneuver in tight quarters gives our anglers great shots at marlin, mahi mahi, tuna, shortbilled spearfish, and the many other trophy gamefish found off the coast of Kona.

  • Captain Mat Bowman has spent his entire life around the water fishing and running boats. He is a graduate of the Maine Maritime Academy with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Transportation, and one of Mat’s greatest passions is fishing Kona for blue Marlin. Indeed, Mat has fished Kona full-time for over 12 years, and has caught many huge marlin, including a jaw-dropping 1,309 pound blue marlin for which he was awarded the In The Bite Captain of the Year for 2015.

    Mat has also run marlin boats in Madeira, Portugal, another of the world’s great marlin fisheries. In Madeira, the boat captained by Mat was the “top release boat” for three years running, meaning Mat and his crew caught and released more blue marlin than any other boat in Madeira during that time.

    Mat has been involved with Sweet Sadie from day one, helping to select the right boat, overseeing an extensive refit, and selecting all the fishing gear to ensure Sweet Sadie is the ideal boat for fishing the waters surrounding Kona.

  • As a native Hawaiian and third-generation fisherman, Kyle Vannatta has fished Kona his entire life. His first real job was on a charter boat in Kona, as a young teenager, and there’s probably not a species of fish swimming in Kona’s waters that Kyle has not caught!

    Kyle has seen and caught too many blue marlin to count and, like Mat, has landed more than one grander in Kona. Beyond his time fishing Kona, Kyle has honed his skills on big fish working in places like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Madeira, Portugal. Kyle has been the mate on a number of IGFA record catches, most recently a billfish on a fly rod in Kona.

  • Raised around the water in San Diego, California, with a lifetime love for fishing, owner Chris Weaver started Sweet Sadie with the goal of providing a world-class fishing experience combined with the finest customer service and creature comforts possible. In other words, with the hopes of providing our guests the same experience they would want if they owned the boat themselves.

    One of Chris’s great joys — aside from fishing Kona with his wife and son — is hearing the many stories from customers of first fish caught, fish of a lifetime landed, and all the other memorable experiences that Sweet Sadie produces every day she’s out on the water.