Fish Tales and Boat Sales: Meet Tim Gredick of HMY Yacht Sales

Hey, I'm Katie Flanagan with HMY Yacht Sales, and today we're welcoming Tim Gredig, Viking specialist at HMY Yacht Sales. Tim, can you tell me how long you've been at HMY? I started in 2000. I actually met Doc Austin, Steve Moynihan at the Charleston Harbor Billfish Classic in 99. My wife was the tournament director and she had me volunteer as the weigh master and I had a real good time with those guys. And the next year they pursued me and hired me. So not only is Tim a successful yacht broker at HMY, but he's also an angler. Tim, you've grown relationships with your clients over the years and fished quite a few tournaments. Can you tell us more about the tournaments you've fished? I started out fishing the South Carolina Governor's Cup Series. And as my client's boats got bigger, they decided to travel and I would go other places with them like the Big Rock and up to White Marlin Open and Mid-Atlantic 500 and a couple years in Bermuda, Dominican Republic, all over the place. Mainly Steelfish, the Governor's Cup Series, and member of the Governor's Cup board. So it's been a fun run. So you mentioned tournaments local to yourself. You are based in Charleston. Can you tell us more about the Governor's Cup? Sure. It's a 33-year-old series. There's been as many as six tournaments and unfortunately this year we only have three. There's two marinas that are down doing dock repairs. So we have the Georgetown tournament, which is actually 53 years old. That is in late May. We have the Charleston Harbor Billfish Classic, which is in June. And then the Edisto tournament, which is in the end of July. Last year we had an incredible series at Georgetown. They had over 50 blue marlin released, which was unheard of. Those sound like some pretty great tournaments. Yes. So what is the most memorable tournament in the Charleston area for you? That's a tough one. I fished the series since the early 2000s, so a lot of good tournaments. In the last few years, my son has started fishing with me, which is very enjoyable. And in 2019, he won the Junior Angler at the CBC tournament. And it was even cooler because the owner's daughter took second place and he took first. And just to see the kids and how fired up they were to catch some sailfish, it was a great, great thing. Wow, that's fantastic. Love the family ties there. So we've discussed the Carolina tournaments. Can you tell us more about the Florida tournaments you've fished in? Sure. In 2016, a good client of mine reached out to get us to sponsor a new tournament that he was starting with Emerald Lagasse. It was the Line, Vine, and Dine tournament. And it was a sailfish tournament with some fashion and food involved and a bunch of celebrities. It was really interesting. We fished that for a few years and was happy to title sponsor that with HMY and Viking. And more recently, I fished the Jimmy Johnson tournament last year. I plan to do that again this year with the Too Many Martinis. So great crowd there. And the Key West Challenge is always so much fun. I'm fishing that with a client with a brand new 80. So it should be a fun season. Speaking of the East Coast, we're actually in Miami, Florida on board the Viking 64 demo. Have you ever fished the Viking demo? Multiple times. I think the first few times we were in Charleston, Doc Austin, one of our past owners, would always come up with the crew and the demo would come. And we had the 54 and the 60 at the Mega Dock tournaments a few years. One of the most memorable times is on the 60 in Venezuela in 2008. We had an amazing trip with a good client and Drew McDowell from Palm Beach Towers. That day, luckily, we had five blue marlin, three white marlin, and unfortunately missed two sailfish. Almost the Grand Slam, or the double slam, really. And then last year, I fished on the 80 demo in the CBC tournament. Actually, you were aboard, which was a lot of fun. And a few times in Ocean City with some other clients. Both Viking and the Viking demo team are at the top of their game. They're always looking at little things to give you an advantage. And that's why each build they build is better than the last. Fishing with them, I've learned so much over the years. And I feel like I can be a real asset to a client when they order a boat. These boats are production, but they're very custom. Each client's needs are different based on how they're going to fish or use the boat. So I help from the start to the finish in customizing the boat to their needs. The great thing about fishing with these clients is they all become friends. And it's my favorite part of the job, meeting all these people and becoming friends. It's great you're able to be the voice in between the customer and the builder. You mentioned Venezuela. So while we're on the topic of South America, have you fished anywhere else in South America or the Caribbean? I fished with some longtime friends and clients in Casa de Campo. We had a great trip. Bunch of blue marlin. Those smaller blue marlin get hot and they come right up the tail of the transom. So we've had a good trip there. I got to fish in the IGFA World Championship over in Cabo one year. That was interesting. And then multiple times down in Los Sueños with different clients. That's really amazing. You've turned friends into clients, clients into friends, vice versa. You've traveled the world. You've fished world-class destinations. If you could pick just one, what location would you fish? Katie, that's a tough question. I'll answer it in two parts. If I had to fish in the U.S., my favorite place is Sunset Marina during the White Marlin Open. That time of year is just incredible. You can catch anything. You can see this year or this past year, they caught a 1,200-pound blue marlin. But my favorite place out of the country is Bermuda. It's actually very easy to get to. The tournament's a great. Dan Jacobs does a nice job with that Bermuda Billfish Series. I've probably fished there four or five times. The ride out is just spectacular. You're cutting through the reef and then the fact that the world-class fish right out there on Argos Bank or Challenger is incredible. That sounds pretty spectacular. So my final question. If you could relive one fishing trip with one crew, who would it be with and where would it be? The one trip that I wish I could do over was in Panama. We had this huge black marlin up and we had it hooked three times. All three times it pulled the hook. The captain and the mate were just going crazy because they knew how big it was. We were just baffled afterwards. I wish I could have that trip back. It was a great trip. My wife was aboard as well as my client friends that brought us down there. It was good times. So if anyone's looking to contact you, what's the best way to reach you? I'm always available by cell phone. But if you come to the Key West Challenge, come look me up on the pontoon. Tim, we look forward to seeing how you and your clients do on the tournament trail this year. Thank you, Katie.