About us

Capt. Dennis Kendrick, age 58, was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He has 1 sister and 2 brothers. He came to Destin in March 1980 looking for work when the economy was shut down in most places. When asked what he likes to do in his spare time, he says he doesn’t have any spare time, but if he did, his favorite thing to do would be to watch football. His favorite team is a college that starts with the letter “A”. He was first introduced to fishing by his dad, became a boat captain at the age of 34 after spending 16 years on the deck of other boats, and has been a charter boat captain for 24 years.

He says the thing that makes the DESTINY so special is the hard work that the crew put in. On every trip, he hopes to catch every single fish he possibly can and make everybody have the best time they’ve ever had on a boat so they won’t want to go on another boat. When fishing with Capt. Dennis, you can expect the best service possible and that he and his crew will do everything possible to make sure that the customers have a great trip. He owned and operated his boat, the SCAMP, for 14 years before coming to the DESTINY. His favorite feature on DESTINY is that she has lots of room.

Capt. Dennis’s favorite fish is the Black Snapper because they are the hardest to catch and very good to eat. When asked for his favorite fishing story, he says he has too many stories to tell – LOL. His best fishing advice for inexperienced anglers is to stop watching fishing shows on TV and listen to the mates who are trying to help you catch fish. He says the most underrated piece of equipment on the boat is the angler themselves. His best advice for anyone going fishing is to take non-drowsy Dramamine (or similar) the night before the trip and take another one in the morning when you get up.

We asked the owners how the DESTINY came about, and they said they had one party boat, the DESTIN PRINCESS, and she was running 2 trips a day, but they still had more business than they could handle. It was suggested to them that they build a second boat to handle the additional customers plus make her a little bigger with additional capacity. Being accustomed to having a first-class vessel of which they could be proud, they had G&S Boats custom-design and build the 72’ DESTINY with a lot of class. As to the name, they wanted something similar to DESTIN PRINCESS, and after discarding about 100 name suggestions, they all agreed upon DESTINY. It was perfect, and she’s lived up to that every day.

Capt. Aaron was born in Lebanon, Tennessee into a large family. He has 5 brothers and 2 sisters. His favorite things to do in his spare time are work out, make money, and stay busy tinkering with stuff. He has been a USCG licensed boat captain since he was 22. He’s 24 years old now, but don’t let his youth fool you, what he lacks in experience, he more than makes up for in enthusiasm and competitiveness. He’s always out to be the best.

He says that the overall atmosphere of the experience, boat handling ability, and the way it rides are what make the DESTIN PRINCESS so special. He touts the entire operation that has been done successfully over the past 25 years. His number one goal on every trip is safety followed closely by getting a smile from every customer. The features he likes most about his boat is the Catamaran hull. It gives more stability and reduces the rocking “motion of the ocean” and gives people a better experience, he says.

When fishing with Capt. Aaron, you can expect a memorable experience and a lot of opportunities to catch fish. His very first deep-sea fishing experience was aboard the DESTIN PRINCESS as a greenhorn mate, and he loved it! He thought the grass was greener and went to work for the Swoop for a short time and ran that boat for a little while, but he came back home to the DESTIN PRINCESS. His favorite fish to catch is Cobia but sadly doesn’t get to do that much on a party boat, but his second favorite is Red Snapper, which we catch a lot. His most memorable catch was in 2015 during the last day of the Destin Fishing Rodeo, they had a 12-hour trip and caught just about every species of fish capping the fish boxes off. He said it was “epic”. His best piece of advice for anyone fishing with him is “Keep your line tight!”

For less experienced anglers, his best fishing advice is “If you follow instructions and pay attention, we’ll give you all the things you need to know to successfully catch fish. Also, our tackle can handle dep sea fishing so even if you have your own tackle, the ones who use our tackle have more “luck” than the ones who bring their own.” When asked what the most underrated piece of equipment is, Capt. Aaron says it’s the hooks. We’ve tried others, he says, but these work the best.

We asked the owners how they came to own the DESTIN PRINCESS, and they said simply that they had a new state-of-the-art marina filled with nothing but charter fishing boats with a captive audience and a niche to fill, so they designed and built a boat to be a cut above the average party boat, and she deserved a name of royalty…and thus became the DESTIN PRINCESS.