Pro Angler Profile: Frank Crescitelli


Captain Frank Crescitelli relies on Raymarine and FLIR for productive and safe fishing amidst the bright lights and congested waters of New York City

The New York City that Captain Frank Crescitelli knows is probably not the New York City you know. While over 8 million NYC residents are busy looking for parking spots, Crescitelli is looking for fish for his charter clients and TV audience. As the owner of Fin Chaser Charters and Fin Chasers TV, Crescitelli’s job is to find fish and catch fish in the highly productive yet incredibly busy waters around the largest city in the United States.

“I’ve been guiding and fishing in New York City for over 20 years,” says the Raymarine Pro Ambassador, who grew up on Staten Island without a lot of resources and three siblings. “Back then, fishing was the most I could ask for. I probably spent 200 days per year on that Naughton Avenue jetty. We didn’t catch much, but it didn’t matter. I was there fishing. To have what I have today and to be where I am in the fishing world is a something I would have never dreamed as a child.”

Where Crescitelli is today is on top of New York City’s intimate but growing sportfishing scene. He credits technology for taking his fishing to the next level. “There’s a lot of great features on Raymarine electronics. SideVision, DownVision, RealVision 3D… but the big things for me... the game changers... are things like FLIR,” says Crescitelli, referring to the FLIR M232 thermal camera mounted on top of his boat that interfaces with his Raymarine Axiom Pro multifunction displays. “That gets me there and back safely. In this city with all these lights, tiny little navigation lights on a boat are practically invisible against that backdrop. FLIR lets us see the boats. Whether or not we can see their lights is irrelevant.”


Picture-Perfect Navigation

FLIR thermal cameras are fully compatible with Raymarine’s Axiom family of multifunction displays, and – with the recent release of the LightHouse Annapolis 3.9 operating system update – are now also compatible with Raymarine’s ClearCruise AR (Augmented Reality) navigation technology. ClearCruise AR accurately displays nearby navigation markers, automatic identification system (AIS) traffic, objects, and waypoints in sync with real-world imagery for instant recognition and making complex navigation and high traffic situations simpler to understand. The recent integration of ClearCruise AR and FLIR thermal cameras is an incredible game-changer for nighttime navigation.

Captain Frank Crescitelli has a lot on the line. In the literal sense, it’s hard-charging striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, tuna and white marlin. That’s the fun part. Figuratively, it’s the safety of Captain Frank’s charter guests, his crew and his expensive vessel and gear.

To learn more about the Raymarine Ambassador program, visit raymarine.com/ambassadors-sponsorship/

For more information on FLIR Maritime, visit flir.com/applications/marine/

For more information on Raymarine, visit raymarine.com

To learn more about Fin Chaser Charters and Captain Frank Crescitelli visit finchaser.com

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