If you ever met Capt. Jerry Andrews, you’d know that he didn’t just run a tight ship at Entertainer Charters. He made sure everything was “skippy tight.”

“That was his nickname,” Entertainer Charters owner Tina Dove said. “So many of us relied on his guidance every single day. You’d see him making his passengers smile, joking around, but he was dedicated to the Entertainer. He’d give the daily reports over the radio and tell us to tighten up. He was my mentor, and he kept everything top notch. Always making sure he had the cleanest boat on the Gulf Coast.”

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And so it was, for 43 years. But everything changed on Aug. 24, 2021.

“He ran a trip, and we were texting each other,” Dove said. “He was getting ready to go to dinner with his dad, and he had a brain aneurysm. He was in a coma for more than a month. His body healed from the injury, but he couldn’t wake up. We had to let him go on Sept. 17.”

From that day forward, Dove, Capt. Marty Starling and Capt. Rex Williams had only one mission — to keep the business and Captain Andrews’ memory alive.

“I was his booking agent and office manager for 20 years,” Dove said. “I knew more about the business than (his wife) Ms. Denise did, and so we had to keep it alive. I thought it’d end up in Orange Beach or Destin, but neither liked the price tag.”

So there was only one thing left to do. Dove, Starling and Williams decided to buy the Entertainer.

“It was a difficult task that no one saw as attainable,” Dove said. “But we kept talking it through, and it was worth a try. We had to keep Jerry’s dream alive.”

After lots of paperwork and the process of transferring licenses, by the time the dust settled in late October, so did the season.

“Oh, we missed out on the entire season,” Dove said. “We did maybe five trips this fall. Everything is a ghost town here from November to February, which leaves us sitting and waiting for March. We had to dig into our own pockets to keep it open, but we cut the ribbon with the Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce last Friday and now we’re all geared up and ready to serve. We take walk-on trips, single and small groups, dolphin cruises, fishing trips, trips to see the Blue Angels, private charters — we’re ready.”

Now that the Entertainer is back as the head boat of Perdido Key, Dove acknowledges the waiting didn’t go entirely to waste.

“We ended up buying the bait store next door in August,” Dove said. “The previous owner offered it to us first. It was a huge benefit to us to have that place, so it was a no brainer to take it over. One bounces off the other.”

Of course, merchandise will be sold along with the bait. Including wristbands engraved with the initials WWSD?, meaning “What Would Skippy Do?”

Even though Entertainer Charters of Perdido Key is under new ownership, Captain Skippy’s legacy will continue to be front and center.

“He’s never gonna be forgotten,” Dove said. “He always had this saying, ‘May the good fishing be yours!”

Entertainer Charters of Perdido Key is located at 13506 Perdido Key Drive, and is open 7 days a week, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information visit https://entertainer-fishing-charters.com/ or call 850-934-1613.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Entertainer Charters of Perdido Key reopens with new owners