Knotical Adventures Two runs the most comfortable boat in our Fort Walton Beach field, a 36 foot pilothouse cabin cruiser called the Wild Child, out of Okaloosa Island. Captain Timothy O’Malley runs every trip himself, fishing the Gulf reefs and the offshore ground for snapper, grouper, and the pelagics, and the early reviews are flawless. For a group that wants shelter and comfort on the water rather than an open center console, it is the boat in the port that offers it, with the caveat that its record is still short.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 7.8 Knotical Adventures is a strong choice and ranks third in Fort Walton Beach, the comfort pick of the field. It is the only true cabin boat among the ranked private boats, a real draw on a hot or long day, and Captain Timothy runs every trip himself. Where it sits behind Salty Endeavors and The Jig is Up is the record: with a couple of dozen reviews it is flawless but shallow, where those two carry many more. The boat is also a single engine, older hull, slower than the twin engine boats. For the deepest record, Salty Endeavors leads; for a stable twin engine catamaran, The Jig is Up is the pick; and for a patient family captain with a catch guarantee, Blue Water Escape is the other option. The full field is on the Fort Walton Beach ranking.
The boat
The Wild Child is a 36 foot Torres pilothouse cabin cruiser, an older hull built in 1986 and restored in 2023, running a single 450 horsepower Cummins diesel with a cruising speed near 18 knots. The pilothouse cabin is the point: it gives shelter from the sun and the weather that an open center console cannot, which on a hot Gulf day or a longer run is a genuine comfort. The restoration keeps an older boat in good order. The honest trade is that it is slower and single engined next to the twin engine boats in the port, so it takes longer to reach the grounds and carries less margin, and at 36 feet with one engine it is built for comfort rather than speed.
The fishing and what you target
Out of Okaloosa Island the deep water is a short run through the nearby Destin Pass, and the boat works the Gulf reefs and wrecks for red snapper in its open season, amberjack, black grouper, triggerfish, and mangrove snapper, with king and Spanish mackerel, wahoo, and the occasional tripletail offshore. Red snapper is the summer headliner; the 2026 Gulf red snapper for-hire season runs June 1 to October 26, and gag grouper is closed for most of 2026, so confirm the open windows with Florida FWC before you book a season specific target.
Trips and prices
Knotical Adventures runs 4, 6, and 8 hour trips, all whole boat for up to 4 anglers with additional anglers extra: $900 for the 4 hour, $1,400 for the 6 hour, and $1,799 for the 8 hour. Rods, reels, bait, tackle, and the license are included and the crew fillets your catch, with a customary tip extra. The pricing is posted and fair, in line with the other private boats in the port, and the cabin is what you are paying the extra comfort for. Confirm the per angler add on for a full group of six. Our cost guide sets the tiers side by side.
The crew
Captain Timothy O’Malley runs every trip himself, and the early sentiment is uniformly positive: a flawless rating describing a knowledgeable, easygoing captain and a comfortable, well run day. The honest qualifier is volume. With around two dozen reviews the record is excellent but shallow next to the few hundred behind Salty Endeavors or the Jig is Up, so the direction is as good as it gets but the base is thin, which is what holds the track record score below the established boats. A single owner captain keeps the experience consistent, which counts in its favor.
Booking and what to know
Book direct or through FishingBooker, and book ahead in summer. Confirm the trip length and the per angler rate with Captain Timothy, and consider the cabin boat if comfort or shelter matters to your group. The boat departs Fort Walton Beach out of Okaloosa Island. Bring food, drinks, sunscreen, and a cooler with ice; the boat covers the rods, tackle, bait, and license, and the cabin gives you somewhere out of the sun.
How we scored it
Knotical Adventures scores 7.8: the most comfortable boat in the field, a 36 foot pilothouse cabin cruiser with a flawless early record under an owner captain, held below the leaders by a short, thin review pool and a slower, single engine hull. Boat and equipment and captain and crew are its strongest factors. See how we scored this boat and the Fort Walton Beach ranking for the field.