Shittiest Charter Ever
Here is a report from the shittiest charter trip that I have ever been on. This trip wasn't even worthy of a photograph although I was so happy to see the dock again that I almost took a picture of it.
Michelle wanted to go fishing so I thought I would book us a trip on a party boat for the June 1st opening of rockfish season in the North Central zone (bay area). I checked the buoys on saturday night before going to bed and was pleased to see the waves were only 4'. I checked the buoys again at 5am on sunday morning to find 8' swells at 8 seconds. Shit. We also had 20-25kt wind to go with the overcast and cold (low 50's) forecast. Apparently it takes more than this to cancel the charter boats.
Michelle and I wore blue jeans because I told her that there was no way we could get wet on a 40' boat. As soon as we cleared the leeward side of pillar point we experienced the full swell. The boat rolled so hard that water shot through the drains on the port side and soaked my left leg. Then we rolled hard to the starboard side and soaked my right leg. Shit. This went on periodically for the next hour until we got to the fishing grounds. That was about the time that I realized that I not only wasn't dressed appropriately but also I didn't have enough layers on. It was going to be a cold day.
We drift fished in 90-120' of water. The boat was broadside to the wind and swell so it was rolling hard about every 8 seconds or so. The fishing also sucked. It was very slow and most of the fish that came up were quite small. I tried throwing a couple of them back but apparently it is a one way trip from 100'. Every rockfish is a keeper no matter the size unless it is a protected canary rock fish - those are released dead (california law). The fishing was so slow that we stayed out the whole day. There were a lot of unhappy people on board. I would say that of the 25 people on board only about 5 people fished the whole time. I took some satisfaction from outfishing charlie for the first time ever. I was the boat people on this trip.
Being that it was a party boat there were also some annoying characters on board. There was a guy who showed up piss drunk. He passed out during the trip out there but his a-hole friends woke him up when it was time to fish. Of course he was on the railing to my left. After he crashed into me a few times I grabbed him by the coat and told him to get away from me. He got belligerent so his friends dragged him away. Luckily he was passed out for more of the trip than he was awake.
Michelle hung in there for a while but after a few hours she joined the non-fishing crowd. For someone who is prone to motion sickness she did really well considering the conditions. Back on the dock I asked the captain what he thought of the day and he said it was a 8.5 - 9 on the shitty scale (10 being perfect shittiness).
Michelle wanted to go fishing so I thought I would book us a trip on a party boat for the June 1st opening of rockfish season in the North Central zone (bay area). I checked the buoys on saturday night before going to bed and was pleased to see the waves were only 4'. I checked the buoys again at 5am on sunday morning to find 8' swells at 8 seconds. Shit. We also had 20-25kt wind to go with the overcast and cold (low 50's) forecast. Apparently it takes more than this to cancel the charter boats.
Michelle and I wore blue jeans because I told her that there was no way we could get wet on a 40' boat. As soon as we cleared the leeward side of pillar point we experienced the full swell. The boat rolled so hard that water shot through the drains on the port side and soaked my left leg. Then we rolled hard to the starboard side and soaked my right leg. Shit. This went on periodically for the next hour until we got to the fishing grounds. That was about the time that I realized that I not only wasn't dressed appropriately but also I didn't have enough layers on. It was going to be a cold day.
We drift fished in 90-120' of water. The boat was broadside to the wind and swell so it was rolling hard about every 8 seconds or so. The fishing also sucked. It was very slow and most of the fish that came up were quite small. I tried throwing a couple of them back but apparently it is a one way trip from 100'. Every rockfish is a keeper no matter the size unless it is a protected canary rock fish - those are released dead (california law). The fishing was so slow that we stayed out the whole day. There were a lot of unhappy people on board. I would say that of the 25 people on board only about 5 people fished the whole time. I took some satisfaction from outfishing charlie for the first time ever. I was the boat people on this trip.
Being that it was a party boat there were also some annoying characters on board. There was a guy who showed up piss drunk. He passed out during the trip out there but his a-hole friends woke him up when it was time to fish. Of course he was on the railing to my left. After he crashed into me a few times I grabbed him by the coat and told him to get away from me. He got belligerent so his friends dragged him away. Luckily he was passed out for more of the trip than he was awake.
Michelle hung in there for a while but after a few hours she joined the non-fishing crowd. For someone who is prone to motion sickness she did really well considering the conditions. Back on the dock I asked the captain what he thought of the day and he said it was a 8.5 - 9 on the shitty scale (10 being perfect shittiness).
posted by brian | 2:17 AM
4 Comments:
I would have needed to ask what else it would have taken to make that a perfect 10.
I think for a 10, you need to catch zero fish and have a rogue wave sweep all the beer into the briney deep.
Sounds like it pretty well sucked. What does a suck like that cost?
It was a reasonably affordable suck at only $70/person. They don't provide anything but the boat so you have to bring your own gear. I ended up spending about $20 on tackle and bait. We also had to rent fishing rods at $10 each. My surf rods would not have been appropriate.
I also splurged and spent $2 on a burlap sack for our fish. Does anybody want to buy a slightly used fish sack for $1?
The story's imagery made me sea sick and barf.
Post a Comment
<< Home