By: Mstaszew
7/31/2024 11:35 AM
I was thinking about all the entitled tourist types there eating breakfast as the charter boats go out without them lol. First time charters being the worse culprits. I bet a retired charter boat captain has a lot of stories about crazy customers. I was always on time and had every thing ready to fish!!!
You are the minority.
We stopped doing charters with people we did not know.
Between showing up late ( 40 mins) and showing up drunk/ getting obnoxiously drunk/smoking weed on the trip getting seasick and general lack of courtesy and fishing experience its a roll of the dice anymore.
With the being 40 mins late I was actually more upset at the charter captain waiting for them rather than setting off in 2019As far as breakfast on the docks yes that would be good but the labor force on the island would never support it. If you had anyone who would show up and work those hours they would be run into the ground quickly or you yourself would be burnt up supporting it.
We were specifically talking about up at OIFC, not on the island. B&P gets it done with 4-5 employees. One on the grill, one handling supplies and cleaning to support the grill cook and the counter staff, and the remainder on the counter and register. The places up north that have good food, service, and reputation have staff. The places that have severe staffing shortages are probably not worth the visit. It would take a little time getting up and running if they couldn't steal some of the good folks away from current establishments. Liberty, on the other hand, is a prime example of "on the island" I assume and their lack of good help. I stop there if I sleep in because they didn't open until 8:00 all spring. Anyway, it's a moot point because the restaurant is already there and doesn't do breakfast.
I stopped doing charters when the price exceeded $1600. It's been a bit, but I am happy for the times I went and feel I've seen most everything there is to see out on the open ocean. I haven't caught every species there is, but the highlight of my trips were always the sights. Flying fish, giant sharks, giant turtles, flotsam/weed lines with dolphin tearing everything up beneath them, billfish swatting at the squid teasers, trolling large Stretch lures behind a humpback for Striped Bass with Aaron Kelly, dropping live blues by the comm. towers and watching a school of Amberjack come up from the depths, etc. All of those memories I'll have forever and I'm not willing to pay the big $$$ anymore to see it on the OBX.
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By: Squid Pro Quo
7/31/2024 12:19 PM
You need a pretty strong stomach to chow down on breakfast sandwiches before heading offshore. The rules I imposed on my guests were: 1) Eat well the night before. 2) Don't drink too much the night before. 3) Keep your food consumption to a minimum before setting off in the morning. 4) Bring plenty of water a light snack on the trip. (Peanut butter crackers are a good munchie.) 5) And don't stay up too late the night before and plan on being at the docks early.
I was running small boats (27 footers) but these rules worked well for me on 55' charters as well.
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By: Mstaszew
7/31/2024 12:31 PM
You need a pretty strong stomach to chow down on breakfast sandwiches before heading offshore. The rules I imposed on my guests were: 1) Eat well the night before. 2) Don't drink too much the night before. 3) Keep your food consumption to a minimum before setting off in the morning. 4) Bring plenty of water a light snack on the trip. (Peanut butter crackers are a good munchie.) 5) And don't stay up too late the night before and plan on being at the docks early.
I was running small boats (27 footers) but these rules worked well for me on 55' charters as well.
Dramamine and hydration. I am a huge fan and I've never gotten sick out there, but I wasn't trying to take any chances and ruin a day of fishing. Many trips I've done there was always a tough guy... "I don't get seasick".... who would chum for us on the trip. We'd just let him stay in the salon and skip him in the rotation. You want to fish? Stay awake and out on the boat and be attentive to what's going on.
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By: Stumpy
7/31/2024 12:54 PM
Only chartered out of OI one time... in 1995 with Cato on the Free Agent. Didn't do breakfast that day.
Every other Outer Banks trip offshore was from Hatteras Harbor. The deli there did breakfast sandwiches/biscuits and you could call ahead the day before and arrange for a box lunch. I see on the web site the latter is still offered, but it says the deli doesn't open until 11am, so I guess breakfast is out.
Squid's "rules" are good. Never got sick, but I also took Dramamine because I didn't want to take the chance.
But, yeah, at $1800 - $2200 + tip, I don't think planning breakfast/lunch for a charter trip is a problem I'm going to have to solve anymore.
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By: Md.Chas
8/1/2024 7:06 AM
I've been on over 100 trips offshore and know that Squid is 100% correct on the night before tips. I never chummed, but came close once when the boat blew an engine on the way out and the diesel fumes swamped the back of the boat. We had our rituals for going out in the morning, like doing a shot going under the Bonner Bridge, but we always took it easy the night before and ate a light breakfast. After a couple of instances with a few people, showing up late, getting drunk, we narrowed our crew down to 5 people. We always took way more water then beer and ate just enough to keep the hunger pangs away. I also starting wearing "The Patch" when I hit my 40's after a bout of Vertigo. I stopped going out 2 years ago after my heart surgery.
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