When your kids are young and at the playground, the topic of your parents’ work always comes up. “What does your mom or dad do?” My son Colin, his response was always priceless. My dad catches fish. That was it. Now, thankfully, my daughter gave me a bit more credit. My dad is a businessman and a weatherman, and he knows how to catch big fish and take scuba divers out. He can even save lives. She might have gone a little far on the last one, but if you want to be a charter fishing captain, she was spot on about some of your responsibilities. Now, to be fair with my kids, Addisen is older, and she got trucked around a lot more. She quickly put two and two together. Since the business had our last name, I must be a business owner. She knew her dad had to be able to read and understand the weather, given how much I talked about it. She might have even been brought to a CPR and first aid class once or twice. Come to think of it, she accompanied me to the welder, wholesale bait and tackle shop, a scuba diving expo, and probably many more places I can’t remember. You see, being a charter captain and running a charter business is a whole lot more than “my dad catches fish.”
My daughter’s description was a solid start, but she is still missing a few things. If you’re going to make it, you must be personable. I don’t have many customers who would enjoy sharing a small space with a salty, grumpy captain for 4 to 12 hours, especially with the good money they are spending. When it all boils down to it, we are salesmen. Selling a good time by creating memories that will hopefully bring these customers back again and again. I was fortunate to watch my charismatic father while out on trips with him. His big personality and smile captivated his clients. Half the time, catching fish was merely a plus. He was great at that as well. I could not have asked for a better mentor on how to sell my business. I also learned when I was young that “mechanic” better come right after charter captain. When you make your living miles from shore. From any shop or person who can help you if something breaks, you must be as self-sufficient as possible. Boats, engines, and electronics may seem daunting, but in most respects, they are manageable when trouble pops up. Often at the most inconvenient of times. We are fortunate in this day and age to have technology, satellite phones, and text messaging to possibly get in touch with help. However, being able to assess what has gone wrong and how to fix it on the fly has saved me many trips over the years of owning my business. CPR, first aid, how to administer oxygen, yes-yes-and yes. You are not asked to be a doctor, but being knowledgeable on how to address an injury or worse could be the difference in getting someone to the proper medical attention in time. Over my years, I have been on more than a few trips where a serious medical incident has occurred, and I was very thankful for the training I took.
A successful offshore charter captain is a jack of all trades. The better you are at each, the more likely you are to have a direct correlation with your success. Confucius is credited with the saying, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. Confucius was not a charter captain. We work extra hard, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
