Many people will tell you that it is hard to make fishing a full time occupation, especially when just setting out on what will be a very long journey, and sadly I am not at a point of being able to sustain myself and my family through fishing alone. So, like many other fisherman I have to work a “proper” job on the side. In my professional capacity I am a commercial captain on a work boat that takes people out to the ever growing number offshore wind farms that are popping up all over the British Isles. 

This is shift work, 2 weeks on working 10-14 hours a day 7 days a week, followed by 2 glorious weeks off. Currently I am still working in Kent, and so am within reach of home in the event of an earlier finish, or in the more likely event of a weather day. This is the main reason I don’t mind the weather rearing up during these two weeks; I take the same wage home, work fewer hours, and am able to get home and spend time with my family. 

The work itself is mixed, some days are busy from start to finish and can be stressful, some days we may be sat around doing not a whole lot for hours on end. It most certainly is not a regular job, and it keeps me on the sea and constantly thinking about the possibilities that are out there. As the Captain on these vessels, I am responsible for the safety and well being of all those on board, so each day has a certain level of pressure attached to it, which is intensified significantly with bad weather as it makes the job that much more dangerous for all involved. One of the main grievances I have with my current shift pattern, however, is that the weather seems to turn for the worse every time I come close to finishing a shift, and turning for the better when I go back to work!

It is incredibly frustrating to be out at sea working every day for 2 weeks knowing that you might well have been able to fish every day, and doubly so when you finish work and cannot get out at all! It seems to have been this way more often than not since buying the boat, and perhaps will need addressing at some point in the future. A helpful charter skipper on the pontoon in ramsgate did say to me one morning “If you stop working for a living you’ll have a much better go at the fishing!”, which I suppose is true, and I hope in time to be able to take this sage advice and follow that path.

One week of my shift has passed in relative quiet, and all I can ask is the second and inevitably longer second half of my shift goes smoothly and without incident, and that my boat will be ready to launch in a little over a week when I finish up. The quiet periods of work leave me with plenty of time spent researching possibilities for new fishing spots on Navionics, the different methods that might be employed at these various locations, and the menagerie of things that need to be purchased or made in readiness for all of this! Between bass fishing and tuna fishing there are a great many things that are much required or desired, at a not inconsiderable cost, and it further fuels the hope and ambition for a successful season on both fronts.