First the positive: Our captain was very friendly, the boat was very nice. We all got fish, and almost all of us got halibut!
Now the narrative:
My brother (who's into fishing like I'm into Yelping) came up to visit from FL. He booked for, and paid for this charter. On the day of, our captain had cancelled due to poor conditions. However, my brother still wanted to go out (I outfitted him and my Mom with my waterproof, warm mountaineering gear), weather be damned. After some confusing communications, Crackerjack made it happen.
They put us on a boat with a captain and six passengers: us (a group of 3), a couple (2), and a guy from California (1).
The other people on the boat were friendly and we started the day in good spirits.
The water quickly got really rough, but we endured. No one got seasick. After getting beaten on the waves for over an hour, we got to a spot that was slightly more calm.
Within an hour, I caught a halibut! Then my Mom! Then my brother got a salmon! Then the boat started catching less fish. I'd say most of the fist were caught in the first 4 hours. And ALL of the halibut were caught in this time.
The seas were ROUGH, and my Mom and I were out in front. Constant wind, constant side-ways rain, and consistent 5 ft swells battered and chilled our bones. (I'm a part-time photographer and I brought my nice camera, I took zero photos because I was afraid of the swells slamming it against the boat and out of my hands, seriously. This is my mountain/ice/snow/rock climbing camera, mind you.)
As noon approached the captain asked us if we wanted to do a half day instead of a full day (which was what we paid for)...it was an emphatic yes from the 3 of us, and from California guy as well...who was looking very pale.
Then noon hit and my Mom asked the captain "So is this when you go back for a half-day?" and the Captain said "yes, this is when we *would* go back". A hush of horror came over us. Wait...what? We are staying for more of this punishment? (at this point no one was catching anything) My Mom pressed further "are we going back now?". The captain said nothing out loud, but shook his head in the motion of "NO."
This was a complete communication breakdown. I'm assuming the couple didn't want to go back when he polled them? Even so, if 4 of us wanted to go back, but 2 of us don't...the 2 overrule everyone else? I guess these boats are not a democracy.
We stayed 3 more hours and caught nothing. California guy was grasping onto the boat, trying not to fall over, as he puked.
I still have no idea what actually happened, and why we stayed out for another 3-4 hour brutalization. My guess is that Crackerjack wanted to get that sweet, sweet full-day money for all 6 people. So they didn't much care that one person was puking and the other 3 were checked out and catching nothing.
Probably a good charter if the weather is good, though. read more