The Deckie Experience

[WalrusLike]

Ben you are a credit to the Deckie profession. I don't need deckies in my little boat, but I do hope someone else is able to offer you some trips.


(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')

[Pazz01]

Good deckies are very hard to find. Even harder to find people who are willing to pay a reasonable amount to just cover costs.

Years ago we used to regularly take at least 1-2 blokes extra out on our boat. These were back in the days when fuel was 80cents per litre and we would use no more than 100L and come home with at least 20 trout a trip. The blokes we took were good fisherman, happy to pay $70-$80 and got a decent feed for their efforts. They always stayed behind and helped cleaned the boat,but never once did they offer any assistance to service or maintain. When the fuel bill started to go up these blokes all started whinging about the price and would purposely only bring $80 cash to pay and say they couldn't afford any more but would still expect their proportion of fish. Now it is costing like now it costs around $180 to fuel the boat, not including bait etc. Dad was never trying to make a profit on these blokes, merely just trying to cover costs as much as possible so we could go fishing more often. The fishing is getting harder and harder now and blokes that do want to come reckon they are getting ripped off just paying for fuel if they don't get at least 5-8 decent fish to take home, yet they are happy to pay $250 for a charter up here and be lucky to take home 2 fish.

The biggest gripe I have though is when it blows 20 knots up here in Cairns for a solid 3-6 months straight, all these blokes have tinny's so they would head up the creek and never once ask the old man fishing, yet they would always be chasing the old man to get out the reef. Even when they upgraded to their own big boats to head out the reef they never asked the old man fishing when he was without a boat. Yet they would ask him for marks when they go out.

We've now got to the stage that we'd rather go out just our family, do everything yourself, pay for everything yourself, help as much as you can with R&M and not have to put up with the so called "friends" that want to go fishing with you.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are some really good deckies out there.. but the few experiences I've had, it's turned me off wanting to ask anyone else in our boat.

Pazz

[Zippidy]

I've never gone fishing with someone that's not a close mate (apart from a charter I went on this weekend) however am willing to put my hand up as a deckie.

I'm not the most experienced fisherman, with most of my trips going just offshore off Straddie, however I understand the costs and what's required in order to go fishing and am more than happy to pay my way.

I'm currently restoring an old boat but had my own prior to that and have taken mates boats out many times. A lot of the time they get me to skipper simply because I'm a bit more experienced. On a recent trip, my mates brother in law was on the boat and he'd never caught a fish and he also gets seasick. I did everything I could in order to get him onto fish and make sure he wasn't sick. That meant that I re-baited him and re-rigged him the whole trip so that way he wasn't looking down tying knots etc. I didn't fish myself however had a great time knowing he was catching fish and had a good time.

Please don't hesitate to contact me to get me onto your boat. The best bit is that I don't really like eating fish so never want to take any of them home :-)

[liltuffy]

Geez, seems the problem runs deeper than I thought. Aside from long term mates I've taken a few Ausfish blokes out over time and had varying degrees of enjoyment, some have been good fishos some still developing.

Between them wanting me to pick them up from their home or meeting them at the ramp (don't have to clean up eh), supplying bait, tackle etc I'm generally over it, and yeah most bitch about half the fuel cost.

These days if you see a 19 foot Tournament with a fat bloke fishing solo or said fat bloke and my 10 year old son on board it's probably me

No offense against prospecting deckies on here but to be truthful you probaly look just the same as your average axe murderer, maybe why some of us are reluctant to broadcast deckie positions available.

Guess that's why they have M&G's, try before you buy, but most M&G's you need a boat to be involved.

Cheers

Craig

[Gon Fishun]

I have to agree with a lot of the comments about lazy ?? deckies, but, there are a lot of new guys on the block, and are blissfully ignorant of how much they are required to give in return. Maybe a new post "Headed" what is required of a deckie.

[Zippidy]

I quite like cleaning a boat after a fishing trip whilst sipping on a couple of coldies :-)

[2IC]

will have to say I agree with a lot of the comments , I have just returned from a week at 1770 & my 2 deckies up there D1 Bruce D2 Dave are top blokes anything that needed to be done either before a trip or out on the water was done then when we got back in they looked after the fish while I cleaned the boat. even got me cold beers while I cleaned the boat. I guess it helps when both your deckies own boats as well, as they tend to understand the process a lot better,

[Bull]

I used to take mates out fishing then I joined Ausfish and the only guys I take out now are mates I've made from Ausfish.
I prefer to take guys who know how to fish and have their own gear and appreciate whats involved in doing offshore trips. We always split the cost of the fuel and catch evenly.
A good example of a great deckie was on Sunday. We had cleaned the boat and filleted fish before we left 1770 on Saturday. Horse said he would come over to have a look at a few things on my boat. I rang him and told him not to bother coming and he just said he was on his way and would pick up some saltaway on his way over to clean the engine.

[Dignity]

Sorry to hear JJ that you had that problem especially considering you had such a long way to travel but it seems that you did the dignified thing and learned far more in the process. Yep, good deckies are hard to come by, my current deckie for the last few years was a guy I met on Fraser when I was stuck with a number of boozers who didn't bother going out fishing for the two weeks we were there (this was land based Fraser comp). He noticed my dilemma as well as another angler in a similar situation and took us both out with him for the last couple of nights in his tiny short wheel based tojo. We both enjoyed it so much that we teamed together for the next couple of years with a couple of upgrades in the vehicle dept and even managed to snag a couple of major prizes over the intervening years. Turns out he lived not too far from me and I got him to deckie for me a couple of times, he was awesome and he always supplied the bait, ice, cleaned the boat down while I filleted, and was always very accommodating. He is currently out of work but he is still my deckie and I am happy to carry all costs until he gets back on his feet unlike a few very old friends whom I have previously taken who think a $50 note for the pair of them will cover everything including the maint, fuel, bait, clean up, filleting etc. yep, they are hard to find but worth hanging on. I would like to get to a M& G soon but since I have retired I have been busier than ever and even as I speak that bathroom job will have to wait just a bit longer as another mate who used to be my deckie until he bought his own boat has offered a trip to 1770 this weekend. Don't know where I had the time to go to work

[shy guys]

Hey Tex............glad to see you made it home safe and well.

To say I wasn't a little upset and peeved off when I heard of your plight when I first got up there would be a lie.

As a fellow boat owner I fully understand the process one goes through before the drive north actually begins. Whilst most of us on here are boat owners ourselves the people we invite out aren't always in the same position and sometimes don't fully understand the gravity of what towing a boat 5000kms is like. The prepping of the tow vehicle, motor, transmission, tyres all have to be 100% before leaving home....boat, motor and trailer need to be in nothing less than perfect condition, once again more money and more time. Services, repairs, upgrades and last minute maintenance is the order of the day. For the misinformed or inexperienced when a boat rocks up at a holiday destination and is ready to, and is expected to perform flawlessly none stop for a week or two it's not by chance nor by fluke. Many many hours of prep work and many thousand of dollars are usually the norm when considering towing a boat a long way for a holiday if the owner doesn't have the pleasure for always making such a pilgrimage and that's just getting the bloody thing there. Fishing gear, bait, safety equipment and the serviceability of everything on board isn't a game of luck...........stuff works because the boat owner has taken the time, money and inclination to ensure this is the case.
I fully understand that unforeseen circumstances do pop up preventing deckies/friends/crew to attend such trips and in some cases these circumstances are far more important than some fishing trip and in these cases this little rant fails in comparison to some peoples real problems but when the excuse is due to lack of planning, lack of interest or down right lack of respect for the boat owner to just not rock up forgetting the effort and money the skipper has already poured in to such a trip is unacceptable in my books.
This isn't a rant specifically targeting any one scenario but in the last week I've heard stories of skippers being left high and dry without a crew, guys renting houses for a week that have been fully paid for only to move in to another house to have a bit of company and leave their fully paid up house sitting there for a week because people have backed out and stories of guys unwilling to help clean, prep and organise the boat for the next day whilst instead choosing to drink and watch the boat owner do it all.

You're right Terry, it is a team effort and far too often some people either forget about or have no real idea of what it takes to pull off a trip such as a two week holiday away from home with a boat. Paying a bit of fuel money doesn't magically turn it in to a fully serviced charter for the day............if you cringe at coughing up a bit of fuel money then for gods sake don't ever buy a boat!!!!

That's the end of my rant for the night, I consider myself pretty lucky for the guys I get to fish with and I think they appreciate the effort I go to as well.

Well said Anthony so true

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

[tropicrows]

What Bill 2ic says is very true, the better deckies own boats and know what goes into getting any boat into the water. As a deckie, its my job to ensure the skipper gets as much fishing time as everyone else. The captain supplies the boat and generally drives it, its the deckies job to do what ever the skipper needs. If that means baiting his hooks or tying a new rig while they drives the boat, then that's the least I can do.
Before I take anyone new on my boat I make it very clear what is expected on and off the water. If they don't like it, don't come. Good deckies are hard to find, but so are good skippers, and I have been very fortunate to have been on a number of boats with good skippers.

[Shark Poker]

While it is indeed rare that we can learn anything positive from our Yotty cousins, this might be an idea:
Some Yacht Clubs have a 'Crew Register' in their monthly newsletter and it's layout is like this:


Name and Age, Posting Date, Phone Number, Experience and Preferences

Greg Mac## 20th Aug , lots race experience
Adrian Re##(43)19 Sep , 20yrs sailing both inshore and offshore racing, prefer multihull

Looking for Crew:
Im looking for reliable, team oriented crew for club racing and local off shore events on a Cavalier 35.
My contact details are Stewart: 0428 608 ###


This is pretty common in Yacht Clubs.
Notice that it mentions how many years and type of experience.
Ausfish could have such a register in place.
But I would insist upon a meeting between the skipper and crew days prior to any trip rather than meet at the ramp.

[Aussie123]

Every boat owner has different expectations from their crew that they take out.
For me,no way will I ever expect any money or charge anyone for maintenance or fixing any of my boats.
That is something as a boat owner I feel I should do myself.
That is akin to charging someone maintenance on your car for running them somewhere or even your house when people drop over for a chat all the time.
Things wear out when being used and some things run out of date but that is my responsibility only.
What I do like though is the daily costs split between everyone on the boat.
Bait,fuel,ice and fishing gear if used and lost by other crew members but that is it for me.
I take people out for an enjoyable days fishing and not to profit from them.
I do not expect them to come home and help clean the boat as often they are from the other side of town so its quicker and easier to meet at the ramp.
Any catch is always split evenly and I usually get in and do the filleting if needed as I can rip through a box of fish pretty quickly.

[the gecko]

Good deckies come back to good communication by the skipper. First thing I do is a safety briefing, heres the lifejackets, epirb, man overboard procedure. Then I tell what I expect of a deckie, pull the anchor, bait your own hooks, sit where the weight is balanced out, etc.

Amazing how many will do whatever you ask them. A good attitude is all I look for. You can teach the rest.

[Lancair]

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...perfect-deckie.

Above is the thread I started some time ago.