I went out yesterday with our group of 4, a 6 hr trip for $800, a trip we had planned well in…read moreadvance of our vacation with much excitement and anticipation. I have to say it was a major disappointment on many levels. Three of the four of us are experienced in offshore fishing, having done many trips in Southern California up and down the coast. We understand there is no guarantee of catching fish, but, we do expect to have a good experience based on comfort and services. The comfort and service were lacking, I seriously suggest finding a different charter in Kauai if you want an overall good experience.
I think Captain Jeff was likely a great deckhand at one point who decided to buy the cheapest (e,g, very bad shape) boat he could find and start a fishing business. He provided a decent intro/over view for the trip which emphasized safety, but, his reference to the life jackets "in the storage area" was simply, "you know, there's a few buckles and straps, not a big deal", was somewhat alarming for me, and, he didn't take one out to even show us how to use it, nor did he even reference "what to do" in the event we had to go in the water for a fire, etc. Safety is not a joke when on the open water and if something goes wrong, panic may ensue, the boat Captain has to ensure we know what to do and how to do it. The safety overview and preparation was severely lacking and of great concern.
Captain Jeff's boat appears to be in poor condition, he asked us to remove shoes (with rubber soles for grip!) and fish barefoot to avoid damaging his peeling deck surface as well as slipping, well for me that was an issue because I didn't want to leave with severely sunburned feet, and, I prefer having shoes on. It wasn't really an option, he made it clear that he wanted no shoes on. Also, from a hygiene perspective, is he aware of how many foot problems can be transferred, athletes foot, etc? Again, made me very uncomfortable. Who was walking on that deck the day before, and the day before that, etc, etc.
Seating on his boat is terrible, there's barely enough room for 4 on the infrastructure bench, all steel bench and seat backs, no padding, how expensive would 4 seat cushions and back cushions be Jeff? The other option is to sit on the steel engine cover lid, there is very little to no shade available to get out of the sun. Jeff did offer one inside seat to us to get out of the rain, but that's it, no room for anyone else. Jeff, your boat is extremely uncomfortable, but you don't seem to care. but I noticed you had a nice cushioned captains chair to drive the boat from. Lucky you, your back probably doesn't hurt as much as mine does today.
We were told when our trip was booked that there would be drinks and snacks provided on the trip (again, 6 hours on the water), well there drinks but no snacks, NOTHING to eat unless we brought it ourselves, we were all very hungry at the end of the trip, again, a complete LACK of service (how much would 4 pre-made sandwiches and some chips have cost you Jeff? Maybe $20??
The final blow for me was when 2 of Jeff's troll lines were bit off he lost the set-ups obviously and was visibly upset about it, explaining the detailed cost of each component (hook, feather jig, etc) and that each was $60 and that "now it's gone, not here anymore to use", as if it was our fault for not jumping on the reel at hook up to keep tension on the fish. He never told us to set the hook, he was doing all the "fishing" and once hooked would put us on the reel to crank away. It's like taking your car to a mechanic for an oil change, they loosen the oil pan plug to drain the oil, the wrench breaks in the process and then he wants to charge you for the wrench. Seriously? And, on top of it, he didn't have a good supply of fishing jigs and feathers, we saw what he had in the storage area on the boat, I can tell you I have more jigs in my tackle box at home than this guy had, so disappointed when I saw this.
He really has a bare bones operation, a piece of crap boat, and his customer service / communication skill is that of a Santa Barbara deckhand -turned boat captain. Jeff, you can refute this posting all you want, I'll be happy to provide additional info that I have spared here. I really believe the only positive reviews seen here are from people who were lucky enough to have hooked into some really nice dorado or tuna and therefore their trip was "awesome", "best ever". We had one Ono and one Skipjack come on board, and, Jeff was pretty hard over on keeping the Ono for himself "in lieu of a tip for him" and to "help make up for the lost gear".
So sad, we were really looking forward to this island fishing experience, we'll find a different boat next time. Final point, Jeff has an interesting personality, at times very aloof and non-communicative, borderline rude for paying customers, did not answer 3 of my 4 direct questions on the fishing or fish, very perplexed by that. Very disappointed. Thanks.
