Capt. Joe hooked us up with a 25' Cat for a week and we had a really good time fishing, snorkeling, and joy riding. While some may question his boat rental approach, Capt. Joe turned out to be one of the nicest, most helpful people we have ever done business with.
We found him after searching extensively in Key West for any company that would allow us to keep the boat at our rental house there. We called about 20 different rental companies and they all wanted their boats either for day rentals or to be returned to a certified marina every night. Because of that, we expanded our search to Keys farther north and this one was the closest (~16 mi from Key West).
We spoke with Capt. Joe over the phone and he was surprisingly flexible delivery-wise. He offered to drive the boat to us or even drive the boat to our house in person (~2 hrs of his time). He was also flexible with regards to extras; free fishing gear, bait, and snorkel gear. Given his extensive experience in the Keys, Capt. Joe noted that there were a bunch of shallow hazards in our house's area. He had concerns about keeping the boat at our house, but said he would feel comfortable after spending time with us going over the nautical maps and approaches. The pricing for his boats were very reasonable to boot so we booked it. My crew half-joked about getting scammed out of our deposit because it all seemed too good to be true.
On our drive down, we go to give Capt. Joe a call and the number had been disconnected. Ohhh man, did we just get scammed?! Thankfully his number had only changed. Whew!
When we got there, the setup was something out of a novel. The weathered wooden dock was harboring too many boats than there was room for; all tied up together. The shop itself was just as old but had weird trinkets, bauble, and dresses for sale. The outside was peppered with plastic chairs, coolers, fishing gear, and busted propellers. The mailman drives by and throws something that lands at the door. A dog runs out and gobbles it up. Are we in the right place?? And then there he was, squinting Capt. Joe in fully-covered garb and his thick red hair filling his hat.
After some back and forth, we find out he had just installed 2 pristine propellers (non-aluminum). He made it clear that if we were to damage those it would be very costly but said he trusted us once discovering he was among doctors and engineers. He was nice, almost too nice. The crew was divided; Capt Joe was either super nice or a super con.
Finally, we're off. Getting in and out of his skinny channel was a little tricky since there is only enough room for a single boat and one wrong move and you're in inches of water. God forbid if we wreck the props within 5 minutes of casting off. But after that, you're up and out in the ocean really easily. When we got to our house, Capt. Joe's wife was waiting to give us a ride back to the shop to fetch the car. WOW, Capt. Joe really is the nicest guy!
Capt. Joe gave us some snorkel gear, fishing gear, and bait. The gear itself is not in the best shape, but it was free and did the job. He had great suggestions about Looe Key for snorkeling and fishing. We would come to find that Capt. Joe was right about everything he had ever said.
The boat was in good running shape; engines had a lot of power, hull was sturdy, controls responsive, amazing GPS, and the sound system was a nice touch. However the boat was in mediocre on-deck shape; the railings were a little mobile, the ladder steps were held together by zip ties, and the glove compartment door was a piece of wood that would fly off if you didn't put it on properly. Every time it would, we would yell "Goddam Joe's boat!" All his other boats seemed to be in similar condition. But with that said, we really came to like the boat. It was reliable and perfect for what we wanted to do, especially for the price. The other customers we met seemed satisfied as well. Capt. Joe really came through.
We found ourselves talking about Capt. Joe an awful lot during the trip because he is such an interesting character. We had fun and wouldn't mind renting from him again. read more
