Many new fishermen, unfortunately have more money than sense. They will buy a new boat and take it out in the ocean without any training or knowledge of the dangers that lurk about.

When I bought my boat (23' Robalo), I had spent many years on the water before my purchase, but didn't realize being a passenger is a whole lot different than being a responsible captain.

Tip #1. I try to have duplicates of many of my safety items, One overnighter at Catalina, both of my batteries died, I had no way to radio for help. I thought Damm, I need a radio with a separte power source. After thinking about it a little more, I thought what good would the radio do if we were in the water and couldn't tell out position. Before the next trip I purchased a handheld radio with a hand held GPS.

Tip #2. Prepare for the unexpected. Make a ditch box. God forbid we go down, I have a hand held radio, GPS, flares and rockets, some cheap air matresses for additional flotation, high intensity strobe lights with whistles attached to all my life jackets. I also keep a large blue tarp with rope attached at the corners. The tarp is deployed when something punctures your hull and you are taking on water. go to the front of the boat and pull the tarp down along the bottom of the boat to where the hole is, tie off the tarp to the rail the tarp will slowdown the entry of water by getting sucked into the hole.

Tip #3. Know where you are going. I see many anglers zooming around the west end of Catalina at night. There are many boilers that extend well away from the island ie Johnson rocks and other I don't know the name of. Its a good idea to mark these locations on your chart plotter before zooming around in poor visibilty conditions.There is a pretty good video on Catalina that starts of with identifing and location of the boilers. Its a Danny Jackson video Catalina Hotspots.

Tip # 4. Fire extinguishers. If you have ever been so unfortunate that you boat catches fire, i'll tell you that the small fire extinguishers can barely put out a match. Unfortunately for me, I found myself in this situation. I keep two fire extinguishers on the boat one class 2 and 1 class 3. The class 2 is about 6" dia. and 14' long and the class 3 is 6.5" x 18 inches.

Tip #5. Keep spare parts on the boat and the tools necessary to complete a repair. spare fuses, spare battery, sparkplugs,fuel filter, prop.

Tip #6. Know your electronics, become very familiar with your radar, chartpoltter, marine radio. Make sure your radio works before exiting the harbor. call for a radio check.

Tip #7. Make sure your boat is in tip top shape, especially before a long trip or overnighter. When trip planning make sure some knows your out there and when you're expected back.



My experience tells me that those that are prepared, rarely have trouble. Becuase when trouble comes they know what to do.

The ocean is unforgiving, and can be a death trap to the inexperienced.

Safety first, and you will enjoy many years fishing enjoyment.

Tight lines

Tuna out