Hi Gary, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
For thirty-five years, I have known I was coming to the Tampa Bay Area. I married a Tampa gal and she has threatened to return home for years. We bought a house here at the beach in 2015 after we sold a rental property. I was a captain for TowBoatUS in northern Virginia and the franchise operator here offered me a job when he found out we had bought a house here. So, in 2016, I quit my “day job” to come to work for the Largo TowBoatUS operator. For a number of reasons, that job didn’t work out. I already had a great fishing boat so I thought I’d give charter fishing a try. I have a “rabbi” who has been charter fishing for 40 years and he has taught me “the ropes”. And I have used my previous experiences to be moderately successful at something I never thought I would do-run a charter operation.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As any small business operator will tell you, government regulations top the list of hurdles to overcome. State licenses, federal permits, taxes, insurance, legal fees; well, you get the idea. Then there is the boat: I have an old boat which requires a lot of maintenance. My clients remark what a great job I have running my own boat. I agree but remind them that for every hour underway, I spend three hours maintaining the boat. And then (of course) there are the clients. Ninety nine percent are wonderful people just looking to have a fun day on the water with family or friends. Every once in a while you get a curveball and it’s difficult to see some of them coming. Once in a while, everything seems fine until a day or two after what you thought was an enjoyable day on the water when the client contacts you and says they were not happy. It’s difficult to deal with this sort of complaint because the client is gone. If someone is not getting what they expect, it would make sense to let me know when I can do something to remedy the situation.
As you know, we’re big fans of Maritime Operations LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
MarOps (for short) operates charters aboard my Bertram 38 sportfishing boat. For the most part, vacationing families hire us for a day on the water or a business will hire us to entertain their clients. We also get local folks who want to catch a few fish. We also conduct burial-at-sea services for cremated remains or we can provide unattended burials. Another service we offer is legal offshore transactions. There can be certain tax advantages to closings conducted outside the state of Florida. And finally, we do sunset cruises. A few hours on the water with friends and a glass of wine can work wonders.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Like any business, we have a website which is our “store window”. We also post content about our adventures on the water so people know what to expect when they book a charter with us. We are on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well. Apps we use regularly include FishingBooker which is a website people use to locate a charter for their vacation or special event. Of course, we use a variety of weather apps to help us get a good idea of the weather forecast as your trip comes up. This helps us provide a safe, comfortable trip for our clients.
Pricing:
- Legal offshore transactions are $400
- Accompanied burials-at-sea are $400, unaccompanied burials are $250.
- Sunset cruises are $250 for a 2-hour cruise.
Contact Info:
- Address: 306 176th Ave. Circle, Redington Shores FL 33708
- Email: capt.gary@att.net
- Website: CoastalCharters.US
- Phone: Call or text 703.628.4424
Image Credits
Gary Spivack
