Prep... Never enough

[Deep C]

For those that follow my postings you know that I'm forever busy with prep work. I write this inadvance of my next 101 "Freelance how to". In my capacity as freeelancer I have a duty to myself and prospective employers to keep things all in order. Though I start my summer prep in early spring as go time gets closer the heat gets turned up. This week is no different...
We have OCWMO and Ma500 in front of us and between day jobs I am the one responsible to make sure all is good to go. Lets take a look at what has been done over the last few days and what still needs to be done..

I'll start with the boat. Cammy's Dad is a well appointed Luhrs 36. Before you start pulling faces and say ing "ewwwww a Luhrs" understand that this one has had special attention taken to make sure she's right. A notebook filled with gripes and "not good enoughs" was presented to Luhrs and the dealer before delivery and they got everything right.
The "Dad" is no dock ornament and her owner works her hard on everything from fluke to overnighters in the Hudson. I got aboard a few days ago and made out my punch list.
She's been running the season on a spare set of wheels after busting a good one off at the end of last season on a submerged 55gallon drum of something... The spares won't give us the speed or the raising power of her good ones so I had to track down and order one. Of course the owner wasn't sure of size so that meant having to call Luhrs for original specs. I now have to coordinate a pick up at the other end of the state, a diver to swap them out, and make time for a test run...
Next comes the trim tabs. Somebody at bennet must have a mean streak. An opaque resevoir means guessing the level. I add some fluid and eventually get her right. Move right along and do the steering next... Clean all the battery terminals, adjust the governor on the genset, check all wires, run all electronics... Rerig outriggers... Change filters... Recharge AC... Assess what boat has aboard, what needs to be left behind and what needs to be put aboard... Ahhhh that felt good.
Move on to tackle. Spool four 80lb, seven 50wides, ten 30 class outfits. Inspect 50 dink rigs, 60 lure rigs and 50 combo rigs... Re rig a few of them. Do wind ons for all outfits... Load our lure outfits with lures and check all functions of reels... Ooops almost forgot to pick up the rods I have getting new guides at the shop twenty miles away...
Now I get to go inside and review every sat shot from the last two weeks to get an idea of water movement. Corellate them against reports and know which pieces had what kind of fish in them...
Make up a food and drink shopping list... Coordinate picking up a chair, schedule moving the boat... Plan a pre trip again to the other end of the state so I can raid Hinch's freezer... Ooops arrrange dockage for the Ma500...

So what are you doing to prepare for your next event...

[joeksr]

Havin a beer and hope to fish on your boat
If your fishin the WMO in OC maybe we can meet up.
Like to meet ya face to face.

[Younger]

So you lose a wheel last year and after all these months do not have a replacement??

I wouldn't be so quick to try to teach us "amateurs" about "prep work".

[Deep C]

Not my boat Brian... Just use it for a couple tournies a year. Used to be that I ran it for his buddies but this year I will have my own regular crew aboard (The same crew we had at the Bacardi).
I didn't lose it. Lost by owner last season and I didn't find out til Mako Mania when I noticed her vibrating and four knots off pace. Owner said it was going to be done right after that tourney. Then a couple weeks later said it was done. For that matter he told me all else was perfect and done. In this trade you learn to make sure. So like anything else in the world of a free lancer if I want it done I gotta do it myself...

So yes this is a perfect example for those who freelance of what they are up against if they want to do things right and yes this is a perfect place to teach.

Even leaders I made up months ago started to lose some of their suppleness and needed to be redone. Hooks sharpened in advance just somehow lose that hone and need to get redone

My main boss is shopping for a bigger interim boat and this freelance stuff in the summers may take a backseat to a full time in the next year or so. We're still two years out from building our big boat but are in the market for an interim at this time.

[Younger]

Originally Posted by Deep C

Not my boat Brian... Just use it for a couple tournies a year. Used to be that I ran it for his buddies but this year I will have my own regular crew aboard (The same crew we had at the Bacardi).
I didn't lose it. Lost by owner last season and I didn't find out til Mako Mania. Owner said it was going to be done right after that tourney. Then a couple weeks later said it was done. For that matter he told me all else was perfect and done. In this trade you learn to make sure. So like anything else in the world of a free lancer if I want it done I gotta do it myself...

Even leaders I made up months ago started to lose some of their suppleness and needed to be redone. Hooks sharpened in advance just somehow lose that hone and need to get redone

My main boss is shopping for a bigger interim boat and this freelance stuff in the summers may take a backseat to a full time in the next year or so. We're still two years out from building our big boat but are in the market for an interim at this time.

Seems to me with an owner like that you are pretty much wasting your time fishing big tournaments like the MA500 and OCWMO.........if he can't even work out getting a set of wheels in the last 8 months just imagine what else didn't get done.

Might want to check the raft and epirb.

[Deep C]

Like I said its a platform... Yes this boat owner isn't serious so I have to pick up the slack for this. My own crew is toatlly comitted and good. Thats why my main boss is looking for a bigger boat of our own... Don't think we can track one down, buy it, outfit it and bring to snuff in just two weeks though.

PS: Got my own epirb and raft like a good freelancer should.

[Younger]

Originally Posted by Deep C

Like I said its a platform... Yes this boat owner isn't serious so I have to pick up the slack for this. My own crew is toatlly comitted and good. Thats why my main boss is looking for a bigger boat of our own... Don't think we can track one down, buy it, outfit it and bring to snuff in just two weeks though.

The MOJO is for sale(61' Lightning). Fast, economical, and ready to fish. I bet you could have the deal done real quick. You could probably have a surveyor on board by tomorrow. I could put you in touch with the owner if your boss is serious.

[Deep C]

Actually been looking at her... Lot of hours and wear and tear on her though. And YES she is very efficient. Good price for what she is. but not what the boss man is looking for. He is stuck on the new 50 viking for our down the line boat. Possibly the 54 but the 50 is faster.
For the interim we're looking at Viking 45 express primarily. Looked at a couple customs... too much wood. Cabo 45 we're getting feedback from owners of inherrant problems. Just a few weeks left to this season that we can get by using the "Dad" then make a well thought out purchase where impulse isn't clouding common sense...

[Wave Loudly]

Thanks for reminding me about prep work Dep! You reminded me I needed to go spray some W on the kayak's rudder. LOL

Good luck, and I hope your efforts pay off big!!

[Deep C]

I hope something shakes out. Have had an outrageous good numbers season but size on most of what I've been catching is ... well... dinky...
Wave make sure you check the zincs, transducer, and for goodness sake sharpen them props...

Took the boss and his missus for a boat ride sight seeing and discussing interim boat options and looks like tween getting the Dad ready and a couple trips scheduled this week that look like they are getting blown out I guess we're going boat shopping...