Saved up for ages to take my 2 mates on a fishing charter. Paid over $1000 FJD ( most of it by cash as requested ), had constant mechanical issues and brought back zero fish. The writing was on the wall when we boarded the boat with mismatched engines and had to step over a copper plumbing pipe cable tied between them to act as synchronised steering. Apparently the missing outboard was away getting repaired and a tiller steer 2 stroke 40 hp Yamaha was filling in for it.
The other existing motor on the boat was nicknamed “the black anchor” and had serious gear selector issues with it being unable to engage forward gear on most attempts.
So here we are on a trip of a lifetime with the engine cover off the main motor just 20 seconds into our trip !
We immediately had safety concerns as the sea was quite rough and we had an unreliable engine heading out past the waves breaking on the reefs.
We managed to troll along the coast for a few hours but weren’t lucky enough to hook a fish.
We stopped for a reef fish ,which was uneventful and then the lads worked on the “black anchor” again without success. The boss was telephoned and he came to us in a smaller boat and boarded our boat in order to attempt engine repairs. We were then transported via the smaller boat to a Resort where we had a 50 minute car trip back to our accomodation. Absolutely pissed off and felt ripped off. After suggesting compensation for this disastrous trip, the boss/owner did offer us another trip but due to limited time and our concerns regarding safety we declined his offer.
We felt bad for the 2 lads on the boat as they are nice friendly guys who have crap gear to work with.
If I ever can afford another fishing charter I will do more homework and not take too much notice of a 4.5 star rating.
Live and learn.