Well, this bad economy has forced me to take up another job, and it turned out to be loads of fun. David Choate Construction INC will continue to be open, with Juan, Darreld and my wife Tree running things. I advise them and answer questions from afar via sat phone and email.
My new job is aboard the Intrepid. And I'm having a blast doing what I love to do.
I started as just a fill in back in September, but now I'm on full time. It seems like it's just supposed to be this way. We will see what happens when the season ends, maybe construction will get better and I'll go back to my day job, but this will help me keep from losing my house, and puts food on the table.
I spoke to several captains and owners at the Fred Hall show, saying that I might have to go back to work on the boats if things don't get better construction wise, but only Kevin Osborne gave me a shot, and I'm grateful for that chance.
It is really hard work, I tried training for it for a month and a half before starting, but after one day of it, I really wondered if I could handle doing this at my age. I left my house about 3:30 am on the day I started, loaded groceries, offloaded fish, fueled and scrubbed the boat, fresh water rinse, get it pretty for the next load of passengers, load their gear ( we all bring too much, I now see that), load bait, and finally get to rest about 2 pm. WHEW!
I woke up the next day, and felt like I had played football. I was sore, couldn't bend over, legs, back and arms ached. "What had I got myself into here" I wondered. But by the time we arrived at Alijos, I was good to go.
Since that day, I have never looked back in question. We have days that are long hard days, when fishing is balls out WFO, and we are running all over trying to help out anglers in any way we can, gaffing, untangling, releasing, retopshotting, etc. But most days are mixed with slow times and busy little flurries.
On my last trip I worked, due to some strange circumstances, I got to do something I have always wanted to do: I got to be galley assistant to Javier! And it was exactly the way I expected it to be, a wonderful experience. And the work is just as hard with as long of hours, but I just got to learn some great cooking knowledge from one of the best chefs I have ever known. And he enjoyed having me in there, and I will be doing some more of that on upcoming trips, as I guess he enjoyed having me in the galley with him. My wife likes this too, I have our next 3 meals all prepared and ready for the next 3 days.
Plus, in there, I get to fish a little bit more. On the deck, if we aren't busy with action, Kevin wants me fishing, hook and hand to the anglers having a tough trip. I enjoy that too.
Kevin appreciates having me on the boat, I jump in on the seminars, plus I do a few of my own, on bait selection/presentation, working with spectra, making topshots with Sato crimps, knot tying, etc.
Yes, I miss my wife, I miss my kids being out there for so long. But then I get a week or week and a half off and get to catch up with them. It all works out.
And the payoff when you help a nice guy like Mel land a fish like this:
PRICELESS! 
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