Send me a text message! I’d love to hear from you!
Set sail with us as my brother, Rufus Alfred Ayers IV, narrates a life intricately woven with the threads of the sea. He's charted a course from braving the harshest elements as an offshore fisherman to skillfully captaining elegant yachts. His stories from the decks span across the charming ports of Newport to the prestigious yachts along Long Island's Gold Coast, illustrating a spectrum of maritime life that few have the privilege of knowing intimately.
Rufus's transformative journey unveils the lesser-known world of commercial fishing, filled with camaraderie and the adrenaline of battling nature's fury. Experience with Rufe's seasoned perspective the legacy of trap fishing, the intricacies of gill netting, and the perilous dance with snapping monkfish. Witness firsthand the impact global events can have on this industry, as Rufus recounts how the 9/11 attacks sent ripples through the once-thriving monkfish liver market. His recollections remind us of the raw beauty and the formidable challenges posed by the sea. From the camaraderie forged amidst the ocean's bounty to managing a crew while squid fishing off Cape May, Rufus illustrates a world where every catch tells a story and every tattoo has a tale.
As we navigate through these tales, you'll hear how a rogue wave almost took him out to sea, which provided the catalyst for him to re-evaluate his career, catapulting him to study to become a yacht captain. His vivid anecdotes of survival at sea and the steep learning curve of a new career path are both harrowing and inspiring. Join us on this celebratory 10th episode where the essence of determination and the pursuit of one's calling are as boundless as the ocean itself.
Looking for a Captain or want to connect with him and see more about his life?
Follow Rufus on Insta @ayersrufusiv
on LinkedIn Rufus A. Ayers IV
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Thank you for tuning in to Meghan's podcast!
Remember, we are all made for more!
Intro voiceovers by her family: son, Billy Alexander; daughter, Mackenzie Alexander; and husband, Bill Alexander.
Music by Bill Alexander
Produced by Bill Alexander
Send me a text message! I’d love to hear from you!
Set sail with us as my brother, Rufus Alfred Ayers IV, narrates a life intricately woven with the threads of the sea. He's charted a course from braving the harshest elements as an offshore fisherman to skillfully captaining elegant yachts. His stories from the decks span across the charming ports of Newport to the prestigious yachts along Long Island's Gold Coast, illustrating a spectrum of maritime life that few have the privilege of knowing intimately.
Rufus's transformative journey unveils the lesser-known world of commercial fishing, filled with camaraderie and the adrenaline of battling nature's fury. Experience with Rufe's seasoned perspective the legacy of trap fishing, the intricacies of gill netting, and the perilous dance with snapping monkfish. Witness firsthand the impact global events can have on this industry, as Rufus recounts how the 9/11 attacks sent ripples through the once-thriving monkfish liver market. His recollections remind us of the raw beauty and the formidable challenges posed by the sea. From the camaraderie forged amidst the ocean's bounty to managing a crew while squid fishing off Cape May, Rufus illustrates a world where every catch tells a story and every tattoo has a tale.
As we navigate through these tales, you'll hear how a rogue wave almost took him out to sea, which provided the catalyst for him to re-evaluate his career, catapulting him to study to become a yacht captain. His vivid anecdotes of survival at sea and the steep learning curve of a new career path are both harrowing and inspiring. Join us on this celebratory 10th episode where the essence of determination and the pursuit of one's calling are as boundless as the ocean itself.
Looking for a Captain or want to connect with him and see more about his life?
Follow Rufus on Insta @ayersrufusiv
on LinkedIn Rufus A. Ayers IV
on Facebook Rufus Ayers
Thank you for tuning in to Meghan's podcast!
Remember, we are all made for more!
Intro voiceovers by her family: son, Billy Alexander; daughter, Mackenzie Alexander; and husband, Bill Alexander.
Music by Bill Alexander
Produced by Bill Alexander
Welcome to the podcast we Are Made For More with Megan Alexander. In this podcast, we'll strive to inspire people around the world to become the best version of themselves by featuring guests with experiences and mindsets that demonstrate that we are all made for more.
Billy:Set sail with us as the waves of fate carry Megan's brother, rufus Alfred Ayers IV, into a candid conversation about his remarkable transformation from an offshore fisherman to a yacht captain. This tenth episode marks more than a milestone. It's a family affair that unravels a tapestry of maritime tales from Rhode Island's scenic harbors to the Gold Coast of Long Island. Beyond the catch, this voyage continues into the heart of a fisherman's existence where beauty and brutality coexist. Roof's journey is not just about the allure of the open sea. It's a testament to the potency of seizing life's opportunities Through his eyes experience the vibrant life and unexpected turns of a seafarer.
Meghan:Hello and welcome to. We Are Made For More. I am your host, Megan Alexander, and this is my podcast. Hello, everybody, I always kick off with a warm welcome. If this is your first show or your 10th show with me, thanks for tuning in. I know you have a choice out there to listen to a lot of podcasts and I'm excited that you're checking this one out. So this is we Are Made For More. What does that mean? It can mean something different to everybody, but this is a place where dreams, fears and inspirations hold court, and I'd love to show the extraordinary and the ordinary every step of the way, because we're all made for more. So today is my 10th episode. You just heard me say it, and who's my special guest today? But my brother, Rufus Alfred Ayers IV. Welcome, Ruf.
Rufus:Hi Meghan. Thank you for having me.
Meghan:I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to have you.
Rufus:That was a beautiful introduction.
Meghan:Thank you so much. We're gonna have a good time. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. It's a nice day out finally here on Long Island Perfect. It's been a long winter.
Rufus:It has been a long winter. I mean they're all the same. They seem like they get longer every time. What is?
Meghan:that I don't know.
Meghan:Wow but this was a particularly long one, but so excited to chat it up with you today. This was a particularly long one, but so excited to chat it up with you today. Listen, folks, we are going to tell a couple of chapters in a decades-long life. Right, we're not going to tell the whole life story today, but today's journey is about offshore fishermen to yacht captain and what that looked like for Rufus in his life, and he's going to navigate us through all of those steps and some really cool stories. I'm sure I'm going to learn something today that I haven't heard before.
Rufus:Megan, you know most of everything that's going on, but maybe there's a few things that we can stir up. Sure, I mean, let's dig around, have some fun.
Meghan:Let's do it. So, what I'll do is give everybody a little bit of a bio, a couple tidbits so they know what they're going to hear about, and then we'll let you take most of it away I love it okay, everybody here.
Meghan:so here we go roof, we call him roof. Um, really, he fished out of multiple ports in rhode island for about 20 years, and those included ports such as newport, beautiful, beautiful uh city or town, if you've never been there Little Compton, tiverton, point, judith. He also fished out of Cape May, new Jersey, in the summers for squid out in the canyons there. I'll let him take the language away because I don't want to mess it up at all. But then he transitioned to becoming a yacht captain on the Gold Coast of Long Island. Like I said earlier, this is just a couple of chapters of his life, but they're really interesting, and so I thought you'd all really like to hear about it today. So let's get started.
Rufus:Awesome, megan, awesome.
Meghan:Thanks, let's have you take it away. I've already spoken too much, so I'm turning it over to you. Tell everybody a little bit about you, first, just a little bit about your life, and then we'll kind of take it right into how you got into fishing.
Rufus:Okay, well, kind of take it right into how you got it got into fishing. Okay, let's uh. Well, born in danbury, connecticut, grew up in watertown, connecticut. We lived there through most of our well, all of our childhood, really yeah and um through high school I went away for a couple years to berkshire to boarding school and then back to watertown high to finish up.
Meghan:Right.
Rufus:And graduate from Watertown. I was glad I did that.
Meghan:Okay.
Rufus:Yeah, I played sports all the while Hockey, soccer, baseball, loved all that stuff. And then out of high school I went right into the air force and that was eye opening you know, getting. I didn't really know what I was in for and I liked parts of it, but it wasn't for me.
Meghan:Okay.
Rufus:I knew that kind of right away.
Meghan:Airman.
Rufus:Ayers, airman, ayers, yeah, and then you know Airman First Class, and then they would take a stripe away for something stupid I did, and then I'd get it back on. I would actually keep multiple uniforms with different stripes on them.
Meghan:No way it was so back and forth.
Rufus:Is that true? Oh yeah, I was a case. I was a hard case. My immediates hated me. The major loved me because I played soccer and hockey with him. So the major of the base I was in with the higher ups, my master sergeant, would come off base and save me. In Plattsburgh, New York. I was off tubing the Saranac and then running up to Sorority Row in the morning.
Meghan:Oh, you were trying to have some fun.
Rufus:That. That's all I wanted to do I was rebelling, I was rebelling.
Rufus:So it was not conformative for me to be in the Air Force. You were rebelling because of the Air Force or just life was rough at that time. Life at the time, yeah. But so almost three years in the Air Force and then kind of bebopped around for a little bit, moved to New Hampshire with a girlfriend at the time and lived up there, worked at Attitash and was a mountain bike guide and worked on the Alpine Slide. I was making like $5 an hour but rent was like $200 a month. It was nuts. I did that for a little bit and then went back to Connecticut. I didn't really know. I moved to Little Compton, rhode Island, with a good buddy of mine, jay Burchard, in 97. Yeah, and just to get out and try some other stuff. I almost went to Colorado, to Leadville, with another friend, but I didn't. I went to Rhode Island and I'm glad I did yeah.
Rufus:I made a life for myself there for many years.
Meghan:Right, you really settled in there. Yeah, it became home for you for a long time it did.
Rufus:Met some really great people and it was fitting for me.
Meghan:Right.
Rufus:Loved it and I found the ocean, which I knew nothing about. We're from Watertown, you would think you know, but there was a couple of lakes around you weren't really near the water Canoes or a sailboat, sunfishfish, but never really anything on the water.
Meghan:But I'll lead right into the. Yeah, I was gonna say you're a pisces, so the pisces are drawn to the water aren't they?
Rufus:I mean, I guess.
Meghan:So if you believe in that stuff, but yeah absolutely yeah, sure, so yeah we want to hear. We want to hear today about, about the fishing story, and I know it's. It's a good one. So where do you want to start?
Rufus:how did it it begin for you? Actually, it started in Little Compton. It was by chance, Megan. I left my car in an ex-girlfriend's friend's driveway overnight.
Meghan:Okay.
Rufus:And the next day I went back to get it and there was a note on it looking for a job AW. Well, aw turned out to be Allen Wheeler and I ended up moving in with the Wheelers and trap fishing with them for a couple of years. And the kids are great too. I'm still friends with Luke and Corey and Miles and just a great bunch of people and hardworking. You know they are the last trap family in Rhode Island and what an eye-opening experience that was. I'll tell you trap fishing is. You're not going to get rich, but it's fulfilling in many other ways.
Meghan:How?
Rufus:so you know it was just all encompassing. It was everything I needed at the time. I'll just give you a quick gist of how it works and maybe we have some photos to help too, but that would help as well. But so there's one big steamer, we call it one large boat, like 60 footer, and then it tows out three working boats, three aluminum working boats and then a 15 foot skiff and basically the traps are already set out there. They don't bait them or anything, and they're the size of buildings.
Rufus:They're absolutely huge and the leaders that are these straight things that are attached to or anchored to rocks, so sure okay um, the fish will come in and hit these leaders and then be trapped inside, swim into this big net and get trapped in there, and we come out and surround the net 15, 16, 20 people, mostly men, but usually a couple of tough chicks scattered in there, um, and just literally hand over hand, pulling twine up and collecting all of these thousands of pounds of whatever.
Rufus:You never know what's going to be in there that's the thing it could be squid, it could be herring, it could be mackerel scup um. But sometimes you get sharks or sunfish these things are just leatherback turtles, just wild things. And you have sharks or sunfish, these things are just in there, leatherback turtles, just wild things. And you have to help some of these things out. But and then, uh, you collect and you know, use this big net to dip in and load up the boat okay and then you load up the, you know, load up the boat with fish, hopefully so how do you pull them in?
Meghan:I mean, I think you just explained some of it, but how does that get? I've seen like a wheel or yeah.
Rufus:So on these working boats you basically have to pull up the frames and close the nozzle to trap the fish in there, and then you can hand over hand the net and bring them all aboard and purse them all together If you will. It's like signing in a way.
Meghan:Okay, that kind of idea, idea, and that is the Cadillac of fishing, as Alan would say. The Cadillac, yeah, that's what he called it. So that's the top, like the top, that's what he's saying, yeah and you know it's open to interpretation, for sure but, I, happen to agree with him.
Rufus:You know it was a great style of fishing and um, but you don't get. You don't get rich you work every day.
Meghan:Yeah, tell us about that. I mean you're. I love that you're guiding the story already, so you, you work every day, seven days a week.
Rufus:every day, Seven days a week yeah.
Meghan:You're there every day, every morning. When do you get the day off then, if it's seven days a week.
Rufus:If it's NASEO, you know it's weather dependent, really Okay, so in other words, you could.
Meghan:What was the longest stretch? You would work.
Rufus:Was it 30 days? So it's a young man's yeah typically Typically A hard man's or a hard person's job you could say I say man, I know, but young person For someone, that's tough. You got to find that extra gear and just keep going. You know, Okay. And that's all. Fishing is like that, I found.
Meghan:So what was it like out on the water? Like, first of all, give us the rundown, because you've done many types of fishing. We're going to talk about other things after this one, but with this particular type of fishing, how long was the trip? That's a day. Come out in and out for the day. That's correct, right, it was just.
Rufus:They're short days, okay you know you're there early in the morning, at five in the morning. You get out I think the boat leaves at six, if I remember and then you steam over to Newport off of the mansions over there and the traps are set up. It's beautiful, it's absolutely gorgeous. You know to be in that area. It's special.
Meghan:Was it hard work?
Rufus:Yeah, it's hard work.
Meghan:Yeah.
Rufus:It's hard work and it's day in, day out, so you got to show up every day and just you know, grin and bear it. But it's rewarding in many ways, if you could find that, yeah, let's talk about that.
Meghan:What was rewarding about it for everybody or for you?
Rufus:The experience, you know, the camaraderie of everyone working together. I love that you know I've always liked team sports and those kind of things. But sure I like to go off solo, but it's great when everybody's working towards the same goal, you know.
Meghan:And at the end of the day, you've all achieved that goal. How many people would be on this boat? Typically 20, you know you need at least 15 to to get the job done Right.
Rufus:But yeah, and there's mostly young kids.
Meghan:You know, I was in my early twenties, exactly when I did this, was there anything that would happen out there that was alarming at all? Oh my.
Rufus:God, I remember one time this storm came over Newport and there were orange lightning bolts hitting everywhere around us. We had nowhere to go, we were trapped. A little storm literally popped up on us. So these tires, they were in aluminum boats. Yeah, think about it, you know. And the mast on the Maria Mendoza was the name of the steamer and that's a steel ship. So there's nowhere to go.
Rufus:So these tires that were hanging over, you know, to keep from bumping into other boats, we tires that were hanging over, you know, to keep from bumping into other boats, we would roll them in and stand on them, hoping that that may help, and who knows if it did or not.
Meghan:But you know kind of clutching towards anything Right.
Rufus:What a massive, nasty storm. It flew by us. But yeah, all those things pop up you know, and I'll tell you more about other kinds of things that happened to me in different styles of fishing along the way. Too Days I would stay out there longer.
Meghan:Yeah, I want to hear about that too. So that was with the Wheeler family, though. They were just explaining, right.
Rufus:Yes.
Meghan:Now, was this the same family where they had that video that they played at Mystic Connecticut Aquarium? That's exactly right, yeah.
Rufus:Corey was credited for that. I think deservingly so, and I think she orchestrated that whole thing. Put that together, it was really kind of a special thing.
Rufus:They're the last trap family, basically you know and it's generational and um you know their father still does it with them and their grandfather had, and grandfather before you know right so um and luke is still running the boat the boat for them, I believe and I think miles comes back and helps out when he does, but he's living in Florida doing something in a marina down there. I think he's in charge of a marina down there.
Meghan:They're all nautical kids you know nautical guys, yeah, that's pretty cool. So you say it's the last trap family, what happens if they stop doing it? I mean, I guess there's just other types of fishing.
Rufus:Yeah, I think that style of fishing has gone away.
Meghan:Yeah, and why do you think?
Rufus:Multiple reasons.
Meghan:Megan.
Rufus:I wish I had that answer for you Right.
Meghan:Now we're going into finance and who knows what the ways of the world and how that whole market works.
Rufus:So we'll skip past that story.
Meghan:But so then, what happened? How long did you do that? For Just a couple of years, okay.
Rufus:And met some other fishermen along the way, obviously during that time, and found gill netting, which was the next style of fishing that I went into, and that was pretty cool. I like that and that's a much different game. Yeah, let's, let's hear about that so we had these big salt bags and we would keep our nets in these bags. The nets are made of monofilament lining, so it's basically just not to not 12 inches, and these nets are as long as a football field Each one.
Billy:We call them panels.
Rufus:So each panel was 100 yards. We would tie 10, 12, 15 panels together in a set and then put end lines on each anchors and end lines and the nets basically stand up on the bottom, With the lead line on the bottom and a floating line cork line.
Rufus:On top they stand six feet tall and lengths of multiple football fields. So the fish that swim along the bottom, you know the ones go through that we're not looking for but 12 inches not to not. We're looking for monkfish and skate, primarily Dogfish. Sometimes you know, but the market was dogfish. I mean the market was dog fish, I mean the market was monkfish back then.
Meghan:Yeah, why? Why were they so popular?
Rufus:they were special for uh, for a couple reasons. The livers we had a market for overseas. The japanese loved the livers and we were getting a lot of money for them by the pound wow and actually we had, you know, the most on different boats. Everyone was like saving li livers and they were getting shipped overseas and we had maybe 15, $16 a pound. We were getting at the height.
Bill:Wow.
Rufus:And this was right before 9-11. And we lost our market over there because everything was grounded, the planes were grounded and everything sat at the flight line, so our loads didn't make it over and I think the market fell apart and it a while took a couple years for that to come back and the money was never the same really, because I remember when you were doing monk fishing I remember that that was a really also a very intense job yeah, they come up snapping and you tell us about this.
Rufus:You've got to knock them on the head, megan, you got to take a hammer, a ball pe hammer, and knock them, because they come up like this. They want to get you.
Meghan:They're like a piranha.
Rufus:Yeah, they have big balls Right and they're flapping in the net and you're trying to pick them out. Yes, so I had a hammer right there and I was playing whack-a-mole all day, so was this one at a time. They come up and you're hauling up. So when I started I was on deck flying through the air, trapped in the net.
Rufus:Okay, you know okay they're not jumping out at you all right, but they're coming up along the table and they're coming right down the line and you've got to act quickly so when you started, yeah, so I started with robbie walls on the finest kind and uh, and that's a lot of fun. There was another guy, joe, on there who was a jerk. He didn't want to teach me anything, you know?
Meghan:oh, that's always a bummer.
Rufus:Yeah, it was tough to tough to learn when somebody doesn't want to help teach you out of his job, if you will, because there's a lot of that you know. But I figured it out pretty quickly and, uh, actually started running a boat. After a little bit I ran the finest kind you know. Actually I went dragging and then I came back gill netting and then was a captain of that boat and then I went back dragging again.
Meghan:It was like I was bouncing around.
Rufus:I was back into Newport and I was working on the Seabreeze with um with Phil rule. Yes and I started doing that and I actually stayed on the sea breeze for about five years so that was that your longest dragging. Yeah, that was my longest stint, I think, on any one boat. Yeah and uh, philly and I got along great. He's my age. He's also phil, rule the fourth, and he was a fourth generation fisherman. His father, red um, was a fisherman as well.
Meghan:He was phil um, I think we have a picture. I'm sorry I don't want to say Phil, I think we have a picture. I'm sorry, I don't want to say that, but I think we have a photo there with the fish, with his son.
Rufus:I believe, the little one, yeah, the little guy With Phil V Phil.
Billy:V yeah.
Rufus:Philip. Yeah, that'd be great if you could show that pic.
Meghan:He's probably pushing some mackerel or something or something down the hole on on the sea breeze. But I know I just cut you off and you were going to share about the sea breeze?
Rufus:Yeah, so I'll tell you that was a shame that we did a lot of work on that boat. We did a lot of renovations to fix it and make it into an RSW boat, which is refrigerated seawater. So we would pump, we would chill water and pump it through into the fish hold from the engine room and, you know, turn all these valves on these manifolds and get all the chillers going.
Rufus:But basically we built it all ourselves. It was all just PVC pipes. We drilled holes in through them so water could come through and chill up and down, and then our squid wouldn't have to be iced, it could be chilled with water and we would add it accordingly. And that was a way better style of fishing, that way, um, but you know, after I think five or six years aboard, there yeah, um I'd had enough of that.
Rufus:So you know, we'll just move along and I wanted to get off that boat right for a few reasons and I'm glad I did, but unfortunately it sank five months later.
Meghan:I remember when that happened.
Rufus:That's a terrible story yeah, east of Atlantic City like 25 miles and how many people were on that boat when that happened three um Red, yeah, or Phil senior um, who ended up losing his life on that boat. He never made it out and that's tragic. And then the other two guys aboard, ray, whom I'd worked with for a while, and then this other kid who replaced me and uh, I don't remember his name, but how did they get rescued?
Rufus:They actually were outside of the boat, I think. I don't believe they got into immersion suits, but I think they had something to clutch onto or maybe life jackets on. But they were in the water for about three hours and that boat had listed and was sinking and they're clutching to the side. Three different helicopters came out to try to get them.
Meghan:Wow.
Rufus:And two were turned around with with not enough fuel, I believe, or something and the third one ended up being able to grab them and bring them back, but the captain wasn't to be found.
Billy:The captain went down, yeah.
Rufus:And you know horrible obviously. But it usually takes three things to make a disaster.
Meghan:What is?
Rufus:that the third thing. Well, the weather came up, so that was one. The boat was overloaded, had almost 100,000 pounds on it. Maybe shouldn't have had that much on it.
Meghan:Wow, that's incredible.
Rufus:It probably could have done it on a nicer day, and we had done that on nicer days, but not with that weather, and then something went wrong. What we can ascertain is that something wasn't properly locked down in the fish hold, and I think what happened was the braces weren't put in and all the fish spilled from one side once. It took a list.
Meghan:Yes, and then?
Bill:once it went. It wasn't able to come back.
Meghan:Couldn't right itself. Yeah, that's a shame. So that was that.
Rufus:Yeah, it was terrible.
Meghan:Yeah.
Rufus:So it was a tough hit for everybody, Junior especially, but he picked up the pieces and moved on and got another. He got Seabreeze 2,.
Meghan:TOO, and is he still doing that as well?
Rufus:He is. You know he was running that boat for a little bit. A lot of other guys run it. He's moved on. He's running some bigger boats, like some freezer boats, stuff like that.
Meghan:He's always been a good fisherman, seems to me, though based on the stories that you've told and are even telling now, it seems like an industry that people grow up in the industry a lot of them and once you're in it, a lot of people stay in it.
Rufus:Surely it sounds like Yep.
Meghan:It's what you know.
Rufus:That's right. I mean tough to get into and tough to get out of. I would say, you know, like how would you even get into it? How would you get into it?
Meghan:It's almost like happenstance Right.
Rufus:Just kind of timing and meeting and just working through it like that. I don't know.
Meghan:That's why it's really cool how it happened for you. Yeah, I agree, you know like you said, a note on the car opportunity knocks at that moment that's right, and you were looking and I was looking like either you're gonna get it or not, you know you're gonna take the chance, or is it a good fit at the time?
Rufus:but, I was always looking for something else, searching, you know right but fishing. I found I found a lot of peace out there.
Meghan:I was just gonna say what do you, what do you like about it?
Rufus:I mean, there's some beautiful things that happen out there. The sun can set and the moon can rise at the exact same time, and you're just out there in awe you know able to. You know, pick your head up and look around, and did I ever tell you the story about those? Uh, the? All right, listen to this one, okay. What do you got? What do you got?
Meghan:I'm like maybe you did, maybe you didn't, I'm not sure. Sure, excuse me. Yeah, have some water, but I'm not sure.
Rufus:Let me know we're on the Yankee Pride I was fishing with Tom Donovan Okay.
Rufus:And we had some surveyors aboard as well, some sea samplers, we called them and they would go out and check the mesh size once in a while that they would have to come up for trips with us. And I was on watch maybe a four-hour watch and at the end of my watch I stepped outside to take a peek around out of the wheelhouse and something caught my eye, and it was the bow break, was completely glowing in the dark yes, it was so cool, it was the phosphorescence in the water and it was completely flat.
Rufus:I was pitch black, you know, middle of the night, and then you just see this beautiful glowing bowel break and I just was captivated by it and you couldn't get a picture of it because there was no iphones back then that's right. This is before cameras on anything. You know, we might have had a couple disposable cameras aboard, I think if memory serves, but nothing it's like you're out there with your yeah. I mean it's so great now we can capture anything, you know.
Meghan:But it was a moment with you and the sea. I woke up the other guys, Megan, because all of a sudden dolphins.
Rufus:A pod of dolphins were swimming at us and it looked like we were being torpedoed by aliens. It was absolutely insane. They were breaking the water and glowing in the dark. That sounds outrageous. And we just watched them dance and play and swim around us, all of us in awe, you know, for like 10, 15 minutes.
Bill:Right.
Rufus:And then they moved on and then that was that. That was just that moment of time out there.
Meghan:And that was in the middle of the night, yeah, middle of the night, no one else around for. And no one would ever, no one will ever see that unless they're out there. And so how far out did you go for these kind of trips? Um, it varied, that's a great question.
Rufus:Dragging. We moved around mostly, you know and um we would in the summertime. You had mentioned Cape May. We would do that. We would leave out of Newport or um uh Point.
Billy:Judith sorry.
Rufus:And uh, and then we would steam, you know, a couple days a day and a half. It's only an eight knot boat, you know eight or ten knot boat, so it takes forever to get anywhere.
Meghan:Right.
Rufus:So you want to make sure your moves are lucrative Because it costs a lot to move around. You know, put fuel and ice and food aboard, you're in the hole before you start putting anything aboard Any fish. But in the summertime we would do that and then fish it out of Cape May for elex, which is a type of squid and it's basically it goes for bait.
Rufus:But, we would catch it in such amounts and abundance that it was really a good way to go for us. So in and out every day and load the boat. Sometimes we load the boat in three hours and a couple of tow. You know these bags come up the sizes of school buses, where do you put it all? We just open up the gate you know the hatches and let it eat and it go down, it goes and then back.
Meghan:We go unload and then right back out again and you're wearing special gear for all of this skins, like you know. Yeah, oil gear, they call it oil gear, but you're kind of covered from neck to to toe, right yeah you know suspenders, in the summertime it's hot, so you know, just suspenders.
Meghan:Oh, that's true stuff, but uh there's some photos I've seen of you where you're standing in the fish and I don't know how. You know what photos I'm talking about. Whether you're standing there and there's fish, literally I don't know. It seems like it's going for the whole length of the boat yes, how much fish is that? We've been talking? You said 100,000 pounds before.
Rufus:On the Seabreeze. That was about the max that could hold, I think a couple of these boats I showed you I might have showed you a picture of Phil and had shared some pics with me on some of the factory boats that he's on or the freezer boats, and they're like twice that they could probably. I think that was like 500,000 pounds, half a million pounds of butterfish you put on in a day or something like that.
Meghan:That's crazy. I mean, it's mind blowing, like for you. You're like oh yeah, that's what we did, but for the rest of us it is mind blowing if you've never really seen that before and understand what the commercial fishing market is all about and what it's like.
Rufus:Totally true. And to be able to process all that stuff, yes.
Meghan:That's the thing. Tell us about that.
Rufus:Yeah.
Meghan:I know you said you when the monkfish would come up. By the way, don't you have a tattoo of a monkfish? I do.
Rufus:It's a deep sea angler actually.
Meghan:I know there's a story.
Rufus:Yeah, story Megan, you got me you thought it was. I thought it was a piranha when I got it in the Air Force when I was 18 like, oh, look at that. The guy had probably told me it was a piranha.
Meghan:I'm like all right yeah, it's a good put it on there. Yeah, I still have that. Yes, why would you remove it?
Rufus:I mean, it's a good one. Oh my god, that's great. But that was before you were a fisherman, before I was a fisherman, and it was kismet yes, who knew? Which is the name of a boat out. There is it, is it yeah?
Meghan:it's also a town here on uh long island that's right so, but roof, we got to keep going. So what about some of the things that you'd pull up you mentioned before, like you'd see a shark in a net or something, but tell us some of those cool tales about what, what would come aboard?
Rufus:oh man, um, basking sharks were were eye-opening the first time those big suckers would come aboard. And if you don't know what a basking shark is, look it up and I will.
Billy:I haven't heard they're impressive.
Rufus:They're huge sharks. They don't have teeth, you know they um. They basically just open their mouth and kind of suck up krill or whatever it is, whatever's there but they sure eat squid, man, and we would get some of those stuff, some of those sharks in our nets, and what a mess to be able to get those off the boat.
Meghan:Oh, was it huge. They, they're huge.
Rufus:They're 20 feet long and they're this big around.
Meghan:So how do you get them up and over?
Rufus:And they're moving and they're not happy to be aboard, right. You know nobody wants them there. They don't want to be there.
Meghan:So how do we get them off? How did you get them off?
Rufus:We had to rig up some ropes around the net drums, tie them off and then, you know, try to get a rope around its mouth on the other side and come back around and use hydraulics and back it off that way. That was probably the best way If we didn't have a whip to you know, because if you tie it around the tail you don't know if you're going to get that rope off very easily, and you don't want to hurt the things.
Meghan:Okay, I'm hearing all this everybody, but Mark, if I'm wrong, was this fun?
Rufus:It's all fun. Does it sound hard?
Meghan:I'm like oh my gosh of course, yeah, tough, I mean listen. Yeah, it was a way of life. Of course it was a way of life.
Rufus:So I didn't enjoy making a living. I'll tell you it's a hard home life, though it's not home a lot right you know, so that's tough on on a family absolutely so.
Meghan:I found that out too yeah, you did, you did, but you, uh, you did day trips on some fishing and then there were trips where you were gone for extended periods of time.
Rufus:That's right.
Meghan:What were? What was that like Like being out there and some of the things that you saw? And how about the fact of like riding in some of the storms? And how did you sleep?
Rufus:Yeah.
Meghan:All of those things.
Rufus:I'll tell you, meg, it's amazing what you get used to out there. It really is. And speaking of weather, I'll tell you the Yankee Pride was probably the you know hairiest boat I've ever been on.
Meghan:Was it.
Rufus:Joel Vernez was a great captain, but you know he had this motto you got to be there when it settles, you know when the dust settles. You got to be there when it settles, you know when the dust settles. So you have to put in the weather and we would, man, we would get our butts kicked out there and it would be blowing 40, 50 plus. All the other boats are scattered, gone, and we would just be jogging into these seas at three or four knots, just trying to hold ground way out and what kind of fishing was that at that time?
Rufus:uh, we were squid fishing aboard that boat mostly, and we were icing too. There was no, uh, chilled seawater aboard there, so we were doing a lot of work you're doing a lot.
Meghan:I remember. What I do remember about that those times in your life was I would ask you so what do you mean? You're out there in the in this, in the ridiculous waves, in the storms, why, why don't you come in? I didn't understand from a logic standpoint. If it were me and I'm, I'm the I would want people to be safe, but you're telling me you still let it go.
Rufus:Because as soon as that storm stops and everything settles down, you set the nets and you load up the boat. Because, those scattered fish that were all confused and off the bottom for a while are now settled, hungry and looking to eat, and we would scoop them up and then we'd go with 100,000 pounds in a day. But we have to put four days of crap weather to get it To get it. And that was the story of that boat.
Meghan:Was it scary.
Rufus:Sometimes I'll tell you, like I said, it's amazing what you get used to. You're living on the edge. So much because this boat in particular was 80-something feet, maybe 80-footer, steel boat and we pulled twin nets. So we you know steel boat and it, we pulled twin nets. Yeah, so we had the doors would go out on cables, the doors go out and open up, spread the nets and two nets together, but in between was a huge slug of lead about the size of this table okay and that would hold, you know, the two nets together.
Rufus:So then they're both open and then the doors open those up. So we are wide sweep and that's eating all that bottom and that's a lot of squid coming aboard. You know it was a killer, that boat was a killer, um, but we did really well on there. Yeah, I did really well on there. I was there for two years I think, but I'll tell you the end of that, the end of my fishing career really, really was on that boat. Sadie was five at the time.
Meghan:That was your child.
Rufus:Bear my kiddo yeah.
Meghan:Is your child? Yeah, meaning at the time, though, being five years old.
Rufus:Yes, yeah, and it was tough, I was away a lot and it was really starting to wear on me, you know. But I'll just tell you this one in particular story.
Meghan:Yeah.
Rufus:We got hit by a wave.
Meghan:Yeah, this is a story.
Billy:This one really rattled me, Megan.
Rufus:This is the one that I think made me really think about what I was doing out there. We got hit by a rogue wave and we're used to, like I said, all water coming aboard this boat all the time and we had these scuppers all along the sides Right this boat was constantly wet. We had multiple elastic bands around our skins to keep water from flying up, you know, getting in our boots.
Rufus:It was wet all the time. Yeah, waves coming aboard when we're backing down and hauling back on the gear, but this one particular night it was pitch black. It might've been two in the morning. We're hauling back and a captain's up here and both guys are on the the hydraulics net drums bringing up the nets and I'm in the middle, you know, to hook them up together and then up they go and then we hoist them up and and drain and drop them aboard and then and out comes.
Rufus:You know we trip the cod in and out comes our catch. But we got hit by this wave and Megan, and it was just before I knew what was happening. I was up off the ground swimming on the deck and you're horizontal.
Meghan:You're ready to? I was, I was it just?
Rufus:came from everywhere all of a sudden, this wave nailed us and uh and I was floating overboard and how backwards my feet were going and my feet were over, nailed us. And I was floating overboard and backwards my feet were going and my feet were over the rail and I just grabbed out for something. And I reached out and grabbed onto a cleat on the stern that we tie off the boat, you know this big metal cleat and I just held on what seemed like forever, but probably 10 seconds, and then the water just kind of scupped out and went away and I hit the deck inside the boat luckily, because it was pitch black in the middle of the night.
Rufus:That would have been it and the water, the water was white and just ferocious. You know it was blowing like crazy. I just would have been swept and that one really kind of well, how could it not?
Meghan:it sounds to me like that would have taken me out to sea.
Rufus:What am I doing here? So, is there something else I could be doing? Believe me, I asked myself that question a lot of times. Before that A lot of cold nights sitting waiting to haul back at two in the morning, get her back. I'm like oh, what am I doing? Am I not smarter than this?
Meghan:you are luckier than this something but yeah, anyway, I took a couple trips off after that last one, megan, and you were 40 I remember this I was 40, you had just turned.
Rufus:10 years ago exactly it was in march. My birthday was aboard. Yeah, there you go. Where's my cake? Where is?
Billy:it where is it nothing?
Meghan:yeah yeah but how scary, and god was watching over you that night, for sure. I believe so too I'm sure many nights, but that one sounds like you almost lost it. Yeah, we almost lost you.
Rufus:So thank God, we didn't. Thank you, I'm happy too. I'm glad you're still here.
Meghan:But what a story. But there's, you know. I think that that was what led you to, like you just said, think of what's next.
Rufus:That's right, that was a catalyst, for sure. I took a trip off Megan and maybe two, but I did go back and finish off the season with him when he. When he switched over to go scalloping, I told him I was going to be done at that point. And um, you know what that's? When I moved here to long Island, you're like hey, what are you doing? Bro, do you want to come check out Long Island? And? Thank you so much for that. I'm glad I did.
Meghan:You're welcome, but I didn't know you would take me up on it. I'm certainly glad you did Me too. I meant it. I worked with Billy.
Rufus:Billy was slamming with work and needed some help at the time. I was glad to help him.
Meghan:And that was awesome. I was working with him for the whole year. How was that going from being 200 miles out at sea to working in audio video? Oh my God, yeah, it was night and day. I found out quickly.
Rufus:I had a lot to learn with Billy.
Meghan:Cat 5, cat 6? Yes, how do I?
Rufus:terminate these lines. How do I terminate these wires, Billy?
Bill:But you know Billy's awesome Red orange over green.
Rufus:Help me along.
Meghan:Yeah, I've listened to myself, but he's the expert in that. Yeah, I forget what they are too now, but it was a big change for you, surely, to shift. Yeah, it was.
Rufus:But it was great, I worked with Billy for the year and we would drive in and out of the Hamptons we did some jobs out there, had some really big accounts and saw some cool stuff and got to spend some time with them as I lived with you guys here, which was wonderful for the year.
Meghan:And you know, that was about a year, maybe a little more, yeah, just a little over, and that turned into the next chapter.
Rufus:And again happenstance like it happened with Alan Wheeler. Um was working on an account and this guy, mark, said hey, do you know how to drive a boat? And I said yeah.
Billy:What are you?
Rufus:thinking and he bought this 64-foot Vicham, this beautiful yacht, and needed a captain.
Meghan:So I'll say Mark happens to also be my brother-in-law, my husband's brother-in-law, mine by marriage right, which?
Rufus:was very helpful.
Meghan:Which was nice, but it's nice to have known somebody and meanwhile you had all of this experience on the ocean, on the water, and I had accrued a bunch of current sea time which was totally helpful because I went back and got my captain's license, and what was that like Now?
Rufus:you're back at school a little bit Now. I'm back at school Megan, the place that I couldn't wait to get out of you.
Meghan:couldn't stand it. Like what? What the heck Wait? Had to grin and bear it right.
Rufus:Had to just kick it and do it to get this thing, because we are made for more we are made for more Megan, and I love that so much. By the way, I don't know if I've told you that, but I think that's a wonderful.
Meghan:Thank you.
Rufus:Just the whole thing. It rests well, you know, we're made for more, thank you.
Meghan:I agree myself that and I keep telling my friends that and my family that, and all of you listeners out there that that we are made for more, whatever that is for you, whatever that is. You're dreaming up those moments out on the ocean where you're like. What am I doing is this? Look it was good for a while. It worked for me, but that's right if you have that nugget, that thought inside your mind of there's something else calling me.
Rufus:Maybe there is something calling you and you gotta listen to hundred percent, a hundred percent, and you have to act on it and you have to act on it.
Meghan:You have to know, you have to recognize it.
Rufus:Yeah, it's hard and go and get it and you got to get it, whatever it takes.
Meghan:Make those steps. This podcast is one of those moments for me.
Rufus:Let's do it. Be uncomfortable.
Bill:Be uncomfortable.
Rufus:Everybody. Step out of your comfort zone and try something else, because nothing's going to change unless you do Right.
Meghan:Very true. In fact, I ran into someone today outside on the lawn, a really cool gentleman that's a landscaper in the area and we were talking about how you know quickly, my kids had grown up and he. Such a profound thing he said in one little sentence. And he said time waits for no one.
Meghan:Nailed it Like that little nugget I'm like you're right time waits for no one and you've got to step into the fears sometimes of what's next and uh. And also the other thing I'm working on is to not ever stop playing what people think of you or how they judge you dictate decisions that you make for yourself. It's human nature absolutely, that's right it's human nature, absolutely. That's right, it's human nature Like oh, what if I fail at this? Or what if I can't do it? Or the fear, the fear of it.
Rufus:And we're here for so such a short amount of time.
Billy:We really are.
Rufus:And we weren't here for a long time. Think about it. Think nothing was here. We weren't here for a long time, and then we're here and then gone for ever that. There you go. So why not try to do every single thing we can do in that short amount of time that we are?
Meghan:here.
Rufus:I love that experience every possible thing. You can do every single thing that you can, because we're made for more megan that's right, that's a we're made for absolutely a super moment.
Meghan:thank you for for saying that I agree. Um, we're going to go back a little bit Sure and then we're going to come forward into the yacht captain chapter. But just a couple things I think people would want to know before we move forward is things like what did you eat out there? What kind of food did you?
Rufus:have out there in the water. What was, you know, a typical day like that's a great question too. You would think we'd eat a lot of seafood. That's what I would think Lobster Negative. No, I mean yeah, Some days, you know, I remember eating a bunch of. We would crack a bunch of lobsters or crabs and make some in butter and hot sauce and make some stews real quick. Throw some Frank's in with some.
Meghan:All right, I mean, yeah, you know crackers rich crackers.
Rufus:I could live on that.
Meghan:But you had little stoves and ovens.
Rufus:Megan, did I tell you the crockpot story?
Billy:We had a lashed down crockpot. You've mentioned a crockpot, Megan. It's hilarious. I loved this thing. You loved the crockpot.
Rufus:It saved us, because you can just throw in a roast, you know, and then chop up some vegetables and then put the lid on this thing and then just go about your business. And it's basically cooking itself for a while and it's marinating. When you're out there, like rocking around in the sea, this thing is marinating in its own juices, it's like the most delicious meals I've ever eaten were out there in this crock pot, I got to tell you.
Meghan:So it's basting as you're like going up and down.
Rufus:It's basting as we're bouncing around in the sea and the thing is like lashed down. The refrigerator's lashed down. Everything's tied down you know, Like you asked how do you sleep? Like everything is tough, you know, and you're like this in your bunk, you're like pinning yourself in your bunk because you're just so were you half sleeping?
Meghan:Is that what that was?
Rufus:Yeah, you don't get a lot of sleep. I'll tell you it's a tough job. It's a tough grind. It is a tough grind, yeah, day in, day out.
Meghan:I have to say cheers to you for doing it all those years, 20 years about almost.
Billy:Almost.
Meghan:And cheers to those that are still doing it, because, let's face it, that's a huge industry and people love to go out to eat and cook fish. Yeah, think about it lobsters and squid and scallops. We didn't even talk about scalloping. That was a.
Rufus:That was a crazy story for you, terrible trip. I'll never do that again we would catch scallops on on these uh draggers too, in small amounts. But yeah, I did take a scallop trip and that was just an absolute dud. I don't even know if I want to tell the story. Well, you can skip that one. Yeah, it was a tough one.
Meghan:The point is there's many chapters within this novel of fishing alone.
Rufus:Absolutely, absolutely true.
Meghan:What a life so. But you did say it's amazing what you could get used to out there and you've said that a couple of times, and that resonates with me Just how you, the determination and the resilience that you had to have.
Rufus:So yeah, and, and then you. I look back now, 10 years later really, but of you know, 18 or almost 20 years of that life and, uh, I, I almost you know, I wish I got out earlier, obviously. I wish I had made a move earlier, but you can't go back.
Meghan:You can't go. So here we are, and I'm glad I'm doing what I am now, right, which is so let's fast forward to this story again, where you said you met Mark and Leslie.
Rufus:That's right and I started and I got my captain's license. I was captain of their 64-foot yacht for three years. It was a beautiful boat, absolutely gorgeous, and they had it up until last year. They had it for almost 10 years and I actually ran it again last year, but yeah I had gone away and um. I worked with another guy, fred, and um ran his grand banks for a while.
Meghan:That was a beautiful boat and that, how big was that?
Rufus:72 yeah illusion is what that was with the flybridge and that was gorgeous. That was a beautiful boat and I took that up and down the coast back and forth to florida a few times right, and now those, both of those boats that you've mentioned so far.
Meghan:You're out of Huntington, new York. That's right and Long Island, which is. You know, I live in Centerport, which is three miles away from Huntington, and you live right there in the village, but near the water this place is great.
Rufus:I met Tommy Knutson right away. Through that deal he sold Mark and Leslie. That boat, tommy's aces.
Meghan:He's become one of my best friends. You know we love Tommy, tommy K, part of the family, mom back, mom back and I still work with Tommy. You know he calls me a brew dog.
Rufus:I got a. I got a boat for you. Let's go and I'll do sea trials. You know, I'll hop in the car with him. We'll fly out to Sag Harbor something. We'll do a sea trial together, you know, and uh, it's great yeah, and then it's a great the whole thing works out.
Rufus:The freddie group, or allied, that he works for and actually I took a, uh, a beautiful boat years ago when he had sold a family and they flew me down to um, right into the freddie group, uh, harbor, yeah, we're all you know, the factory and it's basically these boats are like right in these slips, right in the water, and it's absolutely gorgeous in florida and fort lauderdale. I've seen some of those pictures took that brand new boat down to miami and then, over to the bahamas.
Rufus:The family flew in there. I spent like two weeks in the bahamas showing them around on this, that's right and then flew back home. I mean, what a trip it's. Just those things have happened because of this industry and meeting people and you know, all these beautiful boats I get to run.
Billy:I know these Rivas and Ferretti's and Pershing's and Wally's.
Rufus:They're absolutely stunning Brand new multi-million dollar boats and I get to, I get paid toying around on them for the day. I can't believe it, but is it?
Meghan:okay, what's that TV show? Is it like the below deck type of show? No, it's not, you're going to say that, luckily.
Billy:No, nothing like that.
Meghan:Luckily that's just TV. Really, yeah, it's above deck. Yeah, it's above deck. You should make your own show.
Rufus:Everything fun happens above deck you and Nikki Come on below deck.
Meghan:Get out of here. We have to talk about.
Rufus:Nikki. All the fun fiance that's right and I'm very happy and lucky. Yes, she's been with me. She's been up and down the coast with me, she fell in love with the industry. She joined the autobahn society. She fell in love with birds and every dolphin swimming behind us. She couldn't get enough of it. She was my little trooper. She and I took that grand banks back from florida up here together just the two of us, during covid, when that hit I remember that we were lucky enough to be down there aboard that boat during that whole pandemic and for months in Florida, and then you had to take turns.
Meghan:right, that's the right terminology.
Rufus:Oh yeah, to bring it back. Yeah, she was great, she would pilot that thing right next to me.
Meghan:I was like what's the right word? Yeah, the helm. What's the?
Billy:right terminology. Either of those is fine, that works. Yeah, it's great.
Rufus:All right, she's a trooper. She's wonderful to have as my matey or my co-pilot.
Meghan:So you work together now and bring us back past the Grand Banks. What did I say? The Grand Banks? Yeah, that was the boat, that's right.
Rufus:Yep Oslofjord. That was a beautiful boat and stayed in Stewart. We almost stayed in Florida. We made some pretty good contacts and some good opportunities were there for us and we really loved the climate. I'll tell you that. The place is beautiful it is but my kiddo's back here, my family's back here, it wasn't the right time, so I didn't want to do that at that time.
Meghan:And another opportunity came up, another opportunity came up here.
Rufus:Mark and Leslie bought a bigger boat. A 97 foot came up here, Mark, unless he bought a bigger boat, a 97 foot Sounds just like the saying we're going to need a bigger boat.
Meghan:I'm sure you've heard that many times and that opportunity came up and so I'm back here captaining that boat. And that boat is. Nicole is my mate.
Rufus:That boat is.
Meghan:Which one is that called the type of boat that's a Vichem Vichem, yeah.
Rufus:Sorry. Yeah that's a beach.
Meghan:I'm a turkish built wooden boat, cold molded it's a beauty also beauty, it's actually in the yard right now I'm back and forth to bridgeport getting that thing ready for this next season. Um yeah, so that's gorgeous going on exciting stuff so um what? Talking about the yacht life, how is it different than?
Billy:I mean, I guess we could all draw our own conclusions.
Rufus:The exact same.
Meghan:It's the same right. Yeah, going out, and oh, we didn't even talk about that. I wanted to definitely get this on record here how big those waves were when you were out fishing, like some of those waves that you saw. And I mean no, we talked about the rogue wave already that came from who knows where.
Billy:Yeah.
Meghan:But what were some of the big waves that you'd see?
Rufus:Yeah, we would get in some pretty hairy seas out there and live out there for days and you would see lights come and go because you're just up and down in these huge swells, you know. But the Atlantic can stack up pretty bad. It gets hairy out there.
Bill:And.
Rufus:I saw a lot of it for many years in the winters, you know 30-foot-plus waves for sure.
Meghan:Okay, I always said we do TV and movie correlations, I guess is the right word I'm looking for. So remember the movie with George Clooney. That's true story. Yes, is that realistic too? That?
Rufus:100 foot wave. Was that 100 feet? That was 100 foot wave. Okay, I think they made that in a bathtub Maybe, but the story is absolutely true. The story was true, yes, but was that true?
Meghan:Like a hundred foot wave they think is what took them out. Oh, that's so terrible.
Rufus:During that hurricane. Yeah, can you imagine a hundred foot wave?
Meghan:No, I can't, but you saw like up to 30, 40 foot waves.
Rufus:Yeah.
Meghan:I can't, Guys? I can't imagine that.
Rufus:I don't know if all of you can out that really is, and the men and women of the sea that are out there dealing with that. That's right, it's remarkable and, and you know, fishing is one thing and there's all these. Think about the navy people, the navy guys.
Meghan:They see and they're on huge ships and they see tremendous seas, that's right those guys live out there in that stuff yeah, day in, day out, it's a different life, men and women, you know different life, completely not, you would not take the 97 Vicham out in those seas?
Rufus:No, I would not In that way, it's much different. That Grand Bank side might, though Okay.
Meghan:I had that thing in some pretty 15 to 16 footers going through the goalposts down heading around the Carolinas that was, I can imagine it doesn't kind of kind of bang down.
Rufus:It was. But now it's a different life, but this is a different life. This is a fair weather life now, and it's good, because I'm getting older, it's about time.
Meghan:That's true, but I mean, it's not all easy being a yacht captain. No, it's certainly not. Yeah, it's different.
Rufus:A lot of planning.
Meghan:Yeah, it's a different way to go about things you know.
Rufus:I totally enjoy it. I love it. I like the contacts. It's a nice life.
Meghan:And the beautiful towns that you get to visit, absolutely Like the whole Northeast.
Rufus:Absolutely, this place is gorgeous, and then anywhere around here you can't really miss, you know.
Meghan:Name some of the towns in the Northeast that you guys pull into we love going to Nantucket for one Newport. Absolutely Newport's one of my favorites Sag Harbor.
Rufus:Yeah, I mean, there's some special places that I'm not going to mention because I don't want people to know. Yes, understood but even going up the Hudson was a cool trip. You know we would the 64 we would take up there and that's a neat ride totally different experience.
Meghan:I never did that one. You never came on this one. Yeah, they, they kept asking us and we never worked out on this one.
Rufus:If we could find a place to put this, this boat, up there yeah, leslie would always say oh, she loved the.
Meghan:You know, in the fall, going up the hudson, the cia, the culinary, institute and, um, that was fun.
Rufus:Yeah, it's a nice in the spring or in the fall is nice. The leaves are changing on the trees. You know you go past west point up there it's gorgeous, you know, up in the hills that's a nice ride too.
Meghan:So let's see, what haven't we talked about with yachting that you would mention? I was going to say what's a hard day like a board, but we already kind of touched on that you're always fixing something.
Rufus:That's the thing. You know something's breaking this is what we say. Something's breaking right now. We just don't know what it is yet, so we'll find it. I know you hear the producer you just want to have an ACZ day and cruise, but there's always something.
Meghan:Listen for people like my husband and me, for example. We always say that the best boat is someone else's boat.
Rufus:That's a great point, megan. Yeah, show up with some food or some beer.
Meghan:And we always do food. We'll bring wine, we'll bring it all. Yeah, um, but we appreciate all of our friends that have votes, because it's a lot of work too you know to maintain these things, but, um, what advice would you have for a current fisherman or somebody out there that's looking to make a change?
Rufus:do it. Get out as fast as you can call me. I'll give you some hints there you go.
Billy:I tell my friends that like the grass is greener.
Rufus:Trust me, please just try it. Um, but you, you do what you do and you love what you love, and sometimes you can't, you know, for for various reasons, I was fortunate enough to be able to come here, because you lived here, my sister lived here. Yeah, be able to just move and start somewhere abruptly, it's not, it's not always possible it's not.
Meghan:It's not, and I'll tell you what like I was lucky that's great that you feel that way, but I have to say too, even when you had said, oh, yes, I'm ready to do it, I had those moments of, oh my god, is my brother gonna end up, you know, hating me? Because it's different when you have a family that you love and you visit once in a while, right. But then, when you're going to live together for a bit, it's like, oh, are we going to get along?
Meghan:and we did we did get along and you don't get along all the time that's reality.
Billy:How could you know?
Rufus:it's family and we wanted to. I'm so glad that it worked out.
Meghan:It was wonderful and, um, the best move I'd made, probably I'm so glad that you feel that way, roof, and you know the other things we didn't mention yet today, just even about our own family. We do have another sibling, our brother, brother Tyler Hi.
Rufus:Tyler, Tyler, what's up?
Meghan:buddy Hi Ty guy.
Rufus:Talked to him yesterday.
Meghan:Me too. Actually we both did that's nice, but he and our mom and stepdad live on Cape Cod. Mom and Bill yep. Don't get to see them nearly enough we don't, but they ended up near the water too and I think that's why, too, that we've become close with, which is great right, they love the water they all love the water too, they do, and uh, we all try to get together.
Meghan:Yeah, it's very, very nice. So hello to our family out there. Um, anything else that we haven't touched on, that you would uh say, hey, we gotta, we gotta mention this probably, and we and we're probably going to say, shoot, what did we not say?
Rufus:But maybe I can get a guest invite back, megan, or I'll sneak back in.
Meghan:Oh, maybe you can and do a part two with you sometime. You happen to know the producer and the host, so you know what I'm lucky to.
Rufus:I feel lucky to be here. First of all, thank you for inviting me on you have been a very pleasant guest, I have to say.
Meghan:on our 10th episode, Number 10.
Rufus:I love number 10. This is number 10. Lucky number 10. It felt great.
Meghan:So I got past the pod fade everybody of getting 10 episodes out. We're going to keep going and, like Rufus just said, we'll absolutely have them back.
Rufus:We're going to do some short episodes too, and maybe we'll do like hey to tell you about the starfish See, because you've been to the starfish.
Meghan:You said they're huge.
Rufus:They're huge, they're multi-colored, multi-legged, I mean 10, 12-legged purple starfish.
Meghan:Is that true? I?
Rufus:swear to God, I would collect these things on deck, like in my free time, or we would come up with sea urchins and I would spend time cleaning off all the spines and drying them out and putting like a little bleach in with the water, making them perfect.
Rufus:They're purple and red and different colored and I bring them home and lay them out on the picnic table back home and my dog would come and eat them all, and I was so curious, after all that work after all that work, but you had to kill time while you're out there but the stuff you come up with is unbelievable. The stuff that you could find.
Billy:It's really, really not that deep.
Rufus:It's not in the trenches somewhere. It's really close In George's Banks, a couple hundred feet down.
Meghan:It's amazing what's living and swimming down there. It's a fascinating life at the sea, I have to say, and I'm definitely, my cup is full. Thank you so much for sharing all this good stuff today, and hi to our mom.
Billy:Hi, so much for sharing all this good stuff today and hi to our mom, Hi.
Meghan:Mama. Hey, mom, hope you like this episode and hi to our dad, that's hopefully watching over us.
Rufus:Megan, this was such a treat for me. Thank you so much. I think it's awesome what you're doing. Thanks, ruth, glad and proud to be here. Love you to pieces, thank you.
Meghan:Thanks for tuning in today. Everybody so excited to have all of you here. Please, if you have a moment, rate me on your podcast channel. Let me know what you think of this, Like and share, send it to someone that you think might enjoy a great fisherman to yacht captain story. And, most of all, just remember we're all made for more. Have a good day.
Bill:Well, that's it for today. Thank you for listening. If you like what you heard, bookmark this podcast and follow Megan on Instagram. Okay, now for the disclaimer. This podcast is solely for educational and entertainment purposes. Megan is not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist or other qualified professional. Goodbye, everybody.
Billy:Thank you.