Bunks: 35 (in 3 to 9 person air conditioned staterooms) – Most bunks are approximately 73″ long, and are generously wide.
Staterooms: Doors that close, some hooks on the walls, but no extra storage shelves or drawers, and no sinks.
Oceanside 95 Galley, seating for 20
Galley: Seats about 20
Heads: 2 restrooms (one with a shower). Access is from interior of galley.
Landing: Helgren’s Sportfishing
Oceanside 95 Shower in the restroom.
Address: 315 Harbor Drive South, Oceanside, CA
Contact: (760) 722-2133
Parking: Free. Large public lot across the street.
Some details and additional information:
All the bunks on the Oceanside 95 are in staterooms, anything from 9 bunks in the bow stateroom, to a couple of smaller ones with 3 bunks. Most of them had 6 bunks. Most of bunks are around 73″ long, and generously wide. The bunks are covered with a soft tweed fabric, which is nicer than the vinyl covering on a hot day, and also don’t leave you with that feeling you’re going to slide off onto the floor in rough seas!
The air conditioning works really good… so much so I needed a blanket, and wished I’d had a sweatshirt. I think most of the guys were pretty comfortable.
Stairs from the center of the galley split and one set go to the aft staterooms, another to the forward ones. There are two spacious heads off the galley, one with a large shower area. The shower is seperated from the toilet by a short wall, and there is plenty of counter space away from the shower to set your dry clothes, so you don’t have to worry about your clothes getting wet. The next person into the head also does not have to come in to find a wet seat!
The galley seats 20 at a time comfortably. There’s a long bench across the back of the house (outside) with a padded seat and tables in front of them where another 8 or so people can sit. It’s usually in the shade, so it’s a nice place to get off your feet for a while on a sunny day.
Hand wells around the bait tank are easy to get to, and a good size to be able to easily grab a bait. They’re relatively dry and only spilled over in deep swells.
Fish are stored in gunny sacks, and tagged and dropped in the hold between bites.
I rode to Oceanside with Danny and his brother Charlie. The way the traffic has been, the shorter ride than all the way to San Diego was a nice change. Riding instead of driving was nice, too!
The close lot was full. Charlie dropped us and our gear and parked in the lot across the street. I’ve never seen it, so no idea how big it is or the conditions, but it took him a while to get back, so I’m guessing it’s a big lot.
Captain of the Oceanside 95, Rick Slavkin
The Black Pearl came in from a two-day, Captain Joey Helgren came off the Electra and said the fishing had been a little slow. We had heard rumors that there was a bait shortage. Joey said there was plenty on the Electra that he could pass off to our boat if the receiver was short. The Oceanside 95 arrived a few minutes later and unloaded. Captain Rick Slavkin came down and talked to Joey back on the Electra while the fish was passed out and boat cleaned, and we loaded up a little after 8:30, and rolled away a little after 9:00. At the bait dock we picked up a load of large anchovies, and a little smaller sized sardines, while Captain Rick went over safety and tackle recommendations in the galley.
I rigged up, and went to sleep.
Crowded… not really!
I woke up to hear the engines slow up. By the time I made it up on deck we were already stopped on a drift, and we were rolling pretty good. There was a lot of wind on Saturday, and offshore Sunday morning was rough! Captain Rick called “wind them up” before I even got a rod… We’d picked up two troll fish to stop the boat, but nothing on bait. Second troll team was up, and in a few minutes we had another jig stop, one jig fish, one on bait, then rolling again.
The weather came down through the day, bit by bit, but the damage had been done. Choppy conditions made it hard to spot kelps, it was late afternoon by the time it laid down enough to be able to see much of them at all.
We had a couple of drifts for a dozen or so fish each. Several other smaller stops. We were fishing in the 371 area. All of the fish were caught on tern birds except one by a small kelp (probably a 10 foot stringer wrapped in a circle) and one around a hammerhead shark. Most of the fish were caught on bait, a couple on Megabaits. It seemed most people were fishing 30#, but I didn’t get bit until I dropped to 25#.
We ended up with 43 yellowfin and 1 dorado.
Charlie’s first Tuna!
Weather conditions made for a little slower fishing, but Captain Rick did a great job putting us on some fish anyway, and the crew was right there to help with tangles and gaff our fish. We had a relatively light load, only 31 people on a 95 foot boat! I’m hoping we can do this again before the season ends!
A little about the boat:
Three person stateroom
All the bunks on the Oceanside 95 are in staterooms, anything from 9 bunks in the bow stateroom, to a couple of smaller ones with 3 bunks. Most of them had 6 bunks.
The air conditioning works really good… so much so I needed a blanket, and wished I’d had a sweatshirt. I think most of the guys were pretty comfortable. The bunks are covered in a tweed fabric, which is nice because you don’t feel like you need a sheet, or you’re going to slide off. There’s nothing worse on a warm night than sleeping directly on a vinyl covered mattress…!
Nine person stateroom in the bow
Stairs from the center of the galley split and one set go to the aft staterooms, another to the forward ones. There are two spacious heads off the galley, one with a large shower area.
The galley seats probably 20 at a time comfortably. There’s a long bench across the back of the house with a padded seat and tables in front of them where another 8 or so people can sit. It’s usually in the shade, so it’s a nice place to get off your feet for a while on a sunny day.
Hand wells around the bait tank are easy to get to, and a good size to be able to easily grab a bait. They’re relatively dry and only spilled over in deep swells.
Fish are stored in gunny sacks, and tagged and dropped in the hold between bites.
Whether called Mahi-mahi, as it is called in Hawaii, or by its Mexican name, Dorado, this hard fighting fish is renowned as being the fastest growing fish in the ocean. Prized for its firm, moist flesh, it also boasts a slightly sweet taste, which is well complimented in this recipe by a sprinkling of brown sugar, and contrasted by bright colored vegetables and a bit of spice reminiscent of the Mexican Baja.
Plan for approximately 25 minutes for preparation, and have some chips and salsa or guacamole on hand to snack on while your fish bakes for 20 minutes. Serve with a little steamed rice on side.
Makes 4 servings.
Ingredients:
4 mahi-mahi fillets, 5-6 ounces each
1 lime
1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh, chopped)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves, thinly sliced)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup diced fresh tomato
1 small red onion, thin slided in rings
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and thin sliced in rings
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Preparation:
Heat over to 400 degrees.
Lightly spray a shallow baking dish with “Pam”, arrange the fillets in the dish.
Squeeze lime and lemon juice over fish, and season with the next four ingredients.
Layer on top: cilantro, tomato, onion, and chilis. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
Bake 20 minutes, uncovered. Fork tested fish should be flakey.
Another long drive in heavy traffic to San Diego. The rain didn’t help. Danny and I arrived Saturday afternoon to find the main parking lot at H&M full. We unloaded our gear, and I left Danny to keep an eye on it while I went to park in the overflow lot. Two cars pulled in ahead of me, and after going up and down the first two aisles, I got that sick feeling… what if the lot is full? Coming down the last aisle, there were two spots remaining. Phew! I took the bigger looking spot… which in this lot I can barely fit my small SUV into, and went to pay. Done with that challenge, I wondered if I’d locked my car. I went back to find two vehicles poised by the last spot, in a heated argument. I pushed the lock button and tiptoed away!
We dropped our gear in line behind two other guys waiting; Ron and Rick, who agreed to watch our stuff while we grabbed a bite at Mitch’s. Shrimp tacos and fried calamari! Then back in line. Captain Scott McDaniels oversaw an orderly loading of passengers, we stowed our gear, and pulled away.
I heard talk among the crew about being short one deck hand. One of them took off down the dock and came back a few minutes later and introduced Tim to Gavin, the second captain. I listened in amazement as Gavin asked Tim if he’d ever decked before. “No.” Ever been on an overnight boat? “No.” “Well, listen, do what you’re told, and don’t talk back. You’ll do fine.” With that, we were off.
The crew had started loading bait. Nice sardines, what a relief to see those! Deckhands Bobby and Roman showed Tim how to load bait, and within a few minutes, he seemed to be fitting right into it. Captain Scott went over safety and emergency procedures, and turned it over to Roman to give one of the most informative (and entertaining!) tackle/fishing seminars I’ve ever seen on a boat. So many boats and crews seem to be skipping that part about casting at the end of the group of anglers and the tuna shuffle. There’s always someone who doesn’t know this stuff, and probably a few that forgot. It only took a couple of stops before everyone was following along and except for an occasional reminder to step left or step right.
Sunrise on Sunday
I turned in for the night, and woke up to hear the engines slow up. We didn’t start the actual troll rotation for a while. Breakfast came and went. We stopped on a few small kelps for 2-3 yellowfin, and the morning dragged by. Shortly before lunch, Captain Scott slowed up on a meter mark and told us to fish 30-40# here. It was a long drift that we hooked and landed 3 bluefin, from 60 something to the largest 115#! I was disappointed I didn’t get one.
Three big bluefin, up to 115#
Back on the troll, a stop here and there. We had one nice long drift for nearly 100 yellowfin, 10-15 pound class for the most part. A couple of kelps went nearly wide open on small yellowtail, mostly around 8 pounds with a few probably pushing 15-18. The day ended with roast chicken legs and thighs, rice, and veggies with a garden salad. And homemade apple pie with ice cream!!
Sunday night chicken dinner
Next morning started with troll rotation backwards. (To keep us from getting bored, I guess!) Although we left with massive quantities of bait, we seemed to be going through it quickly, talk of taking it a little slower on the chumming was heard among the crew.
Rain… and a Rainbow
We travelled along, hitting a few spots for a few fish, and finally one stop (meter mark, I think) that had a good bite of yellowfin for a pretty long drift. This was a little better grade of fish than the first day, most 15 pounds and up, with a few pushing toward 25. After a couple on bait, and a steady bite, I grabbed my jig stick and cast a few times. Nothing. Then noticed the fish boiling closer to the boat, I just dropped the green megabait I was fishing a few feet in front of me and let it sink. Then it stopped! Reel in gear, wind… Fresh one! I landed that yellowfin, immediately dropped it again, and hooked a second one! The bite died out, and we were back on the move.
Late afternoon, with the wind coming up, Captain Scott called he was metering another school of bigger fish! We pulled up on it and set to drift. A few nicer yellowfin were landed, and one angler hooked into a bigger fish. After a half hour or so battling his catch, he got it close enough to get a look at it. It was a big blue shark. His disappointment was obvious. The fish eventually broke off.
The crew put up a kite at some point in the drift. The bite was slow, a few people stopped to watch. I was just standing around, most people had bait out on a long soak. Roman on the bait tank pointed out a pair of dorado cruising along a ways out from the boat. I grabbed the best looking sardine I could find in the handwell and cast out… in seconds I was bit. The fish took a long run before I got some line back on it from the corner of the stern. When it was 25 feet or so from the boat, it turned for the bow. With everyone on a long soak, it was easy to run up under everyone to the bow… and over Danny, pulling pretty much straight up and down on a big Bluefin that had been hooked on the kite! I went on with my dorado around the bow and back the other side toward the stern. Roman gaffed it in the corner of the stern, but as soon as its head came out of the water, it flipped off the gaff. (Always put your reel in freespool as soon as your fish is gaffed…!) The fish took off, leaving a trail of blood, and seemingly not much worse for the wear! In a few minutes it was back to the stern, Roman gaffed it again, and this time it made it on the boat! Still very alive, they threw it straight in the kill box… Danny was just coming back from the bow with his big Bluefin.
The highlight of the trip for us was landing these two nice fish
Ironic. We had been talking, and I wanted a big Bluefin, Danny really wanted a dorado. My little scale put his Bluefin right at around 40 pounds, my dorado at 17.5. While I was fighting the bull, his girlfriend was following him the whole time. When Roman gaffed it the first time one of the other guys threw out a sardine and hooked and landed her just before I got mine on the boat.
Running around that area a bit more, and trolling out of it toward home, took us about to the end of the second day.
Dinner was a roast tri tip, that was fabulous! Served with baked potato and salad, ice cream topped it off nicely.
Our novice deckhand did an incredible job! The crew really took him under their wing an taught him the ins and outs. Passengers were very patient with him learning to gaff on their fish, and although it was a little stressful sometimes waiting for him to hit it, I never saw him loose a fish. Some of the passengers with boat experience gave him tips on how to gaff, and how to throw chum. (I had no idea there was a specific way to throw a sardine!) There was a knife on the bait tank by the staple guns, and I explained to him the importance of bleeding fish before throwing them in the kill box. I don’t know about everyone else’s, but he bled every one of my fish after that! When the fishing was a little slower, one of the passengers handed off a tuna for him to land, and they made him eat the heart. He seemed to pick everything up really quick, and I hope he sticks with it. They worked him hard, but at the end of the trip he said he’d had fun.
We ended up with 270 something yellowfin, 11 bluefin up to 115 pounds, 50 some yellowtail, and 2 big dorado.
What worked:
While a majority of the fish were caught on bait, Megabaits worked very well. I tried a few colors, all of mine (probably half of my fish) were caught on a light green and silver 3.5 ounce, with a siwash hook. Also, in spite of the size of the sardines, lighter line was key. I fished mostly 25# line, with a 20# fluorocarbon leader, and 2/0 ringed thin wire circle hooks. I ended up with 11 yellowfin and the one dorado.
It turned out to be a great trip, with a good group of anglers! Always a pleasure fishing on the Real Sea Adventure 80! Can’t wait to do it again!!
Wow! My first post! I guess I’ll start with a little bit about myself..
Most anglers I know can tell a story about the very first fish they caught. I can’t.
I grew up in a small house on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, and spent many days on the dock in front of our house with a cane pole, black cotton line and a rusty hook. My mother threw coffee grounds into a flower bed outside the back door, and by morning the worms under them were thick. I was set with bait for the day! I’d spend the entire day out there catching sunfish that my poor dad had to fillet after a day at work.
For my fifth birthday I got a tackle box and a Zebco rod and reel. My grandmother was mostly responsible for teaching me to fish. She spent hours on the dock with me teaching me to cast.
We moved out of the house on the lake when I was 10, into town, but summer vacations were spent at various lake cabins in Minnesota and Canada. And we always fished a lot wherever we went.
I moved to California when I was 21, but didn’t start fishing on the coast here until the mid-90’s. I went on a few charters with a local tackle shop, and WON on the water seminar trips, both provided good loaner tackle. My first tuna trips were 2-day trips on the Red Rooster. On one of those, I caught a 52 pound yellowfin, and sent a picture of me with it to my grandma. She took that picture with her when they moved her into a nursing home, and she called every person into her room that passed by to “come here and see my granddaughter!”
In early 2005 I joined a few new friends on a 13-day trip on the Shogun and caught my first cow, weighing in at 200.0 on the certified scale. Since then, I’ve averaged 25 trips per year, and about 30-40 days on the water.
While most of my fishing is local southern California overnight to three day trips, I usually do one longer trip every year. Some of the other locations I’ve fished:
Alaska
Lake of the Woods, Canada
Northern Minnesota Lakes, including a weekend ice fishing
Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, Mexico
Kona, Hawaii
Moro Bay, California
Key West, Florida
Fiji
Beautiful roosterfish, caught of La Ventana in Baja, Mexico, July 2012. est. 45 pounds.
I also write for Examiner.com. You can check out my articles at the link provided.
