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Sunny Simounet

Professor Grefski

ENGL 102*05

7 April 2017

Analyzing Primary Data

One evening, I sat down at my computer and dialed my Dad on Facetime. On the screen

appeared a smiling face, just as I had expected. I informed my Dad that I was hoping to interview

him about his career for an upcoming assignment. My Dad and I have always been very close, so

there was already a grand amount I knew about him and his upbringing. By conducting my

interview, I anticipated to learn even more, and delve into the reasonings behind my Dads

success. I chose to write about my Dad and his career as a charter fisherman on the Chesapeake

Bay, due mainly in part to his passion for his work. Many of times, I will hear adults moan and

groan about waking up early, just to be in a workplace which causes nothing but boredom and

misery. With my Dad, its entirely the opposite. My Dad displays great admiration for his work

which has stemmed from a childhood living on the water, and a love for family. I believe that the

drive my Dad has for his career is a type of drive that all should possess in their daily lives.

Before conducting my interview, I hypothesized, In order to become a successful charter

fisherman, one must possess immense passion, put in many years of hard work, money, and time,

as well as have a great understanding and respect for the local waterways and the marine life that

inhabits it.

My Dad, Marty Simounet, grew up on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert

County, Maryland. His father became a local Charter Fisherman after serving time in the
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military. At the ripe age of 12, my Dad began working for his father as a first hand mate aboard

the Rosie B. Being a first-hand mate allowed my Dad to gain valuable hands on experience, and

further his knowledge about fishing and the bay. Working tirelessly on the water as a teen, my

Dads love for fishing only grew from there on out. My Dad was only 18 when his father

tragically passed away of cancer, leaving him the responsibility of inheriting the family boat,

Rosie B. Without hesitation, my Dad overtook the family business. This year will mark 32

years that my Dad has been independently running his very own charter fishing business, and 40

years since his father began it all on the Rosie B.

With Rosie B working the water, day in and day out for over a little over two decades,

my father decided to invest in a boat of his own to stay competitive, in business, and keep up

with the changing times. In 1997, my Dads very first boat, The Kyran Lynn, cost him around

$80,000, a price which would be much higher today. Since that day in 1997, my Dad has

managed to maintain a very successful business. With the boat running eight months a year, three

to four days a week, my Dad takes about 150+ fishing trips annually. Although the boat is only in

the water for eight months, it is a job which requires year-round attention. Every winter, my Dad

must drive his boat two hours away to safely harbor it onshore for three months. There the boat

sits, with a large price to pay for its safekeeping. About a month before fishing season starts back

up, my Dad must invest even more money when repainting the bottom of the boat, and to

maintenance the motor. Around 25% of annual income has to be reinvested into keeping the

business and boat afloat, while 10% of daily income goes towards paying for fuel. Fishing rods

can range anywhere from as little as $90, up to as much as $250 a piece, depending on what type

of fishing is being done. Over time rods endure wear and tear, therefore having to be replaced

along with fishing line, nets and so on. What may seem like such a small aspect of running a
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business, surely adds up over time. When running ones own business, not all costs are expected

though, and those unexpected costs are the ones which can be detrimental to success.

Back in 2011, my fathers boat was unexpectedly struck by lightning. My father claims it

was one of the most terrifying things he has ever endured, and wished to never be on the water in

another storm again. Due to the strike, the entire technological system on my fathers boat had

been destroyed, demanding a cost of $30,000 to repair the damages, luckily this was covered by

insurance, but the process of repairing damages put him out of business for a length of time.

A large part of being successful in the charter fishing business is having loyal, satisfied

customers. Roughly 90% of my Dads customers are returning customers. These customers

consist of groups of families, friends, and corporate businesses. Corporate businesses make up

about 75% of the trips. My Dad has even had several NFL players from the Washington Redskins

aboard his boat. Location as well contributes to the success of the business. Being docked at the

Charter Fishing capital of Maryland surely does help reel in customers. My Dads business is

ranked within the top 10% of charter fishing businesses in the state, and he hopes to keep it that

way. With two websites, a Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, my Dad makes sure

to stay current with online social platforms and interact with the local community. Advertising

and customer engagement is fundamental to ones success, and is one of the reasons my Dad has

been able to continually grow his business with ease. Back when my Dad first started his

business, he advertised in the newspapers and the yellow page phonebook. It goes to show that in

order to evolve your business, one must evolve with the changing of the times.

While money, hard work, and time all contribute to success in the charter fishing

business, the biggest contributing factor seems to be the passion that one beholds, and the respect

shown for the waters on which they work. My Dads job doesn't constrict him to only his boat, as
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he ventures into other areas of the charter fishing community as well. Being a secretary of the

Maryland Charter Boat Association for five years, my Dad helped represent the charter boat

captains of Maryland. The MCBA is a platform used to fight for the legislative rights and

resources which all fisherman share. Not only was he secretary for the MCBA, he also took part

in the Maryland Reef Initiative (MARI), where he would help relocate rubble from the

construction of major bridges to help recreate artificial habitats for local fish and oysters. My

Dad is involved with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources as well, making at

minimum four trips per year with biologists. The biologists, along with my Dad, catch up to as

many as 200 striped bass, which are then used to collect blood and scale samples to send to the

lab for a mycobacteriosis study. Contributing to the wellbeing of the Chesapeake Bay is

something my Dad has never shied away from, and is one of the reasons he has such admiration

for his career.

While my Dad plans to retire from his full time job within the Sheet Metal Union, he

refuses to give up his career as a charter fisherman, claiming that he will be fishing for the rest of

his life, until the day he dies. What truly stood out to me is the ease it takes for my Dad to speak

about his job. When he speaks of fishing, it sounds as if he is speaking of a long loved hobby,

and not a job. It takes nothing to get my Dad to admit his love for his career, and the people he

works with. He has built a respectable, household name business in our community over the past

32 years, and it only continues to grow. A quote from my interview which stood out to me was,

Some people fish just because they have the money, but what they dont have is the drive or

passion to make it a successful business. I love my job. Not only for the fishing, but for the

comradery with my peers. The competitiveness of fishing gives me the drive to continue in my

work every day. This quote alone I believe confirms my hypothesis. Not only does it state that
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my Dad believes drive and passion contribute to a successful business, but as he exclaimed it to

me I could genuinely tell he meant every word that he was saying. While money is a contributing

factor to success it is not the lone factor. My Dad may have invested a grand sum of money into

his business, but it is truly the love, drive, passion, and respect for the waterways, and the time

he puts into satisfying his customers that is responsible for his success.

From the time he turned 18, until now, my Dad has been nonstop at working towards

taking his business to the top. All of the years, hours, dollars, hard work, and passion put forth

towards his career only propelled him. By not necessarily viewing his job as work, but as a good

time well spent for both himself and his customers, he has been able to garner success and

continue doing what he loves.

Transcript of Interview
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(Marty Simounet. 3/27/17. 5:00pm)

Interviewer: How many years have you been a charter fisherman?

Respondent: Ive been in business for 32 years.

Interviewer: How old were you when you started fishing?

Respondent: When I started in business I was 18 years old, but I have been fishing since I was a
child.

Interviewer: Why did you choose to pursue fishing as a career?

Respondent: I started fishing because that was my Dads business. He would take me on the
boat and I would work for him, and I really enjoyed the business behind it. My Dad passed away
when I was 18 so I decided to take over the business and continue what he had started.

Interviewer: So you worked on your Dads boat in high school?

Respondent: Yes, I worked on my Dads boat. Actually I started working as an assistant, then
moved up to first hand mate.

Interviewer: What was the name of the boat?

Respondent: Rosie B.

Interviewer: Is that the boat you began your own business with?

Respondent: Yes, and my Dad gave it to me before he passed away of cancer. I had just turned
18 years old at the time.

Interviewer: Why did you choose to buy a new boat?

Respondent: Because the boat I had was older and needed to be replaced. It was worn out. In
order for me to stay in business I had to buy a new boat to be competitive, and keep up with the
changing times. A new boat was more current and would run more efficiently.
Interviewer: How much did your boat cost when you first bought it?

Respondent: I had an $80,000-dollar investment, but that was back 20 some years ago. It would
cost me over $100,000 to buy another boat like that today.

Interviewer: What year did you buy your boat?

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Respondent: 1997, shortly before Cole was born. Your mother wanted me to wait and see if she
was pregnant with a girl before buying the boat so that I could name it after her, but I wanted to
name it after your mother so I named it, Kyran Lynn.

Interviewer: I remember when I was younger you used to go to meetings that had to do with
fishing, what were those meetings for again?

Respondent: Yes, I was a secretary of the Maryland Charter Boat Association for five years. In
the MCBA we would represent the charter boat captains of Maryland. It was our platform for
fighting for our legislative rights and to protect our resources.

Interviewer: I also remember you working with oysters when I was younger too, what was that
for?

Respondent: I was part of the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative which is called MARI. Where
they were doing new construction on bridges like the Woodrow Wilson bridge, and they would
take the rubble from the bridge and relocate it to make artificial habitats for fish and oysters.

Interviewer: Are there any other organizations you are a part of or contribute to?

Respondent: Im involved with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources where we take
samples of fish every year for mycobacteriosis. I probably do about four trips a year where I take
out local biologists, and we capture about 200 striped bass for the mycobacteriosis study. We
take blood samples and scale samples for the lab. Ive been doing that for about five years.

Interviewer: How many months of the year do you dedicate your time to the fishing business?
How many days per week? Hours?

Respondent: Eight months of the year. I would personally say I fish three to four days a week. I
would say I spend around 24 hours a week on the boat. And thats about all I can say about that,
we probably run around 150+ fishing trips a year.

Interviewer: How many of your customers would you say are returning?

Respondent: I would say 90% of our business is returning customers or customers who have
come by word of mouth.

Interviewer: What type of customers do you usually have?

Respondent: I would say 75% of my trips consist of corporate business trips, and the other 25%
of my business would be friends and family group trips.

Interviewer: Havent you had professional football players on your boat before?
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Respondent: Weve had out several Redskins players before.

Interviewer: How much time outside of fishing season do you dedicate towards your business?

Respondent: I would say approximately a month outside of fishing season.

Interviewer: Do you feel as if there is anything you have missed out on due to fishing?

Respondent: I basically have missed out on all my weekends every summer with my family, and
soon to be I will not be able to bring you home from college due to a tournament. You have to
fish on the weekends because thats when the most business is.

Interviewer: Do you believe a large amount of money has to be spent towards your business in
order to be successful?

Respondent: Yes, I believe that is true. You have to re-invest a lot of your money, so I would say
probably 25% of your money has to go back into the business. For example, 10% of my daily
income from trips has to be spent towards fuel.

Interviewer: How do you prepare for offseason of fishing?

Respondent: I take my boat to an onshore location about two hours away. The boat sits on land
for three months total in the winter time, costing around $300 per month.

Respondent: And then one month prior to the season every year we have to repaint the bottom
and maintenance the motor.

Interviewer: What year did your boat get struck by lightning? Didnt you have to replace most
of your technology on the boat?

Respondent: 2011. Yes, it did about $30,000 in damage, and thats why its important to have
insurance. It was fully covered by our insurance. And it was so terrifying that I never wanted to
go out in a storm again, how can I say it.. It was a traumatizing experience.

Interviewer: So, have you been out in another storm since then?

Respondent: Yes, but it gives you a different outlook. Prior to that time you felt invincible, that
it would never happen, but since then you dont want to go near them.

Interviewer: How long do you plan to continue fishing?

Respondent: Currently fishing is a supplement to my regular full time job. I plan on fishing
even after retirement. I would like to fish for the rest of my life, until the day I day or until I am
physically unable to.
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Interviewer: In your personal opinion? Do you think youre successful? Or how does someone
become successful in this business?

Respondent: Yeah I believe so. We have probably one of the top 10% of charter fishing
businesses within the state of Maryland. And to maintain a successful business you have to have
a repeat clientele, which means showing your people a good time for the money they are paying.

Interviewer: Is the dock where your boat is really considered the Charter Fishing Capital of
Maryland?

Respondent: Yep, it is the largest charter fleet in the state of Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay.

Interviewer: So do you think that location plays a role in your success?

Respondent: Yeah I do.

Interviewer: Is there anything else you would like to mention about your business?

Respondent: We advertise our business for new customers on social media and websites. We
currently maintain two websites, a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to generate new business.
You have to change with the times. Back when I first started in business you had to advertise in
the local newspapers, and yellow page phone books.

Interviewer: Do you enjoy what you do?

Respondent: Yes, I love my job. Not only for the fishing, but for the comradery with my peers.
The competitiveness of fishing gives me the drive to continue in my work every day.

Interviewer: Do you know anyone who fishes for the wrong reasons? If so, are they as
successful?

Respondent: Some people fish just because they have the money, but what they dont have is the
drive or passion to make it a successful business.

Respondent: So basically weve built a family business for the past forty years. Weve built that
successful business with hard work and determination. The main goal is to get people out on the
water fishing and all have a great time.