In Wake of Oil Spill, Many Charter Captains Seek Counseling

al.com, 21 July 2010

Early on a recent morning, charter boat captain Randy Boggs looked out the window of his office at San Roc Cay in Orange Beach to see an empty dock. "Normally, by now fish would be showing up on the table from the first 4-hour fishing trip," said Boggs, his voice hoarse from laryngitis.

On a typical July day, Boggs said, about 220 customers would have come through his business, Reel Surprise Charters, headed out into the Gulf of Mexico to fish.

But on this overcast day, Boggs and two employees were the only people at the marina. His fleet was gone, working instead for BP to fight the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

"It was a job none of us wanted," said Boggs, who is among charter captains now attending weekly counseling sessions offered on-site by the Baldwin County Mental Health Center.

The oil spill and subsequent suicide of a fellow charter captain has stressed all fishermen and their families, he said. It's caused some married couples to separate.

Still, he said that he was "amazed" at how many of his fellow captains and fishermen came forward for counseling when the sessions began.

Boggs said that captains, a "fiercely independent" breed, find themselves in a position where they have to work for others and rely on someone else to help pay the bills.

"They've been in a situation where they made a name for themselves. They called the shots, and that's not happening," said Robin Riggins, the health center's executive director. "A lot of them are grieving the loss of their business and they are trying to process that."

"Their whole life has changed." Boggs said that most boat captains and fishermen have known no other way of life. They don't have degrees or computer skills or training for a different trade.

Even those who do -- Boggs himself came to the industry after working as a registered nurse -- would rather remain in the charter boat industry. "Our own social network has collapsed on us," said Boggs. "I go from being very aggravated to being sad."

He confessed to missing the crowds on the docks and the busy tourist season. Wiping tears away, he again looked at the dock outside his office.

"I'm scared every day."

Source: al.com