Non-profit group whose mission is to offer free charter fishing trips to our active duty, retired, wounded and recovering veterans, providing recreational rehabilitation and therapeutic support. Though my school had done many successful fundraisers to support our troops overseas, I wanted to do something on a more personal level to thank our veterans for their service. My father and I thought perh
aps we could take veterans from our local VA Hospital out fishing on his boat, a 34' downeaster named Black Mariah. With the aid of friends and colleagues Master Sergeant Cliff Potter and Staff Sergeant Robert Hibson, we were able to get things moving during the fall of 2007. It took a year of meetings and phone calls, but by the summer of 2008 the Black Mariah was permitted, inspected, insured, and ready to go. Our thanks to Gowrie, Barden, & Brett, who agreed to insure us when other companies balked at insuring a boat carrying injured veterans . One final logistical stumbling block - a place from which to run our trips - was resolved when West Cove Marina in West Haven, CT, took us in when our previous marina (the last public one in our area) was sold to a private yacht club. Thank you West Cove! Once in our new home, trip planning began in earnest. I met regularly with Gabor Kautzner, of the New Haven Veterans Center throughout the spring of 2009 to work through all the logistics of running the trips. I am extremely grateful to Captain Pat Juliano, widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable charter captains on Long Island Sound, who volunteered to assist. Mike Pollio, colleague and friend, offered to act as first mate. After two long years, we finally got off the dock with our first group of young veterans (all from Iraq and Afghanistan) on July 7, 2009. It was a great trip - the fish hit regularly and everyone had an opportunity to reel in a "keeper". It was tremendously rewarding to be able to thank the veterans personally for their service, and to watch them relax and enjoy themselves on the boat. We enjoyed the experience so much that we did seven additional trips before the end of the season, all at no cost to the veterans. Once we had time to reflect on our experience, we realized we wanted to be able to offer this opportunity to more veterans in more places. Consequently, the idea for Veteran Angler Charters was born. One boat working alone would limit the trips to local veterans only. On the other hand, many captains working out of multiple ports would allow many more deserving veterans the chance to spend some well deserved time out on the water. The crew and I plan to schedule as many trips as possible during the 2013 season. However, as our organization is still growing, much of our time will also be spent raising funds, recruiting captains, and establishing relationships with veteran groups and organizations around the country. Ultimately, our goal is to create a national network of the very best charter boat captains, whose goal it will be to serve those who've served us. Sincerely,
Captain Kathy Granfield
