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Lotza Seafood ‘The real Manly Trawler’, Manly (2026)

20/06/2026

Update: thank you to everyone for the response.
Please no more orders, I’m just about to get into them all and I can already see I have way more orders than produce.
Sorry if you miss out.
This week was just a quick test run, next week I’m back to do it properly.

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great week.

Firstly thank you all again for your support and donations over the last couple of months.
I’m back now because of all of you and I’ll be forever grateful for what you all did.

Apologies for the late post,
Tapped on meta verified the other day to see what it was all about and ended up with a heap of problems.

I managed to get out Thursday/Friday to take myself and the boat for a test run with a mate and all went well.

Because It was a test run I have very limited stock available this week so I’ll just be taking orders for pick up tomorrow Sunday morning between 8-9am on the William Gunn jetty in front of the Moreton Bay Discovery Center.
I’ll be there with my trolley and eskies. No boat!

Sales are cash only and I don’t currently have any change so correct currency would be very much appreciated.

You can place an order via Facebook messenger or texting only 0490838333.

Please just use one or the other.

It’s very limited stock but I’ll have more available next week.

I have available

Lrg Ck Tiger prawns $35kg

Sml Ck Mixed prawn $25kg

Headless Grn prawn $35kg

Cooked Sandcrabs $5ea

Large whole Squid $20kg

Whole Cuttlefish $15kg

Please be patient, I’ll get to the orders this evening and respond to everyone if they’ve been successful or not with their order.

I hope that covers everything, it’s been a little while.

Thank you all again.

Take care, stay safe and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Cheers everyone

11/06/2026

Hi everyone, hope you’re all having a great week and keeping warm like Bandit!

Unfortunately this week hasn’t gone to plan, had a couple of problems but all good.

Got a check up happening tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes.

Unfortunately it means I won’t have seafood this weekend, sorry everyone.

It unfortunately it can’t be helped as I only have so much control over my current situation and I just have to go with it!
It’s incredibly frustrating!

Thank you all again for your understanding and support, it really is appreciated.

I look forward to making it up to you all.

Take care, stay safe and have a great weekend everyone.
Cheers

01/06/2026

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great weekend!

Thank you for the responses to my last post.
I’ve got someone lined up so hopefully I can finally get my new door on later this month.

Just a heads up, I won’t have seafood this week unfortunately, I’m still chipping away at the jobs I need to do before I can get back to work.
I’m not going too hard at it or over doing anything but
being honest I’m good for a couple of days and then I really need a break for a day because I’m exhausted.

So I’d be really pushing it to get everything done and get out fishing this week.
But I have to get back out next week though hell or high water.

At least it looks like we’ve finally got a week of good weather so that’ll help.

The wheelhouse floor is coming along nicely but turned out to be a bigger job than first thought as they usually do!

I’ll post some progress pics later this week.

So who else went to the open day at the Port of Brisbane to check out our Destroyer HMAS Brisbane?

Trace and I thought we’d take the grandson up to check it out (last time I got to do one of these was the USS Ranger Supercarrier back when I was his age so it was a real treat to be able to share this with him and we had a great time getting to go onboard and wander around the ship.

You probably don’t know I was born a Navy brat and have evolved into a bit of an amateur naval historian over the decades so getting to check out a modern warship had me like a kid in a candy shop. Loved it!

Best part was getting out and making memories with the young fella, life’s too short and you never know when it’s going to end as I recently found out.
So time I start getting out and doing a bit of living.

Take care, stay safe everyone, hope you all have a great week.
Cheers

28/05/2026

Hi everyone, hope you’re all having a great week so far.
Great weather for frogs and ducks so hope you’re all staying dry.

Still on light duties at the moment so no seafood for this week unfortunately.
Apologies for any inconvenience.
I’m hoping to be doing my first night or two back fishing next week but we’ll see how it all goes.

Just wanted to put the feelers out there for a couple of jobs I need done.

I built this door at a mate’s workshop last year before he sadly closed it down.
(Yes I actually made that!)

The plan is to replace the sliding window with the door to give me better access to the bow and a second exit if it’s ever needed.

Couldn’t get it welded to the boat though at the time as all his welder’s were all 3 phase and we only have single phase power at the marina.

The plan had been to purchase my own welder to do this and all the other jobs I want to do to the boat but now I can’t unfortunately.
The new piece of hardware in my chest doesn’t react well to the electrical pulse that Arc and MiG welder’s put out, so sadly it looks like my welding days are done.

So I’m just seeing if any of my customers have an engineering business or know anyone who does or are able to do a good job at welding aluminum themselves and have their own single phase mig.

The job is tacking the slid frame to the side of the wheelhouse.
2 seems on the new cross bar at the base of the doorway.
4 seems on a hoop for the anchor fairlead on the bow.

It’s not a big job, it requires about 2 dozen tack welds and half a dozen 2 inch seam welds laid down.
And can all be done standing on the marina walkway.
I’ll be doing the rest of the job of cutting out the door way and I’ll be doing the window a little bit later.

Happy to pay a fair price just as long as it doesn’t cost me a arm, leg and kidney and if all goes well there will be plenty more work over the next couple of years as I chip away at the other jobs I want done.

Messenger seems to be working after the last update so feel free to PM me or leave a comment below.

I was hoping to be laying my new anti slip deck tread down this week but Mother Nature keeps throwing a spanner at it so doing the wheelhouse floor instead.
Turns out just as well too.

If you have an aluminum boat that has marine carpet you might want to rip the carpet off.
Thankfully I found it early but there was a bit of surface corrosion kicking off underneath.

So I’m scraping and sanding that back before I stick down the 5mm EVA foam sheets and use some Sika 291 around the edges to seal it up and stop water and oxygen getting underneath.
That should hopefully stop any corrosion coming back.

Hopefully I can get a break from the weather and get most of the back deck done over the next couple of days because it’s gotten pretty bad, tried all different types of paint and can’t get any of it to stay properly for longer than 6 months so hopefully this deck tread will solve that problem.
See how it goes I guess.

Take care, stay safe and enjoy the rest of your week.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
Cheers

15/05/2026

Hi everyone, hope you’re all doing well.

Sorry I’ve been off air the last couple of weeks.
As well as adjusting to the new piece of hardware in my chest I’ve also been having a bit of a rough time adjusting to the new meds, I’ve had a few side effects from this pharmaceutical cocktail that have messed with my head a little bit and knocked the crap out of my body while I’m getting used to them which is not much fun.
Starting to adjust to them now and feeling a bit better so it’s nice to be able to function again.

Just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has donated to the go fund me page.
I would’ve been having serious trouble with the business by now without your help and support, it is so very much appreciated.

I know many of you would also be doing it tough at the moment given the current economic situation so I truly do thank you.
You’ve all certainly helped restore some faith in humanity for me.
I never imagined I would ever have people that care enough to support someone like me or my business in such a way, it’s really blown me away.
You are all amazing!
I thank you again, sincerely.

I’ve been getting to hang out with my little mate Bandit which has been nice.
He’s been loving having both favorite human and spare human home all day everyday for a dog year.
It’s been wearing him out though with all the extra guard dog duties.
He’s found it tough work protecting us from the moving leaves and branches outside, the loud cars in the neighborhood, the dangerous small children in the neighbors backyard even those living with us the past two years when they return home!
He knows we’re not well so he’s been just a little overzealous with the protection to say the least!
When he’s not saving us from the world he’s cuddled up to either Trace or myself transferring his puppy healing powers to us or so he thinks.
Great little dog, wouldn’t trade him for anything!

I finally got back up to the boat this week, just tidying up with a bit of inside cleaning.
Too wet to do anything else!
Just light duties, nothing too strenuous but I’m still not physically ready to get back to sea yet unfortunately.
The mind wants to but the body is still trying to catch up at the moment.
I’ve got a few repairs and a bit of maintenance to do over the next couple of weeks so I’ll start with the light and easy ones and I can work my way up to the heavier and harder jobs!
Hopefully all going well I’ll be heading out for my first night back fishing around the end of this month or the start of next month.
It’s all going to depend on how the body is recovering.
Hopefully I’ll be good to go by then.

Sorry I don’t have any seafood yet as I know many of you are hanging out for it but hopefully not long to go now.

Thank you all again for your support, I truly do appreciate it.
Can’t wait to get back doing what I do best and catching beautiful Australian Wild Caught Seafood for you all to enjoy again!

Take care, stay safe, enjoy your Friday and I hope you all have a great weekend.
Cheers everyone

26/04/2026

Endeavor prawns are one of the species we catch in Moreton Bay and my personal favorite.
They have a naturally sweet flavor and I can’t get enough of them when they’re around.

24/04/2026

Lest We Forget

16/04/2026

Hi everyone, hope you’re all having a great week.

Well I’m back out in the real world again, still a bit sore which is to be expected but I’m vertical and breathing which is the main thing.

I’ve got my new jump starter, caught up with my little red mistress and watched an amazing first sunrise that was well worth the wait!

Got to catch up with some of the amazing heroes around the marina whose early actions helped save my life and was finally able to start piecing together some of what happened that fateful afternoon and thank them.

Still have a few more heroes to catch up with yet and personally thank though so I’m looking forward to that.

I’d like to take this opportunity to also thank the QPS Water Police, the Paramedics and especially all the wonderful and amazing staff in the various Cardiology Units at the Princess Alexandra Hospital you are all true heroes everyday and I can’t thank you all enough for keeping me alive and giving me another chance at life.
I won’t waste it!
Thank you, Thank You, Thank you!

I’ve shared some information on what to look out for in a case like this, please take note of the symptoms.
Snap shot it for your phone because one day it may save yours or a loved one’s life!

Last week my partner Tracy ended up in the Cardiology unit at Tweed Valley hospital on verge of going through exactly the same thing as me but what saved her was recognizing the symptoms early enough to get to hospital before it was too late and not ignoring them like I so stupidly did!

If you do ignore them you’ll end up like me including the very expensive cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs I now have to live with!
(Sure that’s not going to give me other problems down the track)!

She was literally within an hour of repeating my experience or worse!
Tracy’s recognition of the early warning signs and going straight to emergency allowed the hospital to act early and effectively.
And thankfully she has already been discharged.

Don’t write the symptoms off and put it down to something else like I did, if you’re feeling them you’re having a problem so don’t take it lightly and don’t delay getting to emergency and getting it checked!
Please!

Still got a bit of recovering to do, this week is just chilling on the couch with Tracy and letting everything heal because my body has taken one hell of a beating!

Then the following couple of weeks will be light duties and rehabilitation while getting the boat and my body ready to get back to work.

All going well I’ll be back out there early to mid next month catching Moreton Bays finest Wild Caught Seafood for you all again with a bit of help from some great friends!

Thank you all so very much for your donations that have kept my little business alive so I can return to what I love doing.

And thank you all for your messages of support and encouragement that kept me going and trying to stay positive during the darkest days of my life!

I still go back and read them whenever I’m having a moment struggling mentally or emotionally, their value to me is immeasurable.
Thank you again.

Take care, stay safe and enjoy your Friday everyone.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Cheers to you all.

09/04/2026

Hi everyone, just an update on the current situation!

Still currently at the PA here near Southbank.
I’m missing my boat, I’m missing all of you fine people, the salt in my lungs and the sea spray on my face!

I don’t do long periods stuck indoors very well but the staff here at the PA have been absolutely amazing in making this situation as comfortable and stress free as possible for me!

Almost considered a great escape last night just to go sit near the river for a while but I’m behaving myself!

Haven’t seen a sunrise or sunset for almost 2 weeks now, you don’t realize how much you take little things like that for granted until you can’t do them.

Been getting lots of tests done, poor old body is looking like Mike Tyson hung it up to use as a punching bag for a while.
Got bruises on bruises!

Looks like I’m going to be getting what I’m calling a Ticker Kicker, it’s basically a pacemaker with an extra built in function of a defibrillator which is very interesting!

The doctor said it can give me a jolt almost like being kicked in the chest by a horse so FFS don’t get me too excited during sales or things could get very interesting indeed lol

The Impatient me would like it done tomorrow but the reality is it’s most likely going to happen next week!

I just have to suck it up and go at the pace that is necessary and not the pace I want or I’ll end up back here sooner or at worst not at all!

On a positive note I’m still testing and challenging myself, currently almost 2 weeks without a cigarette, doing it with no patches or gum, just myself and that bloody minded determination I have.

(This is my second attempt at writing this post after the phone froze then deleted my first attempt) so I’m certainly being tested with it!

But testing and challenging yourself is good for the mind body and soul, everyone should do it!

And I’m trying to focus on making the mind and especially body stronger so I can get back to what I enjoy most in life, catching wild caught Aussie seafood and supplying it to all of you!

Not overdoing things just slow steady preparation for what’s to come!
Body weight has dropped to just under 80kg, haven’t seen those sort of figures in over 30 years!

The biggest thing getting me through all this though is all of you, I truly mean that.

Firstly your kind words and encouragement have been so important for my soul.

I’ve had some rough bad news days which as hard as I may seem to be at times have been mentally and emotionally challenging, it hasn’t been easy for me to be humbled by my own mortality!
Knowing that I actually died several times in a week rocked me pretty hard!

But the messages and encouragement have given me strength and determination to fight my way back to all of you and to what I love doing most again!

I’ve honestly never felt so much love and care from so many people in my entire life, it has been a very humbling and heartwarming experience!
It’s been very emotional at times, or maybe I’m just softening as I get older but thank all so very much for your kind words!

And most importantly thank you to all those who have donated, no matter how big or small your donations have helped keep the wolves from the door and my little business ticking over on life support while I’m out of action.

I am so very grateful and humbled by your kindness!
It’s given me hope that I’ll come through this and get back to supplying you all with the Fresh Wild Caught Local Seafood!
A week ago I thought it was all over, all of you changed that and I’ll never forget it.

Even if it’s only $4-$5 it adds up and keeps my business alive!

You’ve shown me that kindness, caring and hope is far greater fuel to achieve a goal than just my bloody minded determination.
It’s been very humbling indeed!

Still got a few weeks to get through before I’ll be back out there again for you all so I’ll keep the go fund me pinned to the top of the post in case anyone still wishes to donate.

And again thank you all so very very much.
You all really know how to make a bloke feel loved, liked and wanted!

You all have inspired me to continue do this as long as there’s breath in my lungs to repay faith you have all given me!

I’ll keep you posted with next week’s update!

And sincerely, I love you all with all heart, thank you all so very much!

Enjoy your Friday and hope you all have a fantastic weekend.
Cheers

P.S. how do I look in pink lol

06/04/2026

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support.
Now while I understand that many of you are concerned and I do appreciate it!
You need to understand the fight I had to go through to get here and you’ll probably understand why I am the way I am!
First I grew up around trawlers from day one, some of my earliest memories are fishing of the back of my grandfather’s trawler learning all the swear words while he did maintenance!
Unfortunately he sold his boat before I was old enough to know I wanted it!
I was still fortunate enough to have her be the first boat I went to sea on as the guy who bought her was kind enough to take me on trips when I turned 12 on weekends and holidays and I was hooked on the ocean and fishing!
Two weeks after I turned 15 I left school and went fishing and that’s when the real battle began.
The family was completely against the idea especially my grandfather.
First skipper called me a tourist said I wouldn’t last 3 months and never be seen again, we now know how that worked out.
My own father told be I’ll be nothing but a bum fisherman and I’ll die in a gutter like the rest of the a$$holes!
Admittedly I wasn’t the greatest decky, I had a lot to learn and very little encouragement.
Another skipper told me I wouldn’t last one season in the gulf of carpentaria so I went and did 3 1/2 seasons just to shut him up!
By this point I was on a good boat and had become a 17% decky which is top percentage as a deckhand.
At this stage mates were joking that after 17 years I’d done the longest apprenticeship in history, a couple of skippers scoffed at me getting my skippers tickets so guess what I did next.
Unfortunately upon arrival at class I was to find out just how much I hadn’t been taught like navigation.
So I spent every night for the next 3 weeks upstairs at the Woy Woy pub directly above the karaoke bar teaching myself navigation with a piece of cardboard for a table and a chart the teacher had been kind enough to give me!
I was the only commercial fishermen in a class of fisheries officers.
One of my most prized possessions is a hat I received at the end of the course. The top person in the class received a hat with Latin for ‘A cut above’ but that year they said for the first time they were giving out a second hat because they hadn’t seen someone work so hard with minimal tools under the conditions I did just to pass the course!
Also helped that I aced all the practical stuff driving the fisheries patrol boat Sydney Swan, I surprised the fisheries guys that much they started asking me to cross over to the dark side and join them. Nah not happening.
After the course you then had to go into one of the maritime to do a further test to gain your qualifications.
I had been told that going and doing it in Sydney was the easiest way to pass and down there it was known as the serial box ticket, just turn up pay the money and they pretty much gave it to you which is what most of my detractors did!
I was told don’t do it in Qld because they grill you so guess where I went, I wasn’t going to give them anything to hold over me.
We’re it gets interesting is I have a dyslexia but with numbers which makes things interesting.
The navigation took 5 minutes too long but the examiner could see the problem.
I was confident with doing the engineering ticket so he told me study the nav hard that night and come back in an hour early and thankfully I passed both!
Guess who I ran into a couple of days later!
The skipper that called me a tourist who had since set his 3 sons up in boats.
When I told him I got my tickets he quipped at how easy it was when his sons did it in Sydney, shut him right up when I informed him I did my exam at Southport!
Then came the skipper period, being an unproven skipper geez I had to learn fast on some basket cases with armchair admirals calling the shots from home.
Then came the p***k over period of trying to buy my own boat!
Learned the hard way twice that just because my handshake is my bond other peoples aren’t worth the toilet paper they wipe their a$$ with and lost quite a bit of money in the process!
By this stage everyone is laughing at me telling me l’m never going to get a boat.
Then a fairly new aluminum boat built in 2016 to new survey standards became available, showed mum and she liked it for the same reasons.
I still get dongbeaters saying mummy bought me a boat!
No, mum took a massive gamble in using her house as collateral because she could finally see that I had some talent but just needed a fair go and trust me the finance group threw everything at us to prevent this from happening but every hoop they threw we found a way through.
Finally in early January 2020 I was sitting in my new boat.
The a$$hole I bought it off deliberately tried to sabotage the sale by removing safety gear in the hope that I’d pull the pin and his mate could have the boat instead!
Didn’t realize who he was dealing with because I didn’t give a p***k, the boat was mine and his POS mate who was an old enemy of mine couldn’t get his hands on it lmfao!
So I re-equipped and we were off, put her through the ultimate test on the delivery voyage with 40-45 it’s from cape Byron to Southport.
Ripped one stabilizer of and folded the other one like a banana, completely under engineered.
The highlight of the trip was passing my old stomping ground Ballina as the fleet was coming out, it was great having old friends and work mates congratulating me and the grubby POS that missed out on the boat!
I soon found out who my real friends were when I arrived up here and some blokes who I thought were friends quickly showed their jealousy!
But the best one of all was the one who told me I would never get the boat into Manly harbour, all I did was walk in and ask and they just said yes.
6 years later and I sell of the boat at the jetty almost every week.
I’ve since had to see off several groups poorly raised brats that have tried to jump me pull knives on me and none of it ever works!
They leave never to return!
I absolutely love this job and seeing how much you love my products, it’s made my war worth every victory!
My grandfather came to this country at the end of WW2 aboard an Aircraft carrier called HMS Indomitable having survived a kamikaze hit that cut his best standing beside him in half!
He loved this country that much that when he was offered discharge here he jumped at it and brought that indomitable spirit with him and thankfully it rubbed off on me!
So hopefully this helps you to understand me to some extent, my Great War has been my whole life up against everything and still finding a way to make it work.

It’s my boot on my own neck that keeps driving me because I’m not going to be the cause of mum losing her house for having the faith in me to risk it!
So hopefully you all have some idea now of why I am the way I am and why I keep driving myself the way I do!

There’s far too much at risk if I stop or slow down.

My battles and my victories are what drives me, whenever I have doubts I just remember something a doubter has said and it’s all just petrol on the fire that drives me!
These people thought they could destroy and discourage me with petty words, jokes and sneers!
All they achieved was to create an unstoppable monster with an Indomitable spirit!
I know you all mean well but hopefully you all now understand why I am the way I am!

Lotza Seafood ‘The real Manly Trawler’

20/06/2026

11/06/2026

01/06/2026

28/05/2026

15/05/2026

26/04/2026

24/04/2026

16/04/2026

09/04/2026

06/04/2026

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