Sea Fever

Imagine if the sea was your offie and your daily commute was accompanied by dolphins

- Kate Shaw

TOM GREASTY: SWANAGE SEA FISHING

Tom Greasty heads up Swanage Sea Fishing which the 37-year-old started when he was just 16. Married with two young boys, Lawrence 4 and Oatis 2, Tom’s wife Charlotte looks after the accounts and marketing side of the family business.

“I’ve always been angling mad,” Tom admits. “I moved to Swanage from Surrey when I was eight years old. At the time I’d only done freshwater fishing with my dad and grandad. Once I discovered sea and shore fishing, I never wanted to leave Swanage. I even trialled for the England Junior Under 18s Angling Team.”

Tom bought his first boat San Gina when he was 16. “I left school and set up Swanage Sea Fishing. I’d been working on San Gina during school holidays and weekends since the age of 13.” Tom couldn’t fully skipper the traditional Dorset ‘Berry boat’, built by Ron Berry in Weymouth, until he could take his skipper qualifications at 18, so the boat’s former owner Gerry Randall stayed on as skipper.

Over the years Tom gradually expanded Swanage Sea Fishing, buying a second boat in 2006, San Gina II (a 33-foot Suffolk), and Three Wishes in 2019, a former potting boat.

Swanage Sea Fishing offers a huge range of activities from the water including bird watching. “We see an amazing variety of sea birds along the Jurassic Coast including puffins, guillemots, razor bills and peregrine falcons which nest on the cliffs.

“We also offer reef, bank, shore and wreck fishing, ranging from a 1½ hour mackerel fishing to a 12-hour shark fishing trip. We regularly spot dolphins and seals, though sightings can never be guaranteed with wildlife.”