6 more days!!!!

Started by alantani, September 26, 2020, 10:11:05 PM

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alantani

we board the boat in 6 days!!!!!  i wasn't sure it would actually happen, and to be honest, i may not fully believe it until we are on board and out of sight of san diego!!!!!

so many changes from the beginning, so many veterans dropped out, so many first timers added, so much has happened last minute.  half of us are veterans of this trip, half are new!  there will be 21 of us for sure.  we can accommodate 3 more, so if anyone has a friend that by some miracle is free next week, ping me.  but just to have gotten this far shows me what an amazing fishing community we have.  this is shaping up to be a GREAT group and i am really looking forward to this trip.  i do not know yet where we will be fishing or what we will be targeting, but i do know that this trip will be epic.  so let's start from the top......

1. your passport!!!! - you can show up on friday morning with nothing more than the clothes on your back and your passport, and you can go fishing.  there will be enough gear on the boat.  you don't even need a pack of hooks, but you do need your passport.  last year my brother left his passport at home, so it happens. 


2. covid precautions - wearing a mask or buff in the harbor is a necessity, and for the rest of the trip is obviously recommended just to prevent sunburns.  frequent hand washing is always a good thing and just being out in the fresh ocean air will dramatically decrease the risk of transmission.  personally, i'm going to wear a mask or buff and do my best to stick with it.  we need to work with the boat and be respectful of their rules so that they can stay in business.  see attachments!


3. money - the cost of the boat ride is $60,200.  originally, the total that i had requested from everyone was $2884.60.  that total was based on the cost of the boat ride divided 24 ways ($2508.35), plus a 15% tip ($376.25) collected ahead of time.  then all we needed to do was pay for the mexican fishing licenses when we boarded and the beer tab when we returned and we were done. 

with 21 of us, the boat ride will be $2867 each.  i plan to give everyone back $20 and call it even.  then we just have to cover the mexican license ($90?), tip (15% is $430) and the beer tab.  the other expense is fish processing, but more on that later.


4. personal gear - just pack as light as you can.  i have a ford excursion and i already know it will be bursting at the seams.  if anyone needs something, send me a text at 408-219-1149 and i will throw it in with the rest of the stuff.  tom and mike, i will have two folding chairs for you.


5. fishing gear - it's fishing, and you just ever know.  figure 30, 40 and 50 pound line class gear for bait and jig, maybe a 60-80 pound rig for dropper loop.  the boat has trolling gear but you can bring a 100-130 pound troller if you want. 

i'm bringing half the garage, so you don't have to.  there are 20 extra rods and reels, a case of jigs, a couple of gallon ziplocks of hooks.  one thing i do not have alot of is fluoro for blue fin and titanium wire for wahoo.  if you have some, bring it.  i have all the crimps.   


6. arriving in san diego - tracy and i will be driving down with lee and mike potts on thursday, october 1st, and we will be staying at the ramada. so will half the group.  i have made dinner reservations at miguel's cocina for 12 of us at 6pm.  if anyone is available early that afternoon, mike pate and tom robinson will be flying in and could use a ride from the airport.  i'll get numbers out to everyone in a group text so that you have cell numbers. 


7. the morning we board - usually, it's a quick breakfast at denny's, then checking out the catch at the dock as the boats arrive in the morning to see where they went, how they did, what worked and what didn't.  as you face the water, our dock is behind h&m landing, way off to the right.  it's the very last one. guys will start lining up usually by 8 to 9am.  we usually board by 9 or 10, and underway at 11am.  rod space will be pre-assigned, tackle box space is sort of a free-for-all. 


8. cabin assignments - this is sort of like trying to assign seats at a wedding reception.  back towards the stern you have engine noises but the ride is a little better.  up towards the bow it's quieter but the ride can be bumpy as hell.  old guys generally get lower bunks aft, younger guys forward.  i'm going to spread everyone out as much as possible. i know there there are c-pap machines, bad knees and bad backs in the group, so i will take that into account.  if you get to your cabin and see that it will clearly not work, let me know and i'll do my best to fix it. 


9. tagging your own fish - everyone will get numbers to tag their fish, but we may not all use them.  i do know that some of the new guys are accustomed to tagging their own fish.  for the new guys, what we have done in the past is just thrown all fish into the cooler with no tags, then had the processor weigh the entire lot, divide it up and process it.  that mostly worked the first few times when sarah ran five star fish processing, but it seemed to work less well after sarah left.  there are two other major processors, so i will talk to them and see what we can work out.


10. fish processing - it's never really worked out as well as i would have liked.  i will still try to get us in line first and i will still try to get us a discount.  the last thing we need is to have guys stuck in san diego until 4 in the afternoon waiting for fish behind three other boats.  in the past, the fish would all go in the coolers without tags.  we would tie up at the dock at 5am, we would be completely off the boat by 5:30.  at 5:30, the fish processing guys would push carts to the boat, the boat crew would toss fish into the carts, the fish processing guys would push the carts up to the trucks and away they would go.  we would load our gear and go straight to denny's for breakfast, then on to the processor to pick up our fish.  the processors would weigh everything and divide it up. 

i do understand that some of you want to tag your own fish, and that's fine.  even for the regulars, if you've wanted to throw a tag on a particular fish in past years, that was fine.  what i'm going to do is talk to some of the other processors and see first of all about price, then see about how they would handle tagged versus non-tagged fish.  we may end up tagging stuff.  i dunno yet.  if anyone has any thoughts, feel free to ping me. 



ok, that's about it for now.  there are some attachments that you will need to look at.  if you have additional questions, ping me.  thank you all so very much for your support.  alan
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Wally15

Thank you for all your efforts to put this trip together. And keep it together. Ranks right up there with herding cats!
Mike
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.
"Fire and Rain"
James Taylor

scrinch

Quote from: Wally15 on September 27, 2020, 01:11:31 AM
Thank you for all your efforts to put this trip together. And keep it together. Ranks right up there with herding cats!
Mike

Ditto! Feral cats!

Mike, I'm looking forward to seeing you in San Diego.

Bryan Young

I wish I was going this year, as every year.  My heart will be on board with you.  Waiting in excitement of the fish pics and stores. 

Each one of you, I bless you with catching a huge BFT, YFT, YT, and Wahoo.

Have fun and stay safe and healthy.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

ldoret94

Sure wish I could have joined you guys this year but I'll defiantly be with you and spirit.  However I'll throw my name into the hat for next year right now.

Keta

#5
Quote from: scrinch on September 27, 2020, 06:04:03 AM
Mike, I'm looking forward to seeing you in San Diego.

Me too, it is getting closer.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Wally15

Quote from: Keta on September 27, 2020, 02:45:15 PM
Quote from: scrinch on September 27, 2020, 06:04:03 AM
Mike, I'm looking forward to seeing you in San Diego.

Me too, it is getting closer.

Great. At least I won't be the ugliest person on the boat  :)
Mike
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.
"Fire and Rain"
James Taylor

Keta

First place looser by a hair.  If I did not let my face fuz grow all year you would not even be close.  I wanted to trim it but the wife said not untill a full year.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Bill B

Good luck guys!  I've been on a couple of Alan's central coast trips and had a blast. Lots of experience on this trip.  I'm saving my ducats for when I retire and hope to join you.  Bill
It may not be very productive,
but it's sure going to be interesting!

Wally15

Quote from: Keta on September 27, 2020, 03:35:44 PM
First place looser by a hair.  If I did not let my face fuz grow all year you would not even be close.  I wanted to trim it but the wife said not untill a full year.
At least you've had a song written about you.
Gnome, gnome on the range!
Mike
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.
"Fire and Rain"
James Taylor

alantani

send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Keta

#11
 :D


Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Shark Hunter

Life is Good!

sciaenops

Good luck knock em dead guys. Looking forward to the reports as I'll be on the AA at the end of Oct.

Tight lines & safe travels, Keith

R46chevy

Good luck everyone. I wish I could make it this year.