LONG RANGE TRIP

YO BA, You have narrowed your search down to 3 wonderful boats and operations. The Intrepid is a state of the art Fishing Yacht with fantastic amenities. She is the newest of all the boats in the fleet and is being run by a dedicated group of folks. Of the 3 boats she is the second biggest in length. Many of us on this board have already fished on her and will be on her again soon. The Excel is the largest both in length and width of the 3 boats. She is run by some of the most experienced crews in the industry and owned by a legend in Long Range Fishing. I grew up fishing on most all of the Bill Poole owned boats and each has given me a life time of memories. I will be back on her again in August. The Angler is owned, maintained and operated bt two of the most dedicated skippers in the business. They manage to maximize every ounce of deck space, fishing space and fishing experience they and the crew can muster. Truly a top of the line operation. The boat may be the smallest of the three but is short on nothing. Those that have fished the Angler generally fish her every year thereafter. In short, Pick a trip on any of the three boats. Perhaps your decision might lie on getting on a trip with the fewest passengers so you can get the best bunk, loading priority number or just have the most fishing room. Perhaps you want the latest gadgets and goo gaws or maybe you want the biggest boat in the fleet. You can not go wrong with any of the three. You might even pick one and then schedule next years trip on another and get your reservation in early. You might also want to look for a sponsored trip which generally assures you might have some folks who can teach you stuff about long range. Regardless what trip you take ask questions. There are almost always folks who can show you a thing or three. As far as sea sickness make sure your friend gets a prescription for the latest in scopalamine patches or whatever the latest meds are. From those I have spoken to who use them they work great but do not wait quite as long between change outs as the script recommends. If it says change every 3 days you might have your friend change every 2.5 days but this is only based on what other folks have told me and they swear by them. Have them start the patch or ??? at least a day in advance of the trip and make sure the doctor prescribes enough for the full trip based on a few extra patches. Best of luck on your decision. Unlike most things in life this decision has NO wrong choices. Jamie

This post edited by fishordie 06/16/2008

I manage to make one trip a year from Florida and, so far, have been on only the Excel. They are all excellent boats with excellent crews or they would not be in business long. If you are going to rent/borrow tackle in California (many boats will loan it to you for free if you are from out-of-state), then things are easier - you just have to deal with clothes, etc. - and with fish on the way back.

If you are bringing tackle, things get more interesting. I ship the rods and tackle box ahead to the Excel office and they hold them for me. I carry reels with me on the plane - no problem with line being on them but they do make me open the bag to see what caused their x-ray machine to light up.

On the way back East, there is a pack-and-ship place within walking distance of the Landings or you can pre-arrange something with the Landing and FedEx/UPS to pick your stuff up there. All of the fish processors will ship fish back to you but it gets expensive. You can trade for cans of Albacore and ship them or you can donate your fish to charity and take a tax write-off to help pay for next year's trip.

Have fun - you can't go wrong.

I am already signed up for a 15-day on the Excel in January.