Well it was no picnic with every mile of northwest travel earned, but overall I would classify this passage as little more than uncomfortable earning about a two or a three on a scale from one to ten. It comes with the territory so to speak and strictly adheres to the unique law of long range sport fishing that states "what goes down must come up". So, we are lined up for a San Diego arrival of around 0930 tomorrow with the weather improving throughout the day allowing us to get on the throttles and make up some time we lost from the weather.

After laying in for one night, we depart again on the Pete Tiernan ten day voyage with both Captain Toussaint and I on board. In addition, Kurt Schaefer and Dan Fuller from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission will be on board to continue the voluntary yellowfin tuna tagging project that is part of the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics or TOPP study being conducted in the North Pacific since 2002. Thus far the TOPP yellowfin tuna tagging project on select Royal Star fall ten day voyages has been a phenomenal success with hundreds of electronic "archival" tags deployed and numerous tags returned following long periods of liberty at sea.The data these tags has provided over the past six years has literally rewritten the book on yellowfin tuna behavior as well as provided incredibly valuable information about movement patterns of yellowfin tuna in this region. As always, we look forward to Kurt and Danny joining us and our contributions to the success of this project.

In concluding this voyage, I must again express my complete satisfaction with the catch on board as well as this fantastic group of anglers who were a genuine pleasure to enjoy time with at sea. With another dandy of a catch featuring the coveted three - quantity, quality, and variety, we are grateful that our timing and strategy positioned us to take advantage of the ideal opportunities that were available in so many different areas throughout this voyage. By taking our time and working our way down and back, we were able to maximize both fishing time and opportunities thanks to good timing and undeniable benevolence from the fish gods. So we are calling this one another glowing success and end with an expression of sincere gratitude to this fantastic group of anglers and Pete Gray from Let's Talk Hookup for sponsoring this annual ten day that has graced the Royal Star schedule now for nine years. Thank you again Pete and anglers and look for reports to continue after the tenth.

Tim Ekstrom

Jackpot winners this voyage

1st. - Steve Brunst - 298 yellowfin tuna
2nd. - Riggs Smith - 275 " "
3rd. - Patrick Dunn - 233 " "

Congratulations men on a job well done!