3/2/13

No excitement to report from this day; chewing up nautical miles at cruising speed while tinkering with equipment,
sharing tales of prior exploits, and enjoying the tireless attempts of our entourage of boobies to pick off flying
fish flushed from cover by the Royal Star bow wake. A quiet day of southerly travel as conditions gradually
softened yielding to a tropical calm.

Another full day of travel tomorrow will certainly elicit the full tropical spectrum as sea surface temperatures
and humidity levels escalate. On this voyage it is always a transformation I eagerly anticipate. It means we are
heading to Clipperton, the land of fairy tale potential; the one place we fish where every moment has the potential
to stun the senses with fishing experiences unimaginable - Mother Nature unleashed.

The build up to arrival on this run is admittedly brutal. The anticipation is akin to that first car ride to
Disneyland - only it lasts fifty some odd hours. I suppose though, harkening back, that the actual passage of time
back then felt about the same. And, just like now, the reward was well worth the wait.

Tim Ekstrom