Just returned from 3 days at sea...

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,586
985
126
Bobbing around 40-50 miles off the coast of San Diego with 2 of my best friends and their Dad fishing for Bluefin Tuna. I caught a couple nice 20lb Bluefin and a 12lb Dorado. My friend Tom caught an 80lb Bluefin on Thursday. We all caught fish right up until dusk last night.

We went out on the Royal Polaris out of San Diego. We left Wednesday morning and just got back in at 3AM this morning, anchored off Fisherman's Landing and headed in to dock at 5AM.

Great boat, great skipper and great crew. They feed you well and they know where the fish are.

I still feel like I'm on a boat.

Just picked up the fish. My biggest bluefin was 35lbs.
 
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MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,466
3,067
121
Yeah, I used to get that a lot.

You can lay in bed at night and still feel like you're bobbing around for about a day or so.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,586
985
126
Yeah, I used to get that a lot.

You can lay in bed at night and still feel like you're bobbing around for about a day or so.

The boat was 115' long and there were 36 anglers on board. It is amazing how much a boat that size rolls in even 2-3' seas. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the main cabin drinking a beer and watching the view through the 3' window on the other side of the cabin going from complete sky to complete ocean every second or so. It was like that nearly the entire time.

Good thing I don't get seasick on boats. :cool:

The food was excellent BTW. They served prime rib last night with pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Everything was baked fresh on the boat. They even baked the bread they served with dinner.
 

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,754
64
91
Is this catch and release, catch and eat, or catch and send you home with processed fish?
 

TheGardener

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2014
1,945
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Sounds like a great a time. I'm jealous. Hope you have a big freezer at home. Then again I've never eaten Bluefin or Dorado. Trade for some prime rib and such.

I've gotten sea sick more than once. But more often not. Sometimes it depends on whether you start drinking before 9AM.
 

Jeeebus

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
9,181
901
126
the best is standing in a bathroom to pee after you get off a rockin boat. You stand there bobbing left and right.

We went out last night - got a blackfin tuna and some small snappers. Had to call it a night though because the wind was fierce with storms all around. Waves were throwing us around like crazy.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
No pics?

Also why serve prime rib when you're out fishing? I love prime rib but fish just seems like a given.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
The boat was 115' long and there were 36 anglers on board. It is amazing how much a boat that size rolls in even 2-3' seas. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the main cabin drinking a beer and watching the view through the 3' window on the other side of the cabin going from complete sky to complete ocean every second or so. It was like that nearly the entire time.

Good thing I don't get seasick on boats. :cool:

The food was excellent BTW. They served prime rib last night with pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Everything was baked fresh on the boat. They even baked the bread they served with dinner.

It's not the size of the vessel, it's the size of the wave. ;)

Stabilizers are amazing, they can't help with pitch but rolling is mostly eliminated. Even a 1000' ship without stabilization will roll noticeably even in a slight swell as you noted.

And this type of motion for hours will also make those not so used to it quite ill feeling.

Sounds like a decent excursion!
 

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
Went for about 6-8 hours off the coast of Newport Beach, CA. I got myself sea sick from looking down at the water all the time, but I recovered. We were about 50 miles off the coast as well. No land in sight.

I don't remember having that boat sensation after I got off. It's interesting because I like to do summer salts in the pool and when I first did one I had a disorientation that was pretty cool in fact. But now after three years I don't have that felling anymore when I do one. I guess like a fighter pilot you get used to those sensations. All about that inner ear thing.
 
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JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,586
985
126
It's not the size of the vessel, it's the size of the wave. ;)

Stabilizers are amazing, they can't help with pitch but rolling is mostly eliminated. Even a 1000' ship without stabilization will roll noticeably even in a slight swell as you noted.

And this type of motion for hours will also make those not so used to it quite ill feeling.

Sounds like a decent excursion!

Depends which way the swell and wind is headed too.

Stabilizers do nothing when the boat is just drifting and we were drifting all day Friday. Didn't move the boat once until we started heading back to port after the sun went down. It was nice and smooth then but we were going with the swell and wind then too.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
Depends which way the swell and wind is headed too.

Stabilizers do nothing when the boat is just drifting and we were drifting all day Friday. Didn't move the boat once until we started heading back to port after the sun went down. It was nice and smooth then but we were going with the swell and wind then too.

There are various solutions for at rest and under way conditions. Fin stabilizers work best under way, while birds stationary, etc. There is cost and downsides of course. Most vessels in the "yacht" category including sportfishermen will have some sort of stabilization. Naiad is probably the most known builder of such apparatus.

Avoiding a beam sea is always best but when stationary this requires constant engine/thruster use and increases fuel costs considerably. 2-3' swell is considered "near calm" by most experienced mariners. Try 200 NM offshore of the Carolina coast in late November where the swells can reach 16' and then if there's a storm with 60 knot winds you get another 12-20 foot waves on top of that! Even with optimal stabilization and adjusted SOG, the pitching and bow falling off waves is tremendous. Forward cabins definitely experience a rough ride in such conditions.

I should post some video of a 75-85' bow wave reaching up to deck 10 of such conditions. Nor'Easters are (sort of) fun! ;)

But for rec fishing that sounds like near perfect conditions. What enjoyment is it being at sea without it feeling you're at sea? Personally I like feeling the motion of the ocean and have very strong sea legs! ;)

OTOH, if it's so rough you cannot sleep and need to take drugs, etc. to cope, not much fun in that.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,586
985
126
There are various solutions for at rest and under way conditions. Fin stabilizers work best under way, while birds stationary, etc. There is cost and downsides of course. Most vessels in the "yacht" category including sportfishermen will have some sort of stabilization. Naiad is probably the most known builder of such apparatus.

Avoiding a beam sea is always best but when stationary this requires constant engine/thruster use and increases fuel costs considerably. 2-3' swell is considered "near calm" by most experienced mariners. Try 200 NM offshore of the Carolina coast in late November where the swells can reach 16' and then if there's a storm with 60 knot winds you get another 12-20 foot waves on top of that! Even with optimal stabilization and adjusted SOG, the pitching and bow falling off waves is tremendous. Forward cabins definitely experience a rough ride in such conditions.

I should post some video of a 75-85' bow wave reaching up to deck 10 of such conditions. Nor'Easters are (sort of) fun! ;)

But for rec fishing that sounds like near perfect conditions. What enjoyment is it being at sea without it feeling you're at sea? Personally I like feeling the motion of the ocean and have very strong sea legs! ;)

OTOH, if it's so rough you cannot sleep and need to take drugs, etc. to cope, not much fun in that.

This is not a yacht. It is a sportfishing boat.

I've been sailing all my life so it wasn't a problem for me. I've sailed offshore here in the the SoCal area for quite a few years now, came back from Catalina Island once with 40 knot Santa Ana winds blowing and 15' seas on a 38' sailboat (Downeastern-good heavy sailboat ideal for offshore cruising).

It always takes me a couple days for me to get used to being on land again. Never felt sick from it, just feels like everything is moving sometimes.

This is the boat I was on.

boat-1.png
 
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John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
Looks like a cool boat! Wouldn't mind shark fishing. My dad went shark fishing and they had a guy on board with a shot gun when you pull a shark out of the water. LOL
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,660
6,536
126
Looks like a cool boat! Wouldn't mind shark fishing. My dad went shark fishing and they had a guy on board with a shot gun when you pull a shark out of the water. LOL

biggest shark i ever caught is like 3ft long. the deck mate cut the throats of them as they tossed them into the cooler. even the 3 footers put up a pretty damn crazy fight.
 

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
Damn!

I always wanted pet sharks in a salt water aquarium. Wonder how they'd be? :twisted: