Everyone’s anxious for fishing, but first things first, like a bit of maintenance and our annual Coast Guard inspections. We’re in our dry dock period at Knight & Carver Yard in National City.

 

Searcher in dry dock. Her bottom looks great!

The crew and I have sanded part of the hull (two other parts were done in previous years) and re-painted. We took off 1,000 pounds of old paint this time, for a total of 3,000 pounds for the entire hull. I am looking for some improved fuel performance after that.

We also took out the propellers and shafts for inspection and to install new packing. The rudders and shafts were inspected and we put new packing there too.

 

What better way to begin my 25th year as owner/operator than scraping bottom paint!

We’ll start fishing on Qualia Reel’s open charter on June 13. Join us on this 5-day adventure, or at least follow along on the daily blog report on the web site.

We hope to see you aboard in 2009. We have some great trips scheduled and expect some exciting San Diego/Baja California fishing!

Capt Art and crew (and celia)