GillBilly Report: Todos Santos Islands Surfing - December 27, 2009

After that first trout I was alone in there. But I didn't
know it until later.
Richard Brautigan

GillBilly YouTube Video: Merry Christmas!

The true fisherman approaches the first day of fishing season with
all the sense of wonder and awe of a child approaching Christmas.
Robert Traver

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Robby Gordon

Fifth in class and fifth overall four-wheel vehicle. Gordon clinched the Trophy-Truck season points championship.

Post Race Quote;
About mile 490, I got by Rick (D. Johnson) and then we lost the brakes. We worked on it for a while. We lost the battle and won the war. It was a long day. It's a very, very technical racecourse that Sal (Fish) built for us and it was very tough. I think I'd take a Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 win over a championship, to be honest with you. This race is tough. The car basically ran pretty good all day. We know where we got beat. We were running third on the road for a while and then I had a flat tire. When we changed it, we had to put one on the rack and when we were putting one on the rack, Andy (McMillin) went by. We knew we had to get back in front of Andy. He was only about two minutes in front of us and then I had another flat and then I got stuck behind (Nick) Vanderwey. I'm not going to say he held us up but Andy was able to get a clear run in there and he put 10 minutes on us pretty quickly. The rest of the time, we kind of just hung about 10-15 minutes back, depending on what traffic I had. The only way we were going to win (the race) was if everybody else broke. There was no reason for us to run any harder than what we ran at that point. We lost a good half an hour or 45 minutes fixing a right-rear caliper that was leaking. This is by far the toughest racing in the world it's truly the last endurance racing there is. (Would you try to race for the SCORE Trophy-Truck championship again?) We have a conflict at Laughlin with Dakar, so I won't be at Laughlin next year. As many points was we won the championship by this year, I could probably miss Laughlin and still win it but I think well probably focus on the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 next year.

Fishing was good, it was the catching that was bad.

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Team Vildosola Pre-race

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.
Henry David Thoreau

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Start Photo Shoot

Calling fishing a hobby is like calling brain surgery a job.
P Schullery

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Andy McMillin Warm-up

2009 Baja 1000 Winner! First in class and first overall four-wheel vehicle. Andy started and drove to race mile 206. His father, Scott, drove to RM 500 and Andy drove the final leg.

Andy McMillin shared the driving duties with his father Scott, which resulted in a magnificent Baja victory for the father-son duo. This was Scott's first Baja 1000 overall victory and third class win in SCORE Trophy Truck.

"The plan was to kind of take it easy and let the race come to us," Andy said at a press conference after the race. "We knew Sal laid out a really rough, tough course this year. And we knew it was going to take one truck that didn't have any problems to get the win. So that was our plan all day was just to stay smooth, and not have any down time and no flat tires."

Post Race Quotes;
Andy said: I started the race and I think we started 17th on the road. The plan was just to kind of take it easy and kind of let the race come to us. Sal (Fish) laid out a really rough, tough course this year. We knew that it was going to take one trip that didn't have any problems to get the win. That was our plan all day stay smooth and not have any downtime, no flat tires. I gave my dad the truck at mile 206 and I think we were seventh on the road and pretty close on the overall lead. My dad drove the San Felipe loop and the Mikes loop. By the time he got to San Felipe, he was the first truck on the road. My dad handed me a helluva lead, so it was pretty easy. It was kind of just stay on the racecourse and you wont get in trouble, so that was our plan and we followed it and let the race come to us, really.

Scott said: The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, you just don't come down here and decide to race this a month in advance; this takes a whole year of planning. We have a dedicated team back at our shop, about five core guys who work full time on this. Plus, there are another 20 volunteers who are with us at all the races, all the pre-running, all the planning. We just couldn't have done it without all of them. They are as much a part of this win as those of us riding in the truck. It just gives you that confidence when you're out in front and you don't want to have any mistakes they help us do that. Its really great that they posted (the virtual checkpoints) in advance so when we were pre-running and practicing, we knew exactly where to be and what we were supposed to do. They are all the same lines weve all been racing all these years. Always all the 30 years that I've been racing the fastest way is the racecourse. I can't tell you how many times I just take the racecourse and stay on it and stay focused and you go y all the guys that are trying to find the smooth route. Before this race, we decided that were going to race all the SCORE races next year.

All you need to be a fisherman is patience and a worm.
Herb Shriner

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Race Start Part Three

"Poets talk about "spots of time", but it is really the fishermen who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No one can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone. I shall remember that son of a bitch forever."
Norman Maclean

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Race Start Part Two

Final Words
An old man in his final breaths called in his family and said "I must apologize to you all. I suppose I haven't been the perfect father and husband. I shamefully admit that I spent as much of my life as I could in the woods and on the streams. I was rarely at home during the fishing seasons and I'll admit that I spent too much time at the fly shop, and too much money on rods and lines and reels." He paused here to rest for a minute, then continued. "I've been a terrible father and I hope you all forgive me." Then he paused again and looked around. Then he closed his eyes and smiled and said in a half whisper to himself, "and on the other hand....I have caught a helluva lot of trout."
Anonymous

GillBilly YouTube Video: SCORE 2009 Baja 1000 Race Start Part One

Testament of a Fisherman
I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

Robert Traver

GillBilly YouTube Video: San Diego in the 60's Part Four

Unless one can enjoy himself fishing with the fly, even when his efforts are unrewarded, he loses much real pleasure. More than half the intense enjoyment of fly fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings, the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease on life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant recollections of all one has seen, heard and done.
Charles F. Orvis

GillBilly YouTube Video: San Diego in the 60's Part Three

Fly-Fishing helps you understand just how unimportant your big real life problems really aren't.
Keith Myers

GillBilly YouTube Video: San Diego in the 60's Part Two

To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish.
Herbert Hoover

GillBilly YouTube Video: San Diego in the 60's Part One

Work is for those who do not know how to fish.
Author Unknown

GillBilly Report: Todos Santos Islands Surfing - November 8, 2009

Killers November 8th...

I once gave up fishing, it was the most terrifying weekend of my life.
Author Unknown

GillBilly Report: Todos Santos Islands Surfing - October 2009

Two trips to Killers October 23rd and 24th...

Unless one can enjoy himself fishing with the fly, even when his efforts are unrewarded, he loses much real pleasure. More than half the intense enjoyment of fly fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings, the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease on life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant recollections of all one has seen, heard and done.
Charles F. Orvis

GillBilly Report: S.S. CATALINA Removed From The Ensenada Harbor

As you entered Ensenada Harbor in the past you would have seen a curious sight to starboard that may have shivered your timbers. Half submerged and arising from the harbor mud was the carcass of a once proud ferry that served the run between California ports and Catalina in times past. For more than 20 years this navigation hazard kept vigilance on the busy port activities in Ensenada Harbor. Brought to Ensenada 26 years prior to serve as an entertainment center and gambling casino, the historic ship had been the subject of controversy for many years and now has been removed by the Port of Ensenada.

She was the million dollar steamship, in the days when a million dollars was a lot of money. She was built with chewing gum, or more correctly of steel, bought with the profits from a chewing gum empire created by Mr. William Wrigley, Jr., who happened to own an island about 24 miles off the coast of Southern California called Santa Catalina. The only major town on the island was Avalon, an almost Mediterranean-like setting, far removed from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, on the other side of the San Pedro Channel. By the 1920's, tourism to the island was booming, thanks in part to a strong economy and Mr. Wrigley's various enterprises on the island, including a training camp for his Chicago Cubs baseball team, and his own steamship line known as the Wilmington Transportation Company.

The new steamship S.S Catalina, was built in 1924 to provide additional capacity and more elegant transportation to the island. William Wrigley Jr., himself laid the keel on December 26, 1923 at the yards of the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Situated in the heart of Los Angeles harbor, this location later became the Todd Shipyard. The new ship was designated hull number 42. After a quick construction period the new vessel was ready to take to the water for the first time. Named for the island which she would serve, the S.S. Catalina was launched on May 3, 1924, by Miss Marcia A. Patrick, the daughter of Joseph Patrick, president of the Santa Catalina Island Company. The Mayor of Los Angeles, along with 3,000 other people were on hand to witness the event. A little over eight weeks later the ship commenced her maiden voyage from Wilmington, California to Avalon on June 30th, under the command of Captain A. A. Morris. Few on that first voyage could have envisioned that 25 million people would follow them onto those same decks, enjoying a 2 hour cruise to Catalina Island during an active career of 51 years!

The S.S. Catalina holds the honor of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But unlike the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum or the Mission San Fernando Rey, which share these accolades, the S.S. Catalina carried 25 million passengers in her heyday, and ferried more troops in World War II than any other military transport. A 2006 panga ride around the 302-foot-long, 52-foot wide vessel found much of the vessel's port railing stripped away, revealing a bizarre sight of sea lions bellied up to the U-shaped wooden bar where passengers once gathered to sip cocktails. Imagine the luminaries that once walked these decks!

I once gave up fishing, it was the most terrifying weekend of my life.
Author Unknown

GillBilly Report: Samoa Tsunami Account

This is from friends of the GillBilly who were cruising in Samoa

Sep.29,09 Earthquake/Tsunami report from American Samoa - Tuesday morning (Sep.29) I awoke after a fitful sleep at 5 a.m. I, then, made my way, in the dark, down to the phone station as a flock of giant fruit bats glided past me through the morning haze. I needed to make a call regarding parts that we needed shipped to Samoa to fix our broken head stay. (There is a 3 hour time difference with California.) As I returned to the boat a massive earthquake hit us. We were docked alongside a large cement wharf with 7 other sailboats. The earthquake lasted around 1 1/2 minutes and before it ended everyone was up and out of their boats.

We all exchanged comments on the magnitude of the earthquake and how long it lasted. After about 10 minutes everyone returned to their boats to start their day. I went below to get another hour of sleep and as I stepped down one of our crew members, Emily, was coming up. She was coming up do yoga on the dock. This is her normal morning onshore routine and luckily this early morning ritual gave us a slight warning to what happened next. A few minutes later, from below decks, I heard a heavy creaking and groaning. Then, we heard Emily yelling at us to get up topside. I jumped up on deck and all I could see was water rushing out and huge dripping pilings next to my head. I looked up 15 feet and saw Emily's shoes and heard her screaming at us to escape. Luckily, Matt had left his sharp knife by the companionway and I immediately began slashing the dock lines that weren't already broken by the strain. I fired up the engine.

Meanwhile, the boys were frantically pushing the boat away from the concrete pilings with their soon bloodied hands and yelling for Emily to run. The water was sucking out so much that all the sailboats around us were hitting bottom and leaning over on their sides. Somehow Banyan was in water just a little deeper. Emily was trying to climb back aboard the boat. As the boat sunk lower and lower the mast and the rigging leaned over and pushed against the cement dock where Emily was attempting to climb down. She was pressed hard against a giant fender tire and our wire rigging. After barely squeezing out she fell onto the deck of our boat. Amidst the panic she told me later that she then decided to climb back onto the tire and then the dock and make a run for it.

I was unaware of what was going on due to our canopy blocking my view I decided to quickly fire up the engine and slash the last line attached to our stern. I gunned the engine full throttle and headed out into the harbor. We made it about 15 feet away from the dock when I realized Emily wasn't on board. The next instant the water switched directions and came flooding back towards us. We went from almost dry land into a surge of water 30-40 feet high. I shoved the throttle to full and we actually traveled up the face of the oncoming tsunami wave. Luckily, the face was only a 45 or so degree angle. We were able to actually motor up and over it. The feeling was surreal. I must have put the throttle to full just has the surge hit us. The boat remained 15-20 feet from the dock and we miraculously held our ground against the incoming flow. From our vantage point we saw Emily wade through the rushing water to a light post on the dock. She clung to this post as the water began to rise ever higher.

The other six boats on the dock hadn't slashed their lines quickly enough, so as the water rose they all began to bunch up and smash against each other as they got crushed under the dock. The catamaran, directly in front of us, got one of her hulls stuck under the dock and was crushed as the water rose. Within seconds her bow snapped and the boat sprung into the air with a violent rush. Our eyes were glued to Emily as she clung to the light pole. Soon the water had risen above her head and she disappeared from our view. Mike and I frantically attempted to launch the dinghy in hopes of trying to save her. As soon as we launched the dinghy, with the motor attached, the force of the tsunamis surge hit us and the dingy instantly flipped over. At this time a sailboat on the other side of the dock broke free and was thrown up onto the dock.

The water had risen more than 30 feet and this 45-foot sail boat was soon sliding along the cement dock towards Emily clinging to her pole. Somehow, the captain fired up his engine, cut his lines and was able to motor off the dock narrowly avoiding the light pole. Soon the water sucked back out to sea and we could see Emily running from the light pole to the edge of the dock. We all frantically yelled at her to run to high ground. She then took off towards the dock gate and the side of the mountain. When a second surge hit us she actually struggled through waist deep water to make it to the end of the dock.

From the safety of our boat we peered through the binoculars and could see that she had made it to safety. It would be hours before we were finally able to find her again and to learn that she had run straight up the side of the jungle covered hill. It was a barefoot hike of more than 300 vertical feet. After reaching the summit she found a tree and climbed it to get a bird’s eye view of the whole bay. By this time the few sailboats that hadn't been damaged too badly made their way out to where we were circ ling around in deep water. We, then, heard frantic yelling coming from the boat that had been tied up directly behind us. I jumped in the dinghy and went over to see if I could help. The woman was hysterical. She told me her husband had fallen off the boat while attempting to cut the dock lines. She actually witnessed him getting sucked into the water and carried away.

We later learned from Emily that, from her vantage point on high ground, she could see huge whirlpools sucking docks and containers under water. I quickly went around the distraught woman’s boat and cleaned up her lines to avoid getting them sucked into the propeller. The next 3-4 hours were spent motoring around looking for Emily and the woman’s husband. After everything had subsided Mike jumped into the dinghy and I gave him a ride to shore in hopes of finding Emily somewhere. As we approached the dock we realized that our bicycle and generator were hanging by their chain cable off the side of the dock. We pulled them both dripping onto the dock. Mike jumped on the bike and set off through the disaster zone to look for Emily. Later Mike told us that he had gone to the head of the bay. He found a friend of ours whose boat was wrecked. His boat was stranded high up on a grassy bluff. Mike helped him unload his valuables as looters were instantly ransacking stores, shops and boats. It was total anarchy. When he turned around to continue his search for Emily he realized his bike had been stolen. He, then, returned on foot through the streets where gangs of teenagers were running rampant looting and bashing everything with sticks that they all carried. Somehow Mike followed a trail of people who had seen the white "palangi girl". He eventually found her at the top of the mountain still perched in a tree. We were completely relieved to hear the radio report from him stating that she was high, dry and uninjured.

I hope to have more reports on the aftermath once I get a chance. We are all pretty shaken, but so thankful to have escaped with no injuries. Our Banyan suffered no damage at all and we only received minor scrapes and cuts. Just today we finally fixed our headstay in a “jury rig” fashion with a chain extension. Under the circumstances that is the best repair that we can do and it will be fine. We are going to use some jib sails we salvaged (in place of our damaged self furling jib—damage not from tsunami, but done previously to arriving in Samoa) off a wrecked boat that we helped the owner unload. Everyone wants to leave this place.

There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process.
Paul O'Neil

Bill Poole the Legend Passes Away

Bill Poole, a legendary captain and leading pioneer of sportfishing in and beyond San Diego, has died after a struggle with lung cancer. He was 87.

Poole died Wednesday, October 21st at his San Diego home with his family by his side, said Betty Stein, his longtime secretary.

Poole, who started with a barge he purchased after World War II, became a boat builder who constructed or had a hand in the construction of many top vessels still operating. They include the Royal Polaris, Royal Star, American Angler and Spirit of Adventure. Many of them are long-range vessels that help make up the world's most sophisticated sportfishing fleet.

Poole's own spirit of adventure drove him to build boats that could be at sea for days and access remote areas off Mexico, where tuna, wahoo and other subtropical species teemed.

His passengers included the rich and famous, but the personable captain admired how fishing treated everyone equally. "It doesn't matter how much money you make, how many cars you drive or how expensive your car is," he once said. "When you step onto a boat to fish, the fish don't give a damn."

Poole also owned or was part-owner of sportfishing landings, marinas and other real estate in San Diego. His wife, Ingrid, said her husband had three passions: "Fishing, hunting and an entrepreneurial challenge."

Poole's hunting exploits were legendary: He once spent 57 days in pursuit of a trophy-size bighorn sheep in Wyoming. "He was a sheep nut and a 10-foot bear nut, and an elephant nut," said Ingrid Poole, who accompanied her husband on many hunting expeditions.

In the sportfishing industry, Poole was known as a throwback character who made loans based on trust and sealed deals with handshakes rather than contracts.

"What you saw is what you got; he was a man of his word," said Bob Fletcher, a friend of Poole's and a former commercial and sportfishing boat captain.

"We lost one of the monster pioneers of sportfishing; nobody else had that kind of impact on our industry," Fletcher said. Paul Morris, general manager of Fisherman's Landing, which was co-owned by Poole and Frank LoPreste, worked with Poole for 42 years.

"He was like a father to me," Morris said. "He was one of those guys who would talk to the employees like they were one of the guys. He treated them like they were part of the group."

In addition to his wife, Poole is survived by their six children: daughters Sandra Schafer, Sherri Thomas and Billie Zambroski; and sons Randy, Eric and Stine.

A memorial service will be held Nov. 25 in San Diego.

You will find angling to be like the virtue of humanity, which has a calmness of spirit and a world of blessing attending upon it.
Izaak Walton

THE GILLBILLY MOVIE SCREENPLAY

THE GILLBILLY MOVIE

INITIAL OUTLINE OF SCENERIOS

Play GillBilly Theme Song


Roll Titles and Credits

Open at sea on a glorious sunny day, fade into a shot of the transom of a huge sport fisher named the GillBilly with black smoke belching filth in the air from the exhaust pipes, scope out to the cockpit, Rockin’ Rod fishing with a GillBilly hat and shirt on, without a care in the world, surrounded by the best fishing gear in his cockpit, flat screen on in the salon showing a fishing show, cell phones everywhere, every style and kind, smoking a cigar and flicking it in Mother Ocean, drink in hand, playing Bobby Darin’s Beyond the Sea on the stereo, by himself, not getting a bite, no worries, Rod throws the cigar in the sea… the sun gets progressively darker with a smoggy haze, on the horizon a clutter of trash can be seen, and suddenly Rod realizes he is surrounded by the stuff, the boat starts to slowly spin on its center axis and a swirling vortex forms from the boat to the horizon, the yacht’s generator stops abruptly, the stereo starts playing slower and slower, Rod checks his battery meter, the battery voltage is in the red, the line he has in the water goes tight and his reel starts to whir and make that fish-on sound, Rod smiles with an air of superiority and reverses his hat, as above all this apparent adversity today, that’s his one gift in life, catching another fish, he grabs the rod and starts to reel in the line, it reaches the boat and the line starts to go in the swirling motion of the now totally foul cesspool that is surrounding his boat, he struggles with the current and pulls with a jerk on the rod and plop, the cigar he was smoking recoils out of the water and into his open mouth on his hook! Now an ugly black cinder cylinder, he spits it on his deck and the black goo from it seeps onto his deck and causes an ugly mess… the stereo stops and sputters and goes silent… he grabs every cell phone he has (big name paying recognition here as he names every phone he picks up, Blackberry Bold, etc.), they are all dead, as the sun goes down…

Rod gets thoroughly drunk in the dark, no moon, and falls asleep in a depressive mind-state and wonders out loud why he has been singled out for this unseemly situation. He wakes up and the sea is dark and brooding, no trash is apparent and the sea is placid and flat glassy, as if he was dreaming last night, he reaches for his stereo, still no battery juice, no music… he shakes his head and still drunk staggers and hits his head on the swim step as he falls in the water… the undersea life is suddenly colorful and alive with animated beauty. A wonder world of incredible and fantastic natural color and diverse creatures galore. Such a depart from the dark grey world he left behind when he fell into the water. Still dazed he struggles to get to the surface for a breath. Rod suddenly encounters Gnarly Charlie and realizes he can converse with the fish!!!! Gnarly Charlie teaches Rod how to breathe under water like fishes do saving him from drowning. Such a kind and friendly fish Rod is thinking, wondering why all his life he has been programmed to kill fish and fill his decks with fish blood. He thanks Gnarly Charlie and is confronted by a completely pissed off Drago the Dragon Fish, asking Gnarly why he saved this wrenched human that had invaded their space. Having been raised in a fish pen as a human experiment and having been put to sea by humans, Gnarly says he has a soft spot in his GillHeart for this man they now refer to as GillBilly after reading the name on his boat transom. Drago then goes into a long diatribe about his history of life as a prehistoric fish, the story is not pretty, and many flashback vignettes reveal why Drago is such a human hater… flashbacks to prehistoric times when Drago was a pup fish, and on thru the ages of human abuse of the sea he lives in daily, how many of his relatives and friends got caught by above the sea fisherman, growing pollution by trash, plastics and oil exploration, gillnetters and long liners, many shots here flipping between the animation world below the sea and the above the sea regular cinematography world covering centuries of pollution and Mother Ocean abuse by the humans. GillBilly is completely sympathetic to the new awareness he has been shown as an epiphany!!! He asks how he as a mere human (now feeling subservient to this beautiful group of new friends) can help to clear the air, the sea, and Mother Earth in its spiraling brown hazy and into the vortex state of existence. Drago spits out a pebble into GillBillys hand and asks him to grasp the pebble, and says he will teach GillBilly as best he can as a mere prehistoric fish to save the planet… so at this point they are acknowledging each other as equals and allies in the cause, both so small in the scope of the universe. Drago is the old salt in this world and well respected, all the sea creatures applaud this unification of effort. Fade with Eyes of the World by the Grateful Dead…

Fade into the scene at the docks at the Tip a Cap Marina, every guy walking on the docks has seemingly the same lame fishing shirt and hat on, the typical stuff, same boring genres and styles… groups of guys standing back and admiring their yachts, with all that fishing gear bling jewelry like Peewee Herman admiring his growing foil ball, GillBilly arrives and a bunch of guys help him tie up the boat, GillBilly recounts how a group of friendly fish ganged together after his fall into the sea and saved him and then guided him back to the port after the storm of pollution abated and allowed his yacht to function again. Oh brother they say, and they collectively now think GillBilly hit his head and whacked his brain. Rod is now labeled GillBilly by his peer group when he finds a change of mind toward his view of the sea and saving it for future generations. Before the term GillBilly was just a playful name of his yacht, now it is a stigmatizing slur toward his new found awareness of the plight of the sea. This sets up the pertinence of the line in the GB Theme Song as a hook, “come on and sing with me” as GillBilly is now the nucleus of a growing band of GREEN aware GillBilly partisans.

Down the dock strides a completely and totally rad fox of major proportions named Molly which just happens to be a marine biologist… she is lost and asks Rockin’ Rod where the yacht GillBilly is… since Rod’s boat is tied up stern out, she can’t see the name on his transom… she said she got an e-mail from an address, drago@dragonfish.com... stating that she should contact the GillBilly for his help in her new program now totally underfunded to save the sea. Rod introduces himself and aw-shucks about his nickname and this woman’s incredible natural and on point beauty, in his mind thanking Drago for the favor of her new found company. Flash back to Drago in his sea office with some kind of wireless connection to the internet allowing him to type on his water proof (Dell or whoever, name branding $ push) lapper the message… then for the first time GillBilly gets a mind telepathy message from Drago realizing he and Drago are now allowed to converse via GillBilly to DragoBilly wireless… now Rod’s mind is in a newly found state of spinning euphoric frydom, realizing he has probably met the love of his life interwoven with his ability to receive Drago’s telepathic messages… the newly bonding couple retire to the cozy Tip a Cap Marina Bumbling Banter Diner (which looks like a huge yellow submarine) featuring fish and chips… suddenly, Rod cannot eat fish, and Molly and him share a Caesars salad and fries… both sharing Mother Ocean is the source of all our future wellbeing. Fade with You Got Me Floatin’ by Jimi Hendrix…

Fade to the fishing tournament that Molly has been concerned about as to the rampant and non compliant fish capture regulations. Rod tags along with Molly to the tournament weigh-in area, as the boats arrive with their catch of the day… the first boat arrives with a dead and 3 month old big decaying black fish (the eyes are white and the fish is black and covered in flies. The cheating fisherman got so violent, it was necessary for the police to take him to jail!) that was kept on ice for the tournament… foul… the next boat arrives with a fish that because of the gear on the boat was not caught legally and was deemed to have been bought from a local fish pen… foul… meanwhile Drago arrives under sea and telepathically informs Rod of his arrival and says there is a surprise coming for these fishing contestants, just watch… the next boat arrives and has its fish furled in a burlap bag, as they open the bag, and pop the catch onto the weigh scale, out comes a completely outlandish and pirate cursing animated “fish” proclaiming himself to be Fish Eye Ty, horrified the scalers throw this half fish/half man apparition back into the water and all the sea creatures including the GillBilly get a big laugh, Molly has no clue but as Rod laughs she joins in… heartily… fade in the Seaside Town song with a video of Rod and Molly having good times, riding ATVs on the beach, bobbing for apples, trying on matching track suits, visiting the fair and being both ends of a horse costume and the GillBilly being the ass end, sharing a messy chocolate dipped cone, visiting the fish market and frowning at the dead fish and smiling at the live lobsters in the tank… buying them all and releasing them at the bay… and they then talk to each other on cell phones across the table at the Bumbling Banter Diner… sharing kisses and rubbing noses… getting bad cell disconnected, looking at their phones and throwing them aside into their beer mugs and hugging… fade out.

Baja Marimba Band / Samba de Orpheu played as we pan the coastline and telescope from an extremely far distant shot to Rod on the stern of his yacht. Enter the bad guy, Fibber McFish and his clan of merry fish marauders. They cruise into the Tip a Cap Marina with an all black yacht named the Tractor Beam from the port of Optical Tweezer. A strange name for a yacht thinks Rod, and that port name sure did not ring a bell, as he sits out on his stern having morning coffee as the boat chugs by to the fuel dock spewing black smoke. Rod tips his cap to the Tractor Beam crew, which is the marina custom, but they just stare at him with glassy eyes like half crazed dogs… reminds Rod of the looks on the faces of his Fishing Anonymous classmates, he once attended, which of course did not work in his attempt to stop his bad fishing habits, now suddenly cured by his meeting with his new undersea friends….

STAY TUNED FOR MORE…

Pablito Launches GillBilly Fish Conservation Public Service Campaign

Ever faithful to the cause of fish conservation and ocean awareness, our friend Pablito has again thrown his angler angst into the fray. He reminds you to only catch and keep what you can eat and to always practice the GillBilly creed...

Catch and release to keep the ocean's peace!

Pablito has also contributed his time when not on the sea baiting a hook to appear in this fish conservation animation...

PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.

GillBilly Tribute to the Kennedy Brothers

IN MEMORY OF BOBBY, TEDDY AND JACK

Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are made for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration.
Izaac Walton

GillBilly YouTube Video: Baja GillBilly Fishing Adventure

Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
Henry David Thoreau

GillBilly YouTube Video: Sea Show

Today, fishery managers are continuing to ignore the law and allow unsustainable fishing for too many of our economically and ecologically important fish. It`s time to listen to the science and put long-term sustainability ahead of short-term profits.
Mark Powell

GillBilly YouTube Video: Gun Show

The only thing bad about winning the pennant is that you have to manage the All-Star Game the next year. I`d rather go fishing.
Andrew Lindberg

GillBilly Report: Mexico Decriminalizes Drug Possession

Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession
(AP) 8-20-2009

MEXICO CITY — Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment for drug dependency.

The law defines "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamines. People detained with those quantities no longer face criminal prosecution when the law goes into effect on Friday.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory — although the law does not specify penalties for noncompliance.

In 2006, the U.S. government publicly criticized a similar bill. Then-President Vicente Fox sent that law — which did not have a mandatory treatment provision — back to Congress for reconsideration.

The maximum amount considered to be for "personal use" under the new law is 5 grams of marijuana — the equivalent of two or three joints — or a half-gram of cocaine. The limit for methamphetamine is 40 milligrams, and 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

The law was approved by Congress before it recessed in late April, and President Felipe Calderon — who is leading a major offensives against drug cartels — waited most of the summer before enacting it.

Calderon's original proposal would have required first-time detainees to complete treatment or face jail time. But the lower house of Congress, where Calderon's party was short of a majority, weakened the bill.

Mexico has emphasized the need to differentiate between addicts or casual consumers and the violent drug traffickers whose turf battles have contributed to the deaths of over 11,000 people during Calderon's term. And in the face of growing domestic drug use, Mexico has increased its focus on prevention and drug treatment.

Sen. Pablo Gomez of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party praised the legislation: "This law achieves the decriminalization of drugs, and in exchange, offers government recovery treatment for addicts."

Previously, all drug possession was punishable by stiff jail sentences, with some leeway for those considered addicts and caught with smaller amounts. In practice, relatively few people were prosecuted and sentenced to jail for small-time possession.

While the United States openly expressed concern about the 2006 law, this time around it has been more circumspect.

Asked about the new law in July, U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said he would adopt a "wait-and-see attitude."

"If the sanction becomes completely nonexistent I think that would be a concern, but I actually didn't read quite that level of de facto (decriminalization) in the law," said Kerlikowske, who heads the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Whether the law's proposed sanctions "are actually enough or not, I'm not sure," he said.

The only reason I played golf was so that I could afford to go hunting and fishing.
Sam Snead

GillBilly YouTube Video: VISIT HIREVETERANS.COM!

Brought to you by HireVeterans.com, America's most respected job board for U.S. Military Veterans.

Hire Veterans is Job Search Board for U.S. Military Veterans and World Class Employers. Veterans returning to civilian employment use Hire Veterans to find Career Opportunities, Veterans jobs, Hiring Veterans, Jobs for Veterans.

We`re not going to untie the boats until we get a reasonable price to go fishing. We love to fish, but you can`t keep doing it if it`s a losing proposition. We haven`t been offered a price that`s worth us going fishing for.
Larry Collins

GillBilly YouTube VIDEO PRODUCTION TEAM FOR HIRE!

The video presentations on our YouTube channel were created by True Traveler Publishing. If you are interested in saving and sharing your keepsake photos in a YouTube video production, contact us at sitka@truetraveler.com. We also can perform aerial radio control photo and video assignments. Many of the YouTube videos you see on our YouTube channel were done for clients. References available from satisfied customers.

Visit our YouTube Channel; http://www.youtube.com/SITKASAILS


Hell, if I`d jumped on all the dames I`m supposed to have jumped on, I`d have had no time to go fishing.
Clark Gable

GillBilly Video Tribute to Walter Cronkite

I didn`t show up at the ceremony to collect any of my first three Oscars. Once I went fishing, another time there was a war on, and on another occasion, I remember, I was suddenly taken drunk.
John Ford

Introducing the GillBilly Movie Project!

GillBilly - The Movie

This is an appeal to those that would like to benefit the fishing industry in this rather difficult economic environment, and who would also like to help promote and propel a new project designed to expose more adults and young people to fishing as a healthy family life experience. Thus bringing a greater green awareness of ocean and fish ecology. The project needs investors, screenwriters and any connections that may be usable in the film and animation trades. Your interest and support will be greatly appreciated!

Visit the GillBilly Movie Development Blog and Help Us Create the Movie by Adding Your Idea Comments.

Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.
Herbert Hoover

NEW: Movie Theme Song and New GillBilly Songs

Powered by iSOUND.COM

Songs by Brian Jay Cline

Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes.
Don Marquis

Pablito Launches GillBilly Fish Conservation Public Service Campaign

Ever faithful to the cause of fish conservation and ocean awareness, our friend Pablito has again thrown his angler angst into the fray. He reminds you to only catch and keep what you can eat and to always practice the GillBilly creed...

Catch and release to keep the ocean's peace!

Pablito has also contributed his time when not on the sea baiting a hook to appear in this fish conservation animation...

PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.

NEW: YouTube Formula One Photos 1970 Video

In 22 states parents can’t take kids fishing and eat the fish if they’re lucky enough to catch anything because of mercury. Think about that. In 44% of all river bodies and streams it’s not safe to fish or swim. And yet industrial polluters continue...
Senator John Kerry

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Fourteen

Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed,turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self.
Ted Hughes

NEW: YouTube Baja Girls Softball Video Part Two

I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish,
except we like it and it makes us think and feel.
Roderick L. Haig-Brown

NEW: YouTube Baja Girls Softball Video Part One

The Baja Beach Bash softball tournament held the 20th and 21st of June, 2009 was won by the Calexico Dynasty team. The Dynasty team is coached by David Jimenez, Gabriel Jimenez, Bobby Lucero and Griselda de la Cruz. Girls softball being played in the Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico area. Videos captured by the Baja Wanderer at http://www.bajasoftball.com/, visit the site to learn how you too can contribute to this worthy cause. We all can contribute to this growing community enterprise and the welfare of the future generation of these female children, often lacking in life goals and impoverished.

Video produced by http://www.truetraveler.com/

If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business.
Alfred W. Miller

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Thirteen

All Americans believe that they are born fishermen. For a man to
admit a distaste for fishing would be like denouncing mother-love
or hating moonlight.
John Steinbeck

NEW: YouTube Discover the Friendly Gray Whales Video

Discover the Friendly Baja California, Mexico Gray Whales! A recent trip south to the Kuyimá Camp to see the Gray Whales deliver their new calves to the sea and breed yielded a very special and unique adventure. The road to the San Ignacio Lagoon, perhaps the most pristine whale sanctuary on the planet, winds down the Baja peninsula through many different terrain and foliage contrasts. One minute you will be skirting the sea, and an hour later in the midst of the desert. The Baja Trans-peninsular highway is paved and in good repair for the 400 miles that you will travel to the little ciudad of San Ignacio. The last 38 miles to the Kuyimá Camp is a typical Baja dirt washboard path, kept up properly as this is an important tourist trail to see the gray whales in their indigenous environment.

Fly-fishing is the most fun you can have standing up.
Arnold Gingrich

NEW: YouTube Baja 500 Race Video Part Six

Angling may be said to be so like mathematics that it
can never be fully learnt.
Izaak Walton.

NEW: YouTube Baja 500 Race Video Part Five

Fishing's relaxing, man. Most relaxing thing in my life. It's therapy for me.
I don't think about business... sports. All I think about is catching the next fish.
Deion Sanders

NEW: YouTube Baja 500 Race Video Part Four

It is to be observed that "angling" is the name given to fishing by people who can't fish.
Stephen B. Leacock

NEW: YouTube Baja 500 Race Video Part Three

Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self.
Ted Hughes

NEW: YouTube Baja 500 Race Video Part Two

A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end
and a fool on the other.
Samuel Johnson

NEW: YouTube Baja 500 Race Video Part One

Enjoy thy stream, O harmless fish;
And when an angler for his dish,
Through gluttony's vile sin,
Attempts, the wretch, to pull thee out,
God give thee strength, O gentle trout,
To pull the rascal in!
John Wolcot

NEW: YouTube Cheoy Lee Sailboat For Sale video

Built to Lloyds standards these are classic blue water yachts. Many have crossed oceans and many are being restored to continue to sail the worlds oceans. Built in HONG KONG and designed by some of the worlds best known Naval Architects - Bill Luders, Taylor Newell, John Alden, Maury DeClerck, Dave Pedrick, Philip Rhodes, Robert Perry, Ray Richards, Arthur Robb, Tord Sunden, Sparkman & Stephens, Laurent Giles, & Charles Wittholz. Cheoy Lee built over 4500 yachts from the 1950's through the 80's.

FOR SALE:
1986 Cheoy Lee Pedrick 36 Sloop s/v Sitka
$80,000 USD
Located - Ensenada, Baja, Mexico in a secure exclusive marina.
Click here for;
Specification sheet
Original brochure from Cheoy Lee
E-mail contact: sitka@truetraveler.com
http://www.truetraveler.com/

If our Father had had his say, nobody who did not know how to catch a fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching him.
Norman Maclean

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Twelve

Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it...
Harry Middleton

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Eleven

Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand have I been less than in a place that was less than beautiful.
Charles Kuralt

GillBilly Humor: New 20 Peso Bill?

There is only one theory about angling in which I have perfect confidence, and this is that the two words, least appropriate to any statement, about it, are the words "always" and "never".
Lord Edward Grey

CONDRON.US - Blog surfing at its BEST!

CONDRON.US

Join the community!

This forum is a great way to gain exposure for your blog and meet potential readers.

Submitting your blog to the Condron.us blogroll exposes your blog to a large number of potential readers every day.

Adding your blog to a specific channel will increase your ability to reach your target audience.

There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process.
Paul O'Neil

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Ten

"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
John 21:3

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Nine

One fish. Two fish. Red fish. Blue fish. Black fish. Blue fish. Old fish. New fish. This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are.
Dr. Seuss

New! APL Panama Container Ship Grounding Video

Most fishermen swiftly learn that it's a pretty good rule never to show a favorite spot to any fisherman you wouldn't trust with your wife.
John Voelke

GillBilly French Toasted Salmon Sandwich

These excellent sandwiches are dipped in egg mixture then grilled, similar to Monte Cristo sandwiches.

Ingredients:
* 1 can (7 1/2 ounces) salmon, drained and flaked
* 1/3 cup chopped celery
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
* 8 slices bread
* butter
* 1 egg
* 2/3 cup milk

Preparation:
Combine flaked salmon, celery, pepper, mayonnaise, and relish, blending well with a fork. Spread equal amounts of salmon mixture on 4 slices of bread; cover with remaining 4 slices of bread. Heat butter in a heavy skillet over medium low heat. Beat egg with milk. Dip sandwiches carefully in the egg mixture, then brown on both sides in hot butter in skillet.

I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't.
John Gierach

GillBilly Invitation: Join us for the Cinco de Mayo Party!

You can observe a lot just by watching.
Yogi Berra

New! The Second GillBilly SCORE 2009 Baja 250 Race Video

I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution.
John Gierach

New! GillBilly SCORE 2009 Baja 250 Race Video

Creeps and idiots cannot conceal themselves for long on a fishing trip.
John Gierach

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Eight

The solution to any problem - work, love, money, whatever - is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be."
John Gierach

GillBilly Lobster Chowder

Ingredients:
1 pound lobster.
1 scant teaspoonful salt.
1 quart milk.
1 1/2 salt spoonful white pepper.
3 crackers.
1/4 salt spoonful cayenne pepper.
1/4 cup butter.

Boil one quart of milk.Roll three crackers fine; mix with them one fourth of a cup of butter, and the green fat of the lobster.

Season with one scant teaspoonful of salt, half a salt spoonful of white pepper, and one fourth of a salt spoonful of cayenne pepper.

Pour the boiling milk gradually over the paste.

Put it back in the double boiler; add the lobster meat cut into dice; let it boil up once, and serve.

There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a gentleness of spirit and a pure sincerity of mind.
Washington Irving

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Seven

Smoked carp tastes just as good as smoked salmon when you ain't got no smoked salmon.
Patrick F. McManus

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Six

There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home.
Roderick Haig-Brown

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Five

Angling is extremely time consuming. That's sort of the whole point.
Thomas McGuane

GillBilly Salutation: Postcard Style Photo Greeting!

GREETINGS FROM BAJA!

In every species of fish I've angled for, it is the ones that have got away that thrill me the most, the ones that keep fresh in my memory. So I say it is good to lose fish. If we didn't, much of the thrill of angling would be gone.
Ray Bergman

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Four

The Reef Crew Rips Baja!

Part One

If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere.
Vincent Van Gogh

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Three

I've gone fishing thousands of times in my life, and I have never once felt unlucky or poorly paid for those hours on the water.
William Tapply

GillBilly Salutation: Postcard Style Photo Greeting!

GREETINGS FROM BAJA!

My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.
Koos Brandt

GillBilly Salutation: Happy Easter!

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
Henry David Thoreau

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part Two

Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting.
Dave Barry

Gillbilly Article: FISHERMAN!!! (baithookerous castoferous)

I really don’t like to be up quite this early, my typical target time to rise is 8 am and here in my peaceful Baja marina and I can usually roll around ‘till then in overly padded bow bunk rest and relaxation. Unless of course, that one seagull that has roosted on one of the boats nearby decides to trumpet at the first light of day- as I say in my books, if they only tasted like chicken, we would all have many a free bird bar-be-que! How that one seagull seems to find me when I visit my boat in the states, I’ll never know… I digress, the reason I am listening to the 3930th consecutive Sunday pre-dawn broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the renewed attack of the creature of the depths commonly known as “weekend fisherman guy”. This morning he employed a new means of torment in the waning dark of night to shock my senses from post-rem sleep, absolutely brilliant… dropping bags of ice right next to my bow on the cement dock. I assume this was a necessary pre-casoff ritual, but did they have to drop the bags from over their heads more that 20 times to get just the right ice consistency? Please don’t get me wrong; I realize the necessity of this primeval race in the food chain and many a little 2 inch fish in the marina would not survive as long into their golden gill years if some bored reverse hat wearing “dude” hadn’t pulled them onto their hook and returned them to the sea after a grin of supreme authority and prowess.

Showing their parents that the wise investment in a new toy (a few hundred thousand dollar boat and a lot of fuel) can show a return (a few fish) is a noble endeavor, although by now that probably isn’t a valued priority in the parental offspring monitoring process. That spare room was now long ago left empty by that rebellious youth; and now has been converted into a room for such crafts as gluing colored gravel onto a framed palette to form an elongated cat to make something called a “mosaic”, or storing that 20 volume home improvement set of books where Johnny used to stack his Black Sabbath albums. A CD collection and a rack of fashionable gold Penn reels have now replaced the old album collection. Standing back with the crew and admiring the docked jewelry reminds one of Pee-Wee Herman admiring his growing scrap foil ball.

The ice bag wielding squad jumped in their boat and I don’t quite know how they did this, but they started the boat, put it in gear and left all in one motion, as of the boat was already adrift in the slip. A contrast to the boat that is warmed up for seemingly an hour and smokes heavy un-burnt diesel fuel into surrounding hatches. Occasionally one can manage to go back to sleep during the idling process only to be awakened by the cavitations of swirling props fighting to gain purchase on the ocean for forward and reverse motion. If this somewhat stealthy sound creeps into your dream you may think you are being sucked into a vortex or up a straw.

Later that day, upon completion of the day of fish kill blood lust, the returning troop that was a bit too preoccupied by emptying beer cans must now find a place to clean the newly captured booty. Yesterday, a neighbor who has just bought his first fish finding machine took over a half-hour cleaning one fish in surgeon-like precision, not wanting to waste a tasty bite. All the scrap was bagged and put in the trash, so absolutely no scavenging seagulls were attracted. Good show matey! He was then visited by a more seasoned “weekend fisherman guy” who proceeded to show him his patented speed fish cleaning process. How he didn’t cut off a finger or throw the scraps into the drink as a matter of habit, I don’t know. The practice of tossing fish skeletons into the marina waters is forbidden by marina rules, but is often violated by visiting polluting pirates. There is a Hoover bull seal that resides in the marina that cleans the carcasses as they are tossed, but unfortunately he can’t clean the gull guano that dries like cement on the surrounding boats and docks.

We marina residents that witness the arrival of all this pomp and color on Thursday thru Saturday are all rewarded for our patience by the exodus on Sunday and the restored peace on Monday. Anchoring out every weekend to escape the carnage is simply not an option. I keep telling the “weekend fisherman guy” about the fish market in Ensenada, but for some reason he is programmed to bypass the trip there and instead hit the bait dock to purchase little fishes designed to catch bigger fishes. What a concept!

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.
Doug Larson

NEW: YouTube Baja Surf Photo Show Part One

I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there.
Robert Altman

TRUE TRAVELER PUBLISHING Slideshow: RACE MEMORABILIA PHOTO Video

NEW RACE MEMORABILIA PHOTO VIDEO FROM TRUE TRAVELER PUBLISHING!



Click here to visit the TRUE TRAVELER PUBLISHING website!

An angler is a man who spends rainy days sitting around on the muddy banks of rivers doing nothing because his wife won't let him do it at home.
Author Unknown

GillBilly Bacon and Tuna Hash

Preparation time: 10 min, Cooking time: 35 min, Cals per serving: 328

Ingredients
450 g (1 lb) new potatoes, cut into small chunks
25 g (1 oz) butter
125 g (4 oz) streaky bacon or lardons, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) strips
1 large onion, roughly chopped
125 g (4 oz) pitted green or black olives, chopped
200g fresh tuna flaked
Fresh coriander sprigs to garnish
Cooked rice

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 5 to 10 minutes or until beginning to soften. Drain and set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan, add the bacon and cook on a medium heat until beginning to brown, then add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft.Add the potatoes and olives.Turn down the heat and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Using a spatula, turn the hash over and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes, turning every now and again. Add the tuna and cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes or until the potatoes are done to the centre and the tuna is hot.

4. Serve on a bed of cooked rice. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with coriander sprigs.

Serves: 4

An angler is a man who spends rainy days sitting around on the muddy banks of rivers doing nothing because his wife won't let him do it at home.
Author Unknown

New! BETWEEN THE LINES PREMIER Video

BETWEEN THE LINES BY PURE FRUSTRATION PRODUCTIONS HONORED WITH X-DANCE AWARDS!


"Launched in 2001, X-Dance runs alongside the Sundance Film Festival, and is widely considered the Academy Awards of the action sports world."

Press Release from Ty Ponder, the Producer of the film on January 21, 2009
We are very pleased to announce that Between the Lines was the winner of the BEST DOCUMENTARY award and nominated for the BEST DIRECTOR award at the 2009 X-Dance Film Festival. It is truly an honor to receive this award, especially considering the extraordinary films produced this year.

Narrated by JOHN MILIUS
(Apocalypse Now - Big Wednesday)

SYNOPSIS

BETWEEN THE LINES explores the Vietnam War through the prism of the surfing sub-culture. The film offers unique insight into the dramatic effect that the Vietnam War and draft had on young American men who rode waves.


Between the Lines explores the choice that most draft age surfers faced during the Vietnam War era: either go to war or evade the draft. It was one or the other. Between the Lines delves into the lives of two surfers who choose opposite paths. Pat Farley and Brant Page.


While following the lives of these two surfers the film chronicles the impact of the Vietnam War on the surfing lifestyle. From the peaceful shores of Hawaii to the canopy jungles of Vietnam, Between the Lines excavates the surfing cultures response to an extraordinary circumstance.

“Between The Lines” opens with narrator John Milius setting the tone: “Soldiers and surfers. Two identities, seemingly opposite. But when the concepts collide, as they did during the Vietnam War, and surfers are told to become soldiers, choices have to be made.”

“This is the soil from which APOCALYPSE NOW grew out of; it's as simple as that.” “Between The Lines reveals a chapter of the war not widely known, outside the fiction of Duvall's character and his famous line, ‘Charlie don't surf.’”
- John Milius

“Today, young surfers aren't faced with the horrifying decision of going to war or becoming a fugitive.”
- Scott Bass, BTL producer

“An Extraordinary, compassionate, and compelling documentary.”
- Drew Kampion, The Surfers Path

“You did a wonderful job and helped me to untie a few more knots. It sat with me all night.”
- John Prietto, Vietnam combat veteran & Army lifeguard

“A refreshing account of an unconventional Vietnam”
- Jannette Angelle,Veterans Today

Oceanside, CA Screening
California Surf Museum, April 18
Screening at Grace Chapel, 102 N. Freeman St.
Benefiting the California Surf Museum.
For pending time and ticketing information please check
the California Surf Museum website http://www.surfmuseum.org/index.html
The DVD is available now and will be in most surf shops next week.
Visit the films website at http://betweenthelinesfilm.com/

The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.
Babylonian Proverb