"The Fortune is still hauled out of the water," wrote owner-skipper Bruce Smith about his new boat December 14, "and sitting in the Knight and Carver boat yard in South Bay San Diego. This is a routine semi-annual haul out required by the Coast Guard, but would have been done anyway so that I could see what kind of shape the running gear (propellers, shafts, struts, etc.) was in. We had a lot of build-up on the hull and props, most of which came off with a high-powered hose, but the props were taken away yesterday by Wilmington propeller to be balanced and cupped. With the clean hull and improvement on the props I am expecting to get much better fuel consumption and speed. Other than that, bottom side Coast Guard inspection went very well. We are doing a little bit of painting and in the process of totally resealing the rails. We are hoping to be back in the water and at Fisherman's Landing this Friday.

"This weekend, Saturday the 17th, I will be on Let"s Talk Hook-up 1090 AM at 07:00. Pete, Rock Cod Rick and I will be talking about the Fortune, upcoming plans, improvements to the boat and who will be working this year as crew."