The Great Marlin Race

Back Home - and the Race Nears Full-Swing

2011-08-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

The 2011 HIBT was a fantastic success, and the 2011 HIBT Great Marlin Race has also gotten off to a great start! When fishing started on Monday morning, we already had 5 tags sponsored - which speaks volumes to the degree to which the billfishing community has gotten behind the Great Marlin Race program. It is really exciting to have so many folks who wanted to get involved right off the bat!

The boats blast off at the "Start Fishing" call

By the end of the week we had a full complement of ten tags sponsored - and five tags already deployed. So far in the week following the end of the tournament, three more tags have been deployed (for a total of eight) - and the last two are out on boats today, in hopes that they'll find their way on to a cooperative marlin.

I'll be updating the website in the coming days with complete lists of teams and sponsors and getting the interactive map finished up - as well as providing any breaking news about tags reporting, etc. So keep checking back often! Also - in addition to updating the website, blogging and tweeting, I do send out blast e-mails as well whenever any significant event occurs. If you'd like to be added to the list, feel free to send an email to: randy@greatmarlinrace.org and I'll make sure your name is there!

As always,

Here We Go Again!

2011-07-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Since my arrival in Kona on Friday afternoon, it has been a whirlwind of activity. We started with the Charter Boat Meeting right after I arrived, where all the excellent captains and crew members were briefed on the rules and expectations for the tournament. It was fun seeing so many familiar faces - and to meet some folks whom I've been wanting to meet for a long time.

On Saturday the teams started arriving to register. I was really struck by how international this tournament is - with representative teams from all around the globe.

The team briefing is in full swing!

Sunday morning was the team briefing, followed by the HIBT Kona Parade. Who doesn't love a billfish parade?

The Laguna Niguel Billfish Club showing their true colors...

Sunday evening was capped off with a wonderful party at the Hale Halawai. Among the highlights of this annual event is the singing of the national anthems of each and every country in the tournament. It is really a treat to see all the teams of each nation gather up front to sing along with the orchestra.

And this morning I had to hit the dock at 0600, with tags and poles rigged and ready to be handed off to the angling teams as they board the boats. A total of six tags went out this morning - and although fishing has been good, I don't believe any have been deployed yet. I'll keep you posted!

Opening morning at Kailua Pier

Also - if you just can't wait for the blogs, I've also set up a Twitter feed which (if my thumbs will cooperate), will allow me to give minute-by-minute updates when exciting stuff happens! You can follow along @greatmarlinrace.

Aloha!

Exciting Times Indeed!

2011-01-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been very exciting indeed for the Great Marlin Race. It was an amazing experience to assemble the tracks as the final datasets came in, and see for the first time where all the marlin had gone, and how the tracks from 2010 compared to the ones we got in 2009.

Pacific blue marlin tracks from the Great Marlin Race

2009 (orange) and 2010 (white)

When you see the tracks on top of one another, there are both similarities and differences that really stand out. For instance, there seems to be a corridor, of sorts, to the southeast of Hawaii that several marlin followed both in 2009 and in 2010. However, whereas several of the 2009 fish went on to head south towards the Marquesas, in 2010 we saw a broader diversity of destinations - both further west and further east. It will be interesting to do more analysis on these tracks, to examine the underlying oceanography and see if we can get some clues as to why they may have done one thing one year, and something else in the next. The take-home message, though, is that it is important to observe these kinds of migrations for several years running before making any broad generalizations about behavior, or the factors that shape it.

It has also been a very exciting time to look ahead to the future of the Great Marlin Race. We have already received a grant from West Marine to support a tag in 2011, and we are working with a variety of other corporations, foundations and individuals to help our billfish research and conservation programs to continue to develop and to grow in the years ahead. I look forward to sharing more information here as the details fall into place!

Finally, as always, I want to express our deepest gratitude to all the people who have supported, and continue to support the Great Marlin Race program. To the anglers, captains and crews and all the folks at the HIBT, to the staff here at Hopkins Marine Station and the Center for Ocean Solutions, thank you for an amazing year!

Nine Tags a Leaping

2010-12-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

What an amazing race this has been!!! We're now 137 days after the first tag was deployed, and we have nine tags that successfully reported in - including a race leader that traveled 2,282 nautical miles to the east, breaking the 2009 winner's distance of 2,225 nautical miles. (It is worth noting that one marlin tagged in 2009 with a non-race tag actually went a bit further, at 2,651 nautical miles.)

Nine out of ten tags have reported in so far!

I suppose it is fitting for the season that our latest tag came up not far from Christmas Island (although it was actually closer to Washington Island).

So on that note, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - in which we will officially declare the winner of our 2010 Great Marlin Race!

We're in the home stretch!

2010-11-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

With just a few weeks to go, we have six tags up and four still in the water. As we approach the final days of the race, I check the satellite system every day for new pop-ups - hoping that we see a new tag from a marlin that has traveled further than the last one; and when there isn't one, hoping that means the remaining tags are still out there, being carried to still more distant places. We'll certainly know more in the next few weeks - with the final tags due to pop up by the end of December.

By any measure, this has already been a very successful year - and with luck, the best might be yet to come! We had great participation in the race, with ten tags sponsored. We've already received a grant from West Marine for a tag in the 2011 race, and we've been contacted by several other organizations expressing an interest in getting involved one way or another. As we had hoped, it appears that our program is beginning to grow!

Needless to say, none of that would have been possible without the fantastic support the Great Marlin Race has received from everyone involved. From the folks at the HIBT and our various sponsors, to the anglers, captains and crews to put the tags out, to the data management teams who help us do our work - the GMR simply wouldn't happen without the generous contributions of a great many indivduals.

So for all of you, as we begin the Holiday Season, please accept my warmest wishes and deepest thanks.

Halfway through the Race, and half the tags are up!

2010-10-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

The past several weeks have been really amazing here at our lab. As many of you know, for the past 10 years we have been leading the "Tagging of Pacific Predators" (TOPP) program, which is one of the field programs of the global Census of Marine Life. Over the past decade the TOPP team has put out more than 4,300 tags on 23 different species of open ocean animals, including whales, sharks, tunas, seabirds, seals, sea lions, turtles and even squid. We've amassed more than 335,000 days of tracking data - and in the end, we've learned a lot about how the open ocean ecosystem works. The Great Marlin Race is one of several "TOPP Partner" programs, which have contributed even more data, from a wider variety of species, to the TOPP effort.

Last week in London we celebrated "A Decade of Discovery" in London, with the public roll-out of all the Census findings. If you've watched the news at all, you probably saw something about this. It was really an amazing event, and it has really been an honor to be part of such a monumental scientific achievement.

In case you didn't see the website, we did have a couple more tags pop up since my last update. We had one tag report from about 775 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii, in the same general vicinity of the two tags that preceded it; and then we had another one show up 1363 nm away - much further east than the other tags we've seen so far.

So we're now roughly halfway through the race, and we've heard from 5 of the 10 tags we deployed. We're starting to see some interesting tracks from the first three tags, which I'll be sharing with you soon. And as always, I'll be checking for more tags to come up!

Best wishes,

Randy

Another one?!

2010-09-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's always a surprise when a new tag comes up - and the third tag of the race was no exception. I think the biggest surprise was that it was still so close to Kona. With all the other marlin we've tagged thus far, by the time they had been at liberty for a month they were at least 500 miles or away.

I want to extend my thanks to the Fish 10 co-sponsors - the Hilton Grand Vacations Club of Japan and the Pajaro Valley Gamefish Club #1. I'm sorry you didn't win the race, but we sure appreciate your support!

If there is any consolation to be had, I suppose it is that this tag went further than the one the Pajaro Valley guys sponsored last year - which made it only 62 miles, and stayed on for just 8 days. We're going in the right direction - and 2011 might just be your year!

Two tags are up and the word is out!

2010-09-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of September! Summer is over, kids are back in school, and I'm wishing I were back in Kona!

Fortunately, there are lots of exciting things to share. First and foremost, we had two tags pop up late last week - both southeast of Hawaii, and in the same region as last year around the same time - 500 and 691 nautical miles from Kona. As soon as the tags finish sending us their data, and the satellite sea surface temperature readings are all in, we'll be posting tracks for these two tags. In the mean time, of course, we'll be keeping our eyes open for more tags popping up, and will keep everyone posted.

We've also had some excellent press coverage - with a fantastic article in IGFA's International Angler, as well as Pacific Coast Sportfishing. And just today the Stanford News Service put together a fantastic piece about the Great Marlin Race - which will likely generate additional press coverage in other places. Check back on the Media Coverage page to see what other news we've made.

I am also really excited to announce that the Great Marlin Race has just received a Marine Conservation Grant from our friends at West Marine! They have a long-standing commitment to marine research and conservation, and we are really excited to be working with them to help this program continue to develop and grow.

There are lots of other things in the works - I'll be posting more news here as the details emerge!

Best wishes!

WHEW! All the tags are out!!!

2010-08-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

I just hung up the phone with Bob Kurz, the HIBT event coordinator for the Great Marlin Race. He let me know that the final tags went out yesterday, just ten days after the tournament ended. There are now ten tags in the water, and the Great Marlin Race is really under way!

Just to make sure it is clear - each tag is programmed to come up after 120 days at sea, and that clock doesn't start ticking until the tag is actually put on a marlin. Because the Race is based on which fish travels the furthest from Kona, all ten fish have and equal shot at winning - regardless of whether they were tagged first or last.

For the next few months we'll be checking our systems daily to see if any tags have come up - for as we saw in the 2009 Great Marlin Race, sometimes tags pop up ahead of schedule. As tags report in and their data are recovered, we'll be updating the site and sending out reports to keep everyone informed of our progress. Once we've passed the date when the final tags are due up, and there is no possibility of additional tags reporting in (around the end of the year), we'll announce the final results of the Race.

Once again I want to send out a huge thank you to all the sponsors, the anglers and teams, captains and crews and HIBT staff and volunteers who helped make the 2010 Great Marlin Race possible. This year's race is off to a fantastic start thanks to all of you!

The tournament is over, but the Race is just getting under way

2010-08-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

"Stop fishing" call came at 4:30 this afternoon, after a tough week of fishing. Although several large female blue marlin were caught, anglers were having a tough time finding the large numbers of smaller males that we've seen in years past. Because these smaller fish (i.e., under 300 lbs.) are quickly tagged and released, they are ideal candidates for the Great Marlin Race. But even with tags spread out among seven different boats for the past two days, we haven't had any luck getting more tags out.

The good news is that those tags that have already been sponsored will be deployed as quickly as possible in the days ahead, and all of them will remain in the race. Because the race is about the distance traveled, and all tags are programmed to stay on for the same length of time, everyone still has an equal shot at winning.

Although the fishing was a bit slower this year than last, it was really rewarding to see how much interest has grown in the Great Marlin Race over the past year. We saw anglers, boat captains and crew members sporting GMR tee shirts and caps, and we had a great turnout for Science Night where George Shillinger and I presented the results from the 2009 Race. We had several teams sponsor tags for a second time this year, and several other new teams and sponsors get in the Race for the first time.

We are grateful to everyone for their generous support. HIBT Founder and Director Peter Fithian and all the HIBT staff and volunteers have done an amazing job to make this an incredible event in its 51st year. The captains and boat crews were generous and accommodating to George and I - who don't tend to travel light between tags, poles, cameras, books, papers and laptops. And finally the anglers, who are willing to allocate precious time, space and attention to our project in the middle of a major tournament. You all have our deepest thanks for your patience and support.

This entry wouldn't be complete without a very special thanks to our friends Uki and Masa from the Kona Game Fishing Club Miyake, who endured our company four of the five days of tough, tough fishing. For their endless patience, good humor and enthusiastic support of the Great Marlin Race, we say 有難うございます。 (Arigatō gozai masu - or "thank you very much.")

We look forward to sharing the unfolding adventure of the 2010 Great Marlin Race.

Tight lines,

Randy and George

Three Days, Three Tags in the Race

2010-08-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

After the first three days of the tournament, three different teams have deployed satellite tags! Perhaps even more exciting is that we've enjoyed excellent support this year, with many more teams contributing to sponsor tags for the race.

Going into the final two days of the tournament we have six boats carrying satellite tags. The weather has been beautiful, making for a great couple of days on the water so far. We have our fingers crossed that the fishing will heat up!

Coming in at the end of our third day of fishing

“ Billfishers, billfishers, billfishers, start fishing, start fishing, start fishing…..!”

2010-08-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

The tournament began promptly at 7:30 a.m. this morning, under hazy skies with west winds around 7 mph. Randy and I met the anglers on the docks at 6:30 a.m. to review boat assignments and distribute tagging kits to participating teams.

“And they’re off…!” Sport fishing vessels launching off to chase marlin at the start of the Great Marlin Race

We were assigned to Team #17 - Kona Billfishing Club – Miake, the same team that we joined on the inaugural day of the first Great Marlin race in 2009! Adding to the coincidence, Team Miake was assigned the vessel Rod Bender - the same vessel and skipper (Kerwin Masunaga) from 2009. We were back on the water with our friends, Matsaharu Matsushita (Masa) and Takeo (‘Uki’) Izawa from Japan!

Kona Game Fishing Club – Miake: Uki (left), Masa (center), George Shilllinger (rear), and Rob Kurz (right).

The first fish of the tournament, a shortnose spearfish, was caught and released by angler Hideo Hoshino from the Kona Game Fishing Club-Kusatsu, minutes after the tournament was underway, at 7:50 a.m.

Unfortunately, luck was not on our side on today. After a long day of trolling the waters off Kona, we returned to the docks with all of our satellite tags in hand. In spite of our bad luck, today was still a great day for the HIBT, with 10 blue marlin and

2 shortnose spearfish caught and released.

Kona Comes Out...

2010-08-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

The Kona sport fishing community really comes together to support the HIBT event. Flags, banners, and signs about the coming tournament were visible all over town. We donned our Great Marlin Race t-shirts, designed by Bob and Sally Kurz and assembled at the HIBT headquarters to promote the race and take questions. At 10:00 a.m., we joined the teams for the much-anticipated for the much the boat draw --- as they awaited their random assignment to participating sport fishing boats.

Sally Kurz flashes the "Aloha" sign on behalf of the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club #1.

Following the boat draw, we headed to the waterfront to witness the annual HIBT Parade – a signature tournament kickoff featuring all of the HIBT teams, supporters, and local businesses.

Marlin Chasing Bait - One of the many floats in the HIBT 2010 Parade

We devoted the remainder of the afternoon to logistics and tag-sponsorship efforts and by day’s end had secured commitments for four new racers! The HIBT Opening Ceremonies concluded with an introduction to all of the teams (8 countries and four US States) accompanied by an orchestral presentation of national anthems for each country represented in the tournament, followed by a delicious spread of food prepared by local Kona vendors and supporters of the HIBT.

Dr. Randy Kochevar (left) and Dr. George Shillinger (right) hard at work in preparation for the HIBT kickoff!

The anticipation in Kona is palpable...

2010-07-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the Kona Airport around 8:00 p.m. and were greeted by the following sign at baggage claim:

"Aloha" from the HIBT to travelers arriving at the Kona Airport.

The Great Marlin Race is About to Begin!!!

2010-07-30T23:28:00.000-07:00

After a year of anticipation, Dr. Randy Kochevar and I have returned to Kona, Hawaii to help lead the 2nd Annual Great Marlin Race at the 51st Annual Hawaiian International billfish Tournament (HIBT).

Our mission is to work with HIBT anglers and crews to deploy up to fifteen satellite tags during the next week --- it will be busy week! On average, over the course of the year, Kona recreational boats report a catch rate of approximate one fish per three days of fishing. We expect better odds, however, as the months of June, July, and August are prime time for blue marlin off Kona.

I can't believe it's just a few weeks away!

2010-07-15T16:52:00.001-07:00

Can it possibly be that a year has already passed since we were last in Kona? But what an amazing year it has been! At the risk of repeating myself, the results from last year's race were truly amazing - and it was really exciting to see the data coming in as those final tags started transmitting!

In the time since then, our data management team has finished working on a whole new system for analyzing the data that come off these tags. Using some really sophisticated mathematics, we can now create much more realistic tracks than we could before - and because we now know the statistical error associated with each point along the track, we can also do new kinds of analyses that combine tracks from different types of tags -- which is key to carrying out ecosystem-level studies like we are currently doing in the Pacific.

This new system is a key part of a new Global Tagging of Pelagic Predators (GTOPP) program, which we've been developing for the past year. Our idea is to open our data system to collaborators all around the planet so we can all share our findings and combine and analyze them in new and different ways -- allowing us to ask and answer questions at a much larger scale than would ever be possible by a single lab working independently.

One of our first proofs of the GTOPP concept happened just a few weeks ago when the renown ocean explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle joined forces with Dr. Eric Hoffmayer from the University of Southern Mississippi to deploy electronic tags on whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. The data from the tags is streaming through the system we developed, and you can follow the sharks from day to day on the new GTOPP website.

In the next couple of weeks we'll be programming all the tags and putting together the rest of the gear so we're ready to hit the ground running in August. Both Dr. George Shillinger and me will be back this year, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone at the HIBT!

Congratulations to the Winners!

2010-04-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

And thanks to everyone for your support and patience while we pulled together all the final data. The tracks we got were really amazing, and well worth the time and effort it took to get them. Sincerest thanks go out to the tournament organizers and sponsors, to the angling teams, and to the captains and crews who so generously supported the Great Marlin Race. We absolutely could not have done this work without you!

In reviewing the tracks, it was incredible to see not only how far the fish traveled - but also how diverse their patterns of behavior. Having all begun their journeys from roughly the same time and place, their final destinations were separated by more than 2,000 nautical miles!

From the datasets we received, it appears that, regardless of location, the marlin spent their nights right near the surface, and their days much deeper - often 200-300 meters down, just to the boundary between the relatively warm water above and the frigid water below.

We are very excited about the upcoming HIBT, and the opportunity to deploy more tags on these magnificent fish! Because so many race tags didn't come up, we are offering those teams whose tags didn't show up free replacement tags for the 2010 Great Marlin Race. By shortening the deployment times this year, we're confident that we'll have a higher percentage of tags coming up. And by adding a depth-triggered release, we'll also learn whether some non-reporting fish might be sinking to the bottom - having fallen ill or been injured, or having run afoul of a predator or a long line.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again this August, and will stay in touch over the coming weeks as details of the 2010 Great Marlin Race are announced.

Best wishes to all!

Warmest Wishes to All!

2009-12-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

As 2009 draws to a close, I am glad to say that I count the Great Marlin Race, and our partnership with the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, to be among my favorite memories from the year. The generosity of the anglers and organizers of the HIBT allowed us to deploy ten satellite tags -- the most we had hoped for going into the tournament. Of the three tags that released early, two documented marlin migrations all the way to the Southern Hemisphere -- an amazing result, and one that would make our efforts worthwhile.

During this past week our mapping expert, Mike Castleton, was able to successfully create tracks for the two long-distance marlin - Fish 4, tagged by Bob Kurz; and Fish C, which was tagged by McGrew Rice during the week following the HIBT. You can see them in the map below, or play with them in more detail on our interactive Google Earth map.

And as we welcome in the New Year, we will rapidly arrive at the scheduled pop-off dates for the remaining seven tags - the first of which is due to come up on January 16. It will be fascinating to see if the remaining marlin followed similar paths after leaving Hawaii, and to see where they ventured from there.

As always, we'll be keeping our eyes out for new tags coming to the surface, and I'll do my best to keep you all up-to-date on the latest happenings. It promises to be an exciting few weeks ahead, and I can't wait to see how it all ends up!

We send you our warmest wishes for the Holidays, and bid you peace and joy in the New Year.

Sincerely,

Randy and the Block Lab Team

A Second Marlin Journeys to the Southern Hemisphere

2009-11-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

Electronic tagging is a game of numbers. You put out as many tags as you can afford, and you hope that it’s enough to help you learn something new. We went into the Great Marlin Race hoping that we'd get some new information -- but the past few weeks have exceeded our highest hopes!

As you know from my last posting, on October 23 we had a tag pop up southeast of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, marking a journey of 2,225 nautical miles – and establishing a new mark to beat in the race.

Last week, on November 4, we had another tag pop up south of the equator – this one just west of the Marquesas, about 480 nautical miles from where the tag popped up just a few weeks before. Although the fish hadn’t traveled quite as far as its predecessor – a mere 1,847 nautical miles – it is remarkable to have a second marlin make such a long journey in such a short time. We are indebted both to Paxson Offield for sponsoring the tag, and to McGrew Rice for deploying it after the HIBT had ended.

For both “Fish 4” and “Fish C” we are awaiting the arrival of the rest of the data – first from the tags themselves, and then from the orbiting satellites that monitored sea surface temperature during fishes’ journey. Once we have all those data in-hand, we’ll marry the datasets together to produce a map that shows the course that they traveled in their journeys south. Stay tuned!

A Journey of Over 2,000 miles!

2009-10-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

It was a great way to start the week -- with the discovery that a second tag has popped up all the way down by the Marquesas -- 2,225 nautical miles from where it was tagged!

Because the tag just popped up to the surface this morning, it will be sending us data via satellite for the next week to 10 days. From these data we will be able to create a track where the fish went, and learn about its diving behavior during its travels. Once we have pulled all this information together I'll post a new update about what we've learned.

In the mean time, congratulations go out to the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club, Team 1 who are now in the top spot on the Leader Board! Although we're still just over 90 days into a 180-day race, tags can come off at any time - so we'll keep our eyes peeled and keep you all posted!

Best wishes,

Randy

We're Halfway There!

2009-10-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that we are already three months into the race! We were caught by surprise when we saw one of the tags pop off just a few days after we left. The Team 7 fish, sponsored by the Pajaro Valley Game Fish Club, Teams 1 & 2, and the Monterey Bay Anglers, appeared just to the south of the big island on August 1. Analysis of the data suggest that the tag simply fell off the fish, and not that there was a mortality.

It appears that, in the days following tagging, the marlin dove consistently to depths over 150 m, reaching a maximum of 176 m (544 ft) on one dive. I've added to the map a green icon for the tagging site and a red icon for the site where the tag popped off.

Fish 7, with a Pop-up Satellite Tag attached just below its dorsal fin.

After three months, the real surprise is that this is the only tag to have come off so far! This is exceptionally good luck, as we'll have longer tracks to study once they do pop off and start sending their data to us.

In addition to the 7 tags we put out during the race, 3 more tags were deployed the following week - generously sponsored by Packy Offield and deployed by McGrew Rice. I know that there is a lot of interest in these tags as well, so I've added them to the map. They appear as orange circles labeled A, B and C.

I'll keep everyone posted as soon as we see other tags coming off -- so keep your eyes on the website!

Best wishes,

Randy

The Site Goes On...

2009-08-28T12:16:00.001-07:00

Over the past few weeks since returning there has been a lot going on behind the scenes, but nothing terribly important to share with everyone. I finished putting together DVDs to send out to the race participants, which will be on their way shortly, along with official Certificates of Participation.

I've added some new content to the site - most notably a "Contributors" page and a "Related Links" module. Check out the other sites -- they all have some cool stuff on them!

This morning I finally worked out the bugs on a video gallery I've been trying to get going for a while! These are the same videos that are linked from the interactive map - but now they're easier to find and play right from the home page.

Keep your eyes open for more updates to come soon, and have a great weekend!

Back Home and Getting Under Way

2009-07-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

I am finally back at my desk after flying home from Hawaii last night. It was a fantastic privilege to be part of the 50th Anniversary HIBT, and I want to thank all the tournament organizers, as well as the teams, captains and crews who have helped to make the Great Marlin Race possible!

On the final day of the race, three tags went out on three different boats. Unfortunately, none of us managed to tag fish -- so the race is officially among seven entries. We are excited to have so many, and we look forward to the weeks and months ahead as we wait for the tags to come off and start sending us data.

The Awards Ceremony Saturday night was a fantastic event, and a wonderful tribute to Peter Fithian for seeing the HIBT through its first 50 years. Judging by the success and excitement around the tournament, I won't be surprised to see it go another 50 years and beyond.

Thanks to everyone for all your support!

One day to go...

2009-07-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

Today we had the pleasure of spending the day with some really great guys from our neck of the woods, joining Dan and Sean Lester from Monterey Bay Anglers for a day on the water. What made it even more special is that we got to spend the day on board the Kila Kila, a magnificently appointed 53' Merritt. Captain Teddy Hoogs and Mate Josh Bunch provided a really wonderful experience -- despite the fact that we just couldn't seem to find fish!

Another bunch of locals, the Pajaro Valley Game Fish club #1, got out a tag on a nice marlin, fishing aboard the Long Ranger.

And the New Britain Game Fishing Club out of Papua New Guinea also helped us out by getting out a tag as well, on board the Strong Persuader.

That brings us up to a total of seven tags in the water -- leaving us with three to place tomorrow. To hedge our bets, we'll be putting each tag on a different boat, and crossing our fingers that we all get at least one shot!

Passing the Half Way Mark

2009-07-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Today was truly an amazing day for the Great Marlin Race. It began with the announcement that all of the tags have been sponsored -- so we'll have a full field of 10 marlins for the race! I'll share more details on this as they come available - but I want to convey our great appreciation to everyone who has decided to sponsor tags, and our excitement that the race is now really on!

More good news came later in the morning, when Packy Offield, from the International Game Fish Association, tagged and released a 180-200 lb. blue marlin on board the Strong Persuader.

Great Marlin Race tag #4 came just minutes later when Tan Chin, from the Laguna Niguel Fishing Club, Team 1, tagged a 140 lb. blue marlin, fishing on the Au'Kalani.

And a third tag for the day came when Dish Landfield, from Laguna Niguel Fishing Club Team 2, fishing with us on the Sea Baby III, tagged a 190 lb. blue marlin. So by the mid-point of the tournament, at noon today, we had 5 of the 10 Great Marlin Race tags out -- keeping us on track to have a full field by tournament end!

A Second Day, A Second Marlin

2009-07-22T02:27:00.001-07:00

George and I had the pleasure of joining the Laguna Niguel Fishing Club's Team 2 today on board the Jun Ken Po. Unfortunately, it was a slow day with no hookups. Laguna Niguel's Team 1, however, had better success -- tagging a 150 lb. marlin and later catching and releasing a second fish!

The proud team at the docks

We still have teams with tags to place, and we are hopeful that a few more teams might still throw their hats in the ring.

The Race Is On!

2009-07-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day this has been! It began very early, with George and I meeting at 5:45 to get to the docks. The flurry of activity was incredible, with boats backing up to pick up their teams, one by one, and scurrying back out of the harbor to prepare for the tournament. At a little after 7:00, the command to start the tournament came over the radio -- and I was reminded of images of the Oklahoma land rush as all the boats blasted off at full-throttle.

After several hours of trolling up and down along the Kona coast, we finally hooked up! Masa jumped in the chair and deftly reeled in a beautiful, 140 lb. marlin. With the help of expert leader work, George landed a perfect tag shot, and the fish was on its way!

By the end of the day, only a handful of boats had succeeded in catching marlin - and no other satellite tags were deployed. As we headed back to the hotel, George and I realized how lucky we were to have been able to get a tag out, and get the Race started!

Tomorrow morning we'll join one of the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club teams, aboard the Jun Ken Po, a 42' Bertram. We are looking forward to another exciting day at sea!

Travel Adventures

2009-07-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

We're making final preparations for the race, but my day got off to a rocky start! When I got to the airport in Monterey I learned that the giant suitcase with all my video equipment was 14 lbs. too heavy! So I re-shuffled everything and made it through security, only to discover that my flight was canceled. Bummer! So I'm working at home, putting the final touches on the GMR website (how about Kate Spencer's cool logo!).

I'm now on a flight scheduled to leave around 1:00, which will put me in Kona around 7:00 tonight. Hopefully I'll get more work done on the flight, and there will be more cool stuff to read and see soon!

Getting Under Way!

2009-07-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

We are in the final run-up to the race, making final preparations and getting all the pieces in place. James Ganong and I are working to get the web server up and running, and getting all the finishing pieces on the new GTOPP website, where the Great Marlin Race will live. It is very exciting, and we look forward to taking you with us on this journey!