I'm not sure if this is the right board to address this but what the heck. Does anybody know if there are any solid plans to replace the Seahawk this summer? The reason I ask is because I see a huge need for another fishing boat (or two) at Sea Landing this summer and beyond, especially a boat that runs 3/4 open party trips. Even when the Seahawk was around last summer, numerous times on weekends I was unable to go out on the Stardust or Seahawk because they were chartered. Could perhaps the Condor be enlisted for regular fishing duty again? What are Jason Diamond's thoughts on this? I wanted to pose this question because I think the local fishing will be awesome this summer, the demand is there, and I really hate to give my business to the Ventura County landings.

Jeremy,
I spoke with Jason about this a few days ago. He is well aware that there is a need for another boat and he is definitely doing what he can to get one for overnight fishing out of SB. He went down south to look at some possible boats on Monday actually. The thing to keep in mind is that these things take a lot of time to come to fruition. It isn't quite the same as buying a car where you can just drive it off the lot and start using it. Even when he does get the boat there will almost certainly be a lot of work to do on it to get it ready.
So that's kind of a vague answer but just know that things are being done, and SB will get another boat. It might be a little while but when Jason gets another boat you had better believe that boat will be running 6 or 7 days a week just like the Stardust.

Thanks for the info. Swimbait! It's good to hear that there are some plans in the works for another boat. An overnight boat would be okay but I was thinking more of a 3/4 day (i.e., 6am-4pm.) And you're right, I'm sure it does take time getting a boat, preparing it, licensing it, staffing, etc. But perhaps another solution (maybe even temporary) would be to lure one of the other multitude of party boats from down south to come fish up here. A lot of those boats are independently owned and might be amenable to relocating. Boats change landings all the time down south. Just a thought...

As a follow-up to my original post here... It will be two Sundays in a row (counting this coming weekend) that I will have been unable to get on the Stardust because it was chartered. I'm glad that they are getting business but this is a problem that I experienced numerous times last summer. I guess what I'm saying is that this reiterates my thoughts that there is strong demand for another boat in Santa Barbara.

On a side note, I also tried to go out of Port Hueneme the past couple weekends (my 2nd choice landing) but all boats were chartered as well. I see a pattern here... if you don't create your own charters or find an open one, you aren't going out on any good party boats on the weekends. Sorry for the sour grapes... Wish I had my own boat or knew someone who did.