Gary, I'm so sad the trip didn't make. I was looking forward to seeing
everyone and getting out on the water. I can't make the 9/16 trip because I
will be on a California birding trip. Here's hoping for a good 2018 pelagic
trip year!
Shiela
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Hodne
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2017 11:05 AM
To: 'Texbirds Posts'
Subject: [texbirds] There may be only one Texas Pelagic trip for 2017. The
Aug 26th trip is cancelled.
Hi Texbirders and Texas Pelagics fans,
There is now just one remaining Texas Pelagic trip possible for the 2017
season. The deadline to fill the August 26th Pelagic trip from South Padre
Island has come and gone without us being able to fill the boat with the
minimum 30-35 people we need to be able to commit to the charter, so that
trip has been cancelled.
The next trip is scheduled for Saturday September 16th from Port Aransas. I
have until August 16th (next week) to try and fill this boat and we still
need quite a few more participants to make this trip go. I am afraid that we
won't make it and as a result this could be the first year since 1994 where
there will not be a single Texas Pelagic run. And that would be a shame,
especially since we were on such a streak of good trips on average for the
last 2 years. Admittedly not every single trip is a barn-burner, but we did
have 4 trips with record and near-record numbers of seabirds and many
tremendous sightings of dolphin pods, whales, sperm whales and whale sharks.
I have heard that I need to dispel the false notion that the reason the
fares are so high is because we have so many leaders on our trips who go for
free. The fact is that all our leaders have been paying full fare ever since
the charter costs went up by almost 100% beginning in 2016! Without our
leaders contributions of their expertise, guidance and fares there is no way
I would be able to run these trips as the leaders are also my most dedicated
and consistent participants.
The Kingfisher boat we charter in Port Aransas has new engines and is now
supposed to be faster than it was before and it was pretty fast already.
However this may be the last trip we run from Port Aransas for a while
because Deep Sea headquarters doesn't like that we cancelled the last trip
which occurred during their prime fishing season. They indicated that they
may not allow me to reserve a date to schedule a pelagic birding trip until
I know if the trip will fill up. I can't really see how that can work.
If you are interested in signing-up for the 9/16 Port A Pelagic please email
me to let me know and please send in your deposit before August 16th. The
charter folks in Port Aransas require one month's notice if the trip will
not make it. I think there are a lot of people who like to wait until the
last minute to decide what they want to do. Unfortunately for us that means
the trip could get cancelled without me knowing if those late comers may
have decided to go at the last minute as I can't risk losing a 50% charter
deposit.
Now is the time to decide and commit by making your deposit.
Good seabirding,
Gary
Garett 'Gary' Hodne
Owner - Leader
www.TexasPelagics.com <http://www.TexasPelagics.com>
Mobile: 281-684-5425
garyhodne@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:garyhodne@xxxxxxxxx>
30 Dakota Ridge Place
The Woodlands, TX 77381
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