Sad news on the Islander Trips...
 

I contacted Juliet at Islander Sportfishing about participating in the Battle of the Bays Tournament and this sad new was her reply...I thought I'd share it with the BWE community first.

Hi Jim,
Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately at this time we do not have any kayak trips scheduled. We're not sure if these will be moving forward anymore….I can let you know when/if we book any for the summer. Best of luck to you and your tournament….

We would like to continue the kayak trips but sadly can't afford to at our past price point. We priced them very low from the beginning to build the business, but the wear and tear on our boat eats up more in repairs than the miniscule amount we were taking home. We spent a small fortune last year to paint the boat which was finished right before our first kayak trip. After 5 trips of kayaks slamming against the side, the paint job was thrashed. This, coupled with many other expenses pertaining only to kayak fishing (replacing outboards, fixing skiffs, etc.) means we need to raise prices significantly in order to continue and as yet, the kayak fishermen are not willing to pay it. I'll let you know if anything changes.
Best,
Juliet

That sucks!:mad:

Well...in that case...I guess it was fun while it lasted! Thanks Islander and Crew for all the great trips over the years! :luxhello:


:cheers1:
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...pshcfue5qj.jpg

Yeah Iv'e had some good times on the Islander. That's too bad...

As soon as I get my Skipjack up and running I thought about doing a few mothership trips amongst friends. Im still a couple years away from completing that project thou. I was thinking Coronado Islands, Catalina and San Clemente would all be fun.

Nothing lasts forever, especially the good stuff.

2005

http://www.watermanatwork.com/KayakF...der-Dennis.jpg

Yep


http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1372029227

One of our own original bad boys here, Captain Dustin Tench may be able to help?? :notworthy:
He runs the Ranger 85. ;);)
I don't know if he can do kayak charters or not...he was also a great kayak fisherman.
If anyone would or could...he would be the guy. I don't know the boat schedule or if this is even possible?
Just an idea... Possible BWE charter?
I'd go with Captain Dusty in a heartbeat!

Totally heartbroken.
I've never been on the Islander Mothership trips. I was scheduled to go last year, but the trip was cancelled due to weather at SCI.

If you build it, I will come. Islander or Ranger 85! Where do i sign?

Huge bummer

You guys thrashed their paint job with your kayaks? Sounds like they need better paint :the_finger:

X2 my first trip with them was canceled due to weather.. guess I wont be getting another chance.

Bummer.......

Sad to hear that they might not do them anymore. I went on last years for the first time, on the 2.5 day trip and had a blast. At least I can have those memories for a life time.

Thanks for letting us know. Like others seriously bummed.

My favorite memories on the Islander all involve bonding with Greg....

Totally understand from a business point of view. Too often they shove off with the bare minimum they were looking to go.Hopefully another boat wants to take on the gamble............remember the Orion........Black Pearl............Bottom Scratcher (kayak scratcher) they all paled in comparison to the Islander and crew IMO, but still offered the opportunities to fish the islands.

we need the likes of jeff bezos or elan musk to solve this.

kayak hyper-loop?

Thinking of shipping the kayak to catalina and camping over there or just going for it and making the crossing this year. See you guys over there sometime!

Im curious to know if they upped the price, how many would go? If enough are interested, maybe they will make a trip....