"I just wanted to let everyone know," posted Mark Pisano, owner-operator of the Independence, "that there will be a fuel surcharge on upcoming trips. The current charge is $15 per day per person. Our current rate is $3.75 to $3.80 a gallon, including CA sales tax. When we set the pricing back in the summer of 2010, we were in the $2.30 range and holding steady, so we thought. The formula for the charge is based on the usage of 600 gallons per day average on trips for the Independence that equates to 5 dollars per person per day for every 25 cents over three dollars per gallon we pay. Three dollars was the number we used when pricing the trips for 2011. We will adjust the surcharge as the fuel price changes. Normally we fuel every two weeks, as needed. If you have any questions, feel free to call the office and lets hope the oil companies bring the price down in the near future. Thanks for your understanding, Mark and Paul.

"Hello again," posted the office later on June 1. "We have just talked to Jeff on the boat and he has been unable to send a report due to the server being down for the last few days. It seems the other boats are having the same problem as well. Jeff did say the weather is very nice and the fishing for good grade yellowtail is good also. We are trying to fix the email problem and will post the reports when we receive them from the boat. Thanks for checking in. Word from the Indy is that the Sat phone has been repaired."