Trip Report Challenge First Quarter 2011 Finalist Nominees - We Need your help!

[SpearMax]

The reception of the concept for the Best Trip Report of the Quarter has been overwhelmingly positive. But, there were some bumps in the road as often happens with new creative ideas. We had to adjust the rules a bit for self-nomination to allow nomination of trip reports authored by others. There was also some confusion about the dates for qualifying trip reports and a few nominations had to be rescinded. But, overall the challenge is off to a good start.

Since this is the first time for the Trip Report Challenge and we had only a few weeks to make the nominations, we fell short in qualified nominations for two regions - USA East Coast and International. We need five nominees to meet the hurdle for the voting polls for those two regions.

The good news is the USA West Coast nominations for Best Trip Report of First Quarter 2011 have closed as planned on 6-30-11 and the five finalists for the USA West Coast voting poll are shown below. But the other two regions fell short.

I think the best and fairest way to resolve this nominee shortfall problem is to make the current nominees for the USA East Coast, USA West Coast and International regions into finalists and then open nominations for additional finalists in only the two short regions until July 10. Once that date is reached, the voting polls for all three regions will start. Right now, we need at least 3 more nominees for the USA East Coast region and at least 4 more nominees for the International region.

Therefore, the current finalists by region are as follows. I congratulate these finalists and I have started a new nomination thread in the next post on this thread so we can get the ball rolling again. Thanks for your participation!


USA WEST COAST FINALISTS FIRST QUARTER 2011

REPORT #1

Author: Aussie
Tread Title: Dorothy, You Aint In Kansas Anymore: A rookie's intro to Kelp Beds.
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=120619
Geographic Region: USA West Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-07-2011, 02:08 PM
Description: Aussies Intro to Kelp Hunting
Reason for Nomination: Entertaining description of a new guys cold welcome to spearing in the kelp forests of southern california

Nominated by: beconfly Posts: 163
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: Bill McIntyre Posts: 31,848;
Subsequent seconds: 6

REPORT #2

Author: Bill McIntyre
Thread Title: Blood on the boat
URL: http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=121136
Geographic Region: USA West Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-17-2011, 12:05 AM
Description: Bill's account of the season's first blood
Reason for Nomination: Although Bill's posts are often rage-inducing to a selected few (or many) on the board, his trip reports are generally well received. This is due to the fact that they are well written, informative, inspirational and often times, injected with snarky humor and pretty pictures. As a result, any of his reports deserves to be nominated. This one stands out due to having the first reported white seabass of the season. Keep in mind, this is when the days were short and dreary, water was dirty and frigid. Most people have hunkered down in the comfort of their own home, munching on the last freshly caught lobsters; all the while waiting for an excuse to go diving again. In short, it was the report that launched a thousand ships.

Nominated by: sucinimad Posts: 587
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: speargunhunter Posts: 533
Subsequent seconds: 1

REPORT #3

Author: Devildiver
Title: Newport Trip report - 3/23
URL http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=121662
Region: USA West Coast
Date of trip – 3/23/2011
Description: Diving with first time diver in Newport
Reason for nomination: Casey introduced a brand new diver from Ecuador to spear fishing for the first time, and on his first shot he got a legal ling cod! A classic example for all of us about how to introduce a new guy into the sport!

Nominated by: North Star Posts: 980
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: steepNdeep Posts: 621
Subsequent seconds: 1

REPORT #4

Author: Kirby
Tread Title: San Diego Report. New Calico PB and a Bunch of Bugs
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=118027
Geographic Region: USA West Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 01-13-2011, 01:25 AM
Description: Kirby harvesting and cooking
Reason for Nomination: Kirby heads out with a few buddies, has an awesome dive, great catch then makes art from catch and throws a dinner party! This is how it should be done..

Nominated by: Nerka Posts: 1,028
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: ApneaAddict Posts: 3,839
Subsequent seconds: 5

REPORT #5

Author: ApneaAddict (Carter)
Tread Title: Vermilion Fever 2/11 and 2/21
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=120010
Geographic Region: USA West Coast/Big Sur
Date of Trip report thread origination: 02-12-2011 and 02-22-2011
Description: Carter, Bryan, and Harold diving the Big Sur coastline
Reason for Nomination: Diving for vermilion in my experience is very difficult, and these guys make it look easy. Carter even filmed while he was spearing, and made an awesome video (not included in the report) to forever remember those dives. These guys have a desire to dive like few others, and I believe that the majority of us can relate.

Nominated by: Kirby Posts: 971
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: Nerka Posts: 1,028
Subsequent seconds: 1


USA EAST COAST (INCLUDING GULF) FINALISTS FIRST QUARTER 2011

REPORT #1

Author: ny_er
Title: Awesome couple days on the water
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=118487
Region: US East Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 01-23-2011, 04:37 PM
Reason: As Ben said in the post...Let the pictures do the talking.

Nominated by: pirate_diver Posts: 1,957
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: SpearMax Posts: 8,700
Subsequent seconds:

REPORT #2

Author: DiveGal
Thread Title: LadyGaDivers do it with GradyMan!
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=121327
Geographic Region: US East Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 3/20/11
Description: Finally getting to dive with GradyMan in his backyard after 4 years of talking about it.
Reason for Nomination: All spearboarders on this trip! It was great diving a new spot with so many friends and then sharing that new experience with all of my other SB friends!

Nominated by: DiveGal Posts: 3,267
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: BadSpeara Posts: 85
Subsequent seconds:




INTERNATIONAL FINALISTS FIRST QUARTER 2011

REPORT #1

Author: steepNdeep
Trip Report Thread Title: COSTA RICA - Spearin' Safari
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=119403
Geographic Region: Central America (Costa Rica)
Date of Trip report thread origination: 02-11-2011, 11:17 AM
Description: Spearing adventure off the Guanacaste coast on panga and yak.
Reason for Nomination: This report made me feel like I was there. The poster's enthusiasm really showed through his writing and prompted me to choose the same destination for my spearing vacation this past April. I enjoyed it so much that I'm going back in December.

Nominated by: nyspear Posts: 88
Nomination accepted by nominee: Yes
First Seconded by: North Star Posts: 980
Subsequent seconds:

[SpearMax]

So, here is how you search for qualifying trip reports in the Florida sections (we only had time to do two - it's many hours of work):

1.) Go to the Forum you want to search like these links:

East Coast Florida Forum http://www.spearboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Florida Gulfcoast Forum http://www.spearboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6

2.) Use the thread display function in the lower left corn with the following parameters and you will isolate the reports:





3.) That search should yeild a few pages of trip reports in Florida. Don't forget to look in other sections like Miami and the keys as well as upper gulf sections and upper east USA sections and of course the International sections for that region too. But, make sure origination dates of the first posts of reports you nominate fall into the right qualifying time period which is between 1-1-2011 to 3-31-2011

4.) There are some great reports in that first quarter and I hope some more will get nominated.

Thanks, Tony

[SpearMax]

This is the addendum USA East Coast and International nomination thread for Best Trip Report of the Quarter Ended March 31, 2011. The cut-off date for nominating and seconding is July 10, 2011. We will then revert to a voting poll thread for the finalists. The two geographic regions for these nominations are USA East Coast (includes Gulf) and International.

Please read carefully the OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE SPEARBOARD BEST TRIP REPORT CHALLENGE here:

http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=126333

Note the following member qualifications to nominate, second and vote from the official rules:

Members with more than 50 posts can nominate their own or some else's trip reports in their region. The top five trip reports in each region with the most nomination seconds are entered into a final poll. For ten days after the end of a calendar quarter, all members with more than 50 posts are then able to vote one time for their favorite trip reports among the fifteen final nominations (5 reports x 3 regions).

Here are the specific rules for this nomination thread:

•Only post nominations or seconds should be in this thread, no superfluous comments are allowed.

•All seconds should include the word "second".

Please follow these rules or your post will be removed. If you have to comment about a trip report, please do it on that trip report's thread, not here.

According to the official rules, the following timeline must be observed for this thread:

 Diving – Any time in the 6 months prior to the trip report thread origination date
 Trip report thread origination – From January 1 to March 31
 Eligible for nomination – From April 1 to July 10
 Seconding of the nominations – From the date of nomination to July 10
 Poll Voting on the top five in three regions – From July 11 to July 20
 Winners announced – July 21

Addendum Nominations will be accepted until July 10, 2011 at midnight and then this nomination thread will be closed.

When self-nominating the trip report you authored or someone else's report, please post the trip report thread title, the URL to the trip report, which of the three geographic regions applies, Date of Trip report thread origination, a short description of the trip report, and a reason for nomination that will motivate others to second the nomination. If a nomination post is too promotional, it will be edited accordingly.

Please present your nomination is in the following format:

Trip Report Thread Title: Repeat the exact title here.
URL: www.------.com - this must be clickable to get to the report.
Geographic Region: State one of the three regions in the rules.
Date of Trip report thread origination: - This date must be between 1-1-2011 to 3-31-2011.
Description: Briefly, what is the trip report about?
Reason for Nomination: Tell us why you think this trip report rocks!

When seconding nominated sites, please quote the nomination post you are seconding in your post (Use Multi-Quote Option if you are seconding multiple trip reports).

The next step from the official rules will be:

The 5 trip reports in each region (15 total) that have the most seconded nominations will be placed in three separate regional voting poll threads. They will be listed in the poll in a random order and not alphabetically or by nomination seconding rank.

That is it for now. Send me a PM with any questions or comments.

Thank you for your patience with this process. As new trip reports are created every day, I see more and more people using the "Trip Report Prefix" designation on their threads which should make future Best Trip Report Challenges easier.

[SpearMax]

Please keep in mind that the moment you self-nominate your trip report or accept the nomination by another member in this thread you have agreed to the OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE SPEARBOARD BEST TRIP REPORT CHALLENGE here at this link:

http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=126333

Now for some good stuff! The prizes for Best Trip Reports of the Quarter Ended March 31, 2011 are three speargubns valued between $350 and $500 dollars. These great prizes will be allocated as follows according to the official rules:

There will be a pool of prizes for the three regions. If the prizes are usable in all geographic regions, the three winners will try to agree which prize they want. If they can't agree, we will use a selection method like Rock –Paper - Scissors. Being awarded a prize should be a secondary consideration to the honor of being selected as the best trip reporter by your fellow spearfishing men and women.

DONATED PRIZE - ANDRE 120 CM SPEARGUN

The Andre GOLD 120 speargun is great for spearfishing around rock reef and coral areas in the shallows. Its shorter stock is easily maneuverable into tight spaces, like into cracks or under rocks where rock fish & snapper hide.

The GOLD 120 speargun also features a butt extension design for hip loading leverage. As you pull the power bands back, the butt extension makes it easy to rest the butt of the speargun on your hip without the handle getting in your way. The spear track is recessed into the stock to guide the spear accurately down the barrel. The groove is durable and an excellent design feature compared to eye hole spear tracks which break easily and reduce accuracy.

DONATED PRIZE - PELAJ KANJI 110 CM SPEARGUN

Made in Australia, the Pelaj railgun features numerous innovations including:

1. reinforced Rhino speed barrels allowing use of stronger multiple rubbers resulting in more powerful, accurate shots;
2. double clip in muzzles aligning both rubbers perfectly parallel to spear travel providing optimum energy transfer;
3. triple rubber clip in power band muzzles – a first on a production railgun;
4. exceptional interchangeability so every component can be (dis)assembled using basic tools.

Pelaj railguns have been built to harvest large powerful fish and are designed to last a lifetime.

DONATED PRIZE - MAKO 140 CM SPEARGUN WITH REEL

The “MAKO Oceanic ETR” 140 cm (Enclosed Track) Blue Camo Gun with MAKO South African 70M High Capacity Reel Filled with Yellow Spectra line.

Featuring a Fully Enclosed Track with a Twin Rail Barrel, this is the only gun of its kind and BUILT FOR BIG GAME!

The “MAKO Oceanic ETR” was designed by Chad Morris (aka Griswold) and Jeff DeRocher (aka Tin Man), two spearo/designers from the Bayous of Louisiana who spent years designing, machining and fabricating custom spearguns and related underwater hunting gear. Known as “The Bayou Design Team”, Jeff and Chad have built a reputation by combining innovative designs with the latest in high tech material and quality workmanship.

What is an Enclosed Track Railgun (ETR)?
By nature, Railguns are more accurate and more powerful than regular euro guns. This is because of the integrated rail barrel which supports and guides the spear down the rail (barrel) as it exits the gun. This additional support, by the integrated rail reduces “spear whip” and drastically increases accuracy.

The only way to improve upon this would be to incorporate an “Enclosed Track”, the length of the barrel, thereby further increasing accuracy and allowing for enhanced power and virtually eliminating all “spear whip” as the spear exits the gun. With an “Enclosed Track”, the spear is supported not only from the bottom. The spear is also supported by the surrounding walls and partial ceiling offered by the “Enclosed Track”, much like a bullet fired from the barrel of a high powered rifle.

In designing this “Enclosed Track Railgun”, the main challenge for the Bayou Design Team was weight. With the added material of the “Enclosed Track”, the gun had to be light enough so the gun would float (without the shaft), but strong enough, to prevent barrel flex. In experimenting with various designs and materials, the Bayou Design Team came up with the idea of using 2 smaller integrated rails for strength (one on each side) instead of one main rail. By design, this Twin Rail Design (one on each side) would also capture a slide in “Enclosed Track” made of lightweight, yet durable, high density polyethylene.

Essentially, the Bayou Design Team took the MAKO Oceanic Pro Railgun barrel, which is the largest and strongest aluminum barrel on the market and made it even stronger with “Twin Rails” while adding very little weight.

Occasionally seen on larger and heavier custom wood guns, this “Enclosed Track Technology”, incorporated into a much lighter railgun makes the “MAKO Oceanic ETR” the only one of its’ kind. The result…. The most accurate BIG GAME ENCLOSED TRACK RAIL GUN ever built for blue water hunting, inshore hunting and even freeshafting.

[SpearMax]

Author: Kevin Sheets - Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,146
Thread Title: First Dive Sunday - Views at nomination time 1,308
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=121130
Geographic Region: USA East Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-16-2011, 09:10 PM
Description: Kevin braves the cold waters of New England to go spearfishing and test a new gun
Reason for Nomination: This was the ONLY trip report I could find in the New England section in the first quarter of the year. It has classic winning elements like the brevity of New England intellectual humor (aka "wit"), the sharp sense of humorous repartee between fascinating New England characters, and the irony (and brevity) of cold water spearing catches at that time of year.

[steepNdeep]

A few nomiations from the International section:

Author: AlexF
Thread Title: Barracuda Attack
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread...highlight=fish
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 02-03-2011, 09:10 PM
Description: Spearing in Manzianillo, Alex & crew amass quite the tastey stringer & a barracuda exacts his revenge.
Reason for Nomination: Great fish, adventure & gory pics!


Author: Ahmad Abbass
Thread Title: King Mackerels from Kuwait
URL:http://www.spearboard.com/showthread...highlight=fish
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-07-2011,
Description: King Mackerels from Kuwait
Reason for Nomination: A good representation from an exotic location that gets very little press on this board.


Author: Miamispear
Thread Title: Fishing pics from Marshall Islands
URL:http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=118873
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 01-31-2011,
Description: Fishing pics from Mashall Islands
Reason for Nomination: Some nice shots from an exotic location that I'd love to visit one day...

[Ahmad Abbas]

Originally Posted by steepNdeep

Author: Ahmad Abbass
Thread Title: King Mackerels from Kuwait
URL:http://www.spearboard.com/showthread...highlight=fish
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-07-2011,
Description: King Mackerels from Kuwait
Reason for Nomination: A good representation from an exotic location that gets very little press on this board.

nomination Accepted !

thank you
Ahmad Abbas

[SpearBroad]

Originally Posted by SpearMax

Author: Kevin Sheets - Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,146
Thread Title: First Dive Sunday - Views at nomination time 1,308
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=121130
Geographic Region: USA East Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-16-2011, 09:10 PM
Description: Kevin braves the cold waters of New England to go spearfishing and test a new gun
Reason for Nomination: This was the ONLY trip report I could find in the New England section in the first quarter of the year. It has classic winning elements like the brevity of New England intellectual humor (aka "wit"), the sharp sense of humorous repartee between fascinating New England characters, and the irony (and brevity) of cold water spearing catches at that time of year.

I SECOND THIS

[diverlen]

Originally Posted by steepNdeep

A few nomiations from the International section:

Author: AlexF
Thread Title: Barracuda Attack
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread...highlight=fish
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 02-03-2011, 09:10 PM
Description: Spearing in Manzianillo, Alex & crew amass quite the tastey stringer & a barracuda exacts his revenge.
Reason for Nomination: Great fish, adventure & gory pics!


Author: Ahmad Abbass
Thread Title: King Mackerels from Kuwait
URL:http://www.spearboard.com/showthread...highlight=fish
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-07-2011,
Description: King Mackerels from Kuwait
Reason for Nomination: A good representation from an exotic location that gets very little press on this board.


Author: Miamispear
Thread Title: Fishing pics from Marshall Islands
URL:http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=118873
Geographic Region: International
Date of Trip report thread origination: 01-31-2011,
Description: Fishing pics from Mashall Islands
Reason for Nomination: Some nice shots from an exotic location that I'd love to visit one day...

second

[Miamispear]

It is an honor.... I Accept!

[SpearMax]

This one was nominated in the first round and did not get a second.

Originally Posted by evoluto

Author: Evoluto
Tread Title: Spearfishing Colombia
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=121457
Geographic Region: Colombia Choco, Bahia Solano
Date of Trip report thread origination: 03-22-2011, 06:11 PM
Description: Spearfishing trip with absalom
Reason for Nomination: Entering a new class destination, Refering an exellent guide/native free diver with tons of knowledge of the area.

There is no way to buy equipment there so I want to run on this contest to get Absalom a spear gun or any equipment provided as he does not have access or means to buy any. He uses spears found on construction sites with "no bands", when he can get bands he usually gets surgical bands from the hospital.

Anyways I hope people get to make it there and enjoy that beautiful place.

I hereby second this nomination.

[IslandFever]

Author: Reef Roamer* -* Join Date: December 2007* Posts: 1,054
Thread Title: Ocean Sunfish encounter on Emerald* -** Views at nomination time 1,809
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=119275
Geographic Region: USA East Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 02-09-2011, 06:04 AM
Description: Char encounters an Ocean Sunfish while Spearfishing
Reason for Nomination: Because she deserves it.

[reef roamer]

Originally Posted by IslandFever

Author: Reef Roamer* -* Join Date: December 2007* Posts: 1,054
Thread Title: Ocean Sunfish encounter on Emerald* -** Views at nomination time 1,809
URL: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=119275
Geographic Region: USA East Coast
Date of Trip report thread origination: 02-09-2011, 06:04 AM
Description: Char encounters an Ocean Sunfish while Spearfishing
Reason for Nomination: Because she deserves it.

Thank you Andrew I accept and
Second the nomination