Things are really coming together with the new boat.  The first thing is the name change.  After much debate and long conversations with my family and friends, everyone agreed that the boat should have a new name.  I am choosing the name Compass Rose.    The compass rose is the inside design of the compass.  The compass rose has appeared on charts and maps since the 1300's when the portolan charts first made their appearance. The term "rose" comes from the figure's compass points resembling the petals of the well-known flower.  I think the name is pretty cool and my daughter's middle name is Rose so I think I picked a winner.  If you click on the picture of the compass rose on the home page of my site it brings you to another site which explains the full history of the compass rose.

The boat is currently at the boat yard in Brick, NJ having the finishing touches added.  The Raymarine electronics, covers, and bottom paint will be added in the next couple of weeks and I am looking at a mid April delivery.  I think I will be fishing a tournament in New York in early May so I might not bring the boat to Beach Haven until Mid May.

The Fluke regulations are out for the 2008 fishing season and once again the minimum size limit has increased another inch to 18".  They are letting each angler bring home 8 fish and one fish is allowed to be used for bait as long as it meets the minimum size and you keep the skeleton.  We had a lot of large fish in August last summer so I hope they are still around.  I am looking forward to bringing everyone on the new boat and listing to Jimmy Buffet on the Sirius Radio.