So, upon the advice of a foreman at a construction site, I decided to check out sport fishing going out of Ventura Beach instead of San Diego.  I am not married to the idea of San Diego, the reason I would want to go there is because it is COOOOOOOL there.  Well, according to this dude, it's cool on the ocean off of Ventura Beach, too.

Well, I did call the same company we went on last year - it's not like we were treated badly or something, it was a good trip out onto the ocean and the deck hands were very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.  Well, the trip we went on last year is still listed on their site - a 3/4 day trip to some islands - but the Mexican Navy apparently has decided to ban all fishing from that area as of last Saturday.  Yeah, well I'm not too fond of the Mexican Navy stopping fishing boats to check your papers, anyway.  That was a bit unnerving last year to see that - and our boat left out of there about the time they were finishing up with the nearest boat.

We had Mexican fishing licenses, yes, we were legal, but I have had my dealings with the Mexican Army and if it's Navy is the same, no thanks.

So I called a place operating the same kind of thing, only out of Ventura Beach.  I asked if beginners/know nothings were welcomed/okay on their 3/4 day trip to which he instantly replied yes, the boat hands are very knowledgeable and helpful and there is also a little training course they give before the boat heads out. Ohhh?  Hey, that sounds cool! He then extolled the virtues of their full galley that cooks up breakfast, lunch and dinner, serves beer wine and even mixed drinks, on and on.  I asked for a grand total for the tickets, tackle, bait, license and he came up with $100 per person.  The other place as at $135 per person.

I'm reeeeeeally trying to make this work.  Save $70 on the boat, score.  If I can find that coupon, I have a free night's stay at any Motel 6. Yes, I know, probably far beneath most readers, but I don't really care as long as the place isn't noisy all night long and I can sleep.  I don't CARE about hard beds, I prefer hard mattresses and I sleep on one.  That would be one night's worth for free, second night around $70.  $270 so far.  Fuel.  I know, never pay for a vacation on credit cards, but I am not going to worry about racking up some debt on the Chevron card.  I don't use it that much and it would help me make this trip possible.  It's going to be at least $100 worth of fuel after all is said and done.  So, dump the fuel cost on the card, I can pay it off after summer is over and high energy costs are back down again (my electric bill).  So, still at $270 for immediate expenses.  Food.  I got a can full of coins.  I mean, there is at least $100 worth of coins in there.  I have been throwing coins in there specifically for the purpose of using it on this trip.  There's some green in there, too.

Yup, just dump some green  in there here and there but dump ALL coins in there on a daily basis. That can is heavy.

It's a short vacation on the cheap doing something I want to do.  They have a daily tally of how many and what kind of fish are being caught on any given trip, the boat I would be going on had a total of 38 anglers yesterday who caught over 500 fish!  That's what I wanted to see, that we aren't just going on a sight-seeing tour of the ocean, but that there are actually some amount of fish being caught.

Well, anyway.  Get down off of that high.  I have just as much a good time attempting to figure out how to make a vacation work financially and seeking out whatever deals I can as I do actually going on the vacation.  Sounds weird, but it's a challenge and if I am faced with a challenge that I know I have at least a reasonable change of conquering, I am all over it.