Home Away From Home on Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island's mild climate, slow pace, and beautifully forested landscapes are unique to the Atlantic coast. Deep-sea fishing charters, turtle watching, or riding a bike along the beach at sunset are some of the many wonderful outdoor activities available on the island. Sports enthusiasts can also play golf or tennis, hike or in-line skate at the many facilities or trails on this twelve-mile long paradise. This island is a wonderful location for an extended vacation or a work-related retreat, and Hilton Head rental homes are wonderful options for such occasions.

Visitors interested in an extended stay will want to consider renting a house on Hilton Head. A rental house allows a visitor more room, privacy, and comfort than a condo or hotel room might. Many of the homes for rent to visitors are privately owned, and all are excellently maintained. They are usually furnished, decorated, and complete with all the amenities found in a comparable home anywhere. Complete kitchens, linens, sound systems, internet access, private yards, pools, hot tubs, and, often, the ability to keep a pet are all options. Sizes of these homes vary from a small two-bedroom cottage to seven-bedroom mansions. Homes may be rented for a week or as long as a year or more. Rental fees can range from $1,000 to $10,000 a week, depending on the size and location of the home.

The island has over 40,000 year-round inhabitants, so resources for a community of that size are available to long-term renters as well. There are shops, many restaurants, telephone service, newspapers, and local tradesmen to hire if needed.

Hilton Head rental homes are also wonderful options for business and staff retreats, as many are close to meeting facilities and can house several staff members. Available catering and maid services can also help these functions run more smoothly, and allow meeting participants to unwind later with the many outdoor activities on the island.

Hilton Head Rentals Info provides detailed information on Hilton Head vacation rentals, condo rentals, rental homes, villa rentals, and oceanfront rentals. Hilton Head Rentals Info is the sister site of Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals Web.

The Springtime of Peace

The deeper beauty of spring is its process. In winter's last days, as the sun warms the earth, each root and branch awakens to the patterned memory of who it is and what it can be. Life stirs and nature's growth in turn awakens all of us to the glories of being fully alive.

Consciousness awakens in much the same way, doesn't it? One moment, everything is dark and still. Growth begins and we are excited by movement and its vibrant promise of what is to come.

I have a sense of our world awakening to peace: not a blind pretense that we are coming up roses, but a soul-deep vision of the seeds of peace within us, just waiting for the warmth and light needed for them to flourish. In the quiet stillness of centering prayer and meditation, we connect with this warmth and light, and become it. Our joy sweeps across green valleys and white-clouded blue mountains kiss the sky.

That's how it was for Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Mohammed, Mother Theresa, Buddha and so many others who became our great peacemakers. They were divinely illuminated in the silence and carried this peaceful inner light back into our world.

I remember the power of this impulse in the 1960s and see it taking hold again today, as people tire of war and destruction. It is a telling co-incidence that Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" comes along now to rip away the veils concealing our brutality. When people see in this movie the raw atrocity of violence, and know it for the monster that it is, then perhaps we will begin to reject it on our airwaves and refuse war in our lives and as a nation.

This awakening to peace is deeply needed in our suffering country, and I believe our silent prayers have brought an opportunity to choose a new symbol of who we are, in the U.S. Department of Peace. It is an impulse whose time has come, for within it is the potential to shift the consciousness of war to peace.

The Department of Peace, initiated by two spiritual peacemakers, Marianne Williamson and Dennis Kuchinich (D-Oh), holds peace as an organizing principle in our society. The DoP would teach conflict resolution in schools; address domestic violence, child abuse, mistreatment of the elderly, and other issues of cultural violence; monitor arms sales and weapons of mass destruction; and in every way seek to prevent conflict, determine the root causes of violence, and increase our national security.

By raising the torch of peace, the DoP has stirred up some fundamental questions for each of us to answer: Is there within us a compartment of peace or a compartment of war? Is it time to release our fearful struggle for power, position and possessions, in which we accept conflict and violence as ways of life? Can we shift to the life-enhancing perspectives of the heart and soul: that we are one humanity connected to a web of Spirit in which each person, drawing sustenance from this web, is fed by an unlimited abundance that supplies more than enough to satisfy us all?

Some 44 percent of all Americans are waiting for a messiah to save us from ourselves, when all we need to do is awaken to the divine life force within us and grow into the peaceful, loving and awakened beings that we are meant to be, as Jesus and other enlightened masters have taught us.

Do you feel this inner impulse? Just listen quietly to see. If an inner light urges you toward peacemaking, then perhaps it is time to act: if not to support the non-partisan Department of Peace campaign (dopcampaign.org), then to express your need and desire for peace in another way, so that peace can make your valleys green and you can raise the torch of peace in our world.

Each of us is an instrument of the peace awakening on Earth right now. May we experience it deep within and stir it in others, so that our springtime of peace blossoms and lifts us into the Perfection that pours life into every being.

?2004, Eagle Life Communications. All rights in all media reserved.

About The Author

Judith Pennington is an internationally published writer, spiritual teacher and author of The Voice of the Soul: A Journey into Wisdom and the Physics of God, a critically acclaimed book on the step-by-step evolution of the soul and consciousness. Visit her website, www.eaglelife.com, to sign up for her free e-newsletter and paid-for e-zine, OneWorld, whose open debut issue includes a fascinating exclusive interview with Barbara Brennan on the stages of our expansion into higher consciousness.

Hate Follow-Up Phone Calls To Hot Prospects Who Won?t Call You Back? Stop Calling!

We all learned in Sales 101 we must follow up with our prospects until they buy. Unfortunately, while we're busy trying to make all these follow-ups, some very fine prospects who are ready to buy now are flying under our radar.

The trick in sales is to talk to buyers. Rather than responding, "Duh!", professional sales people find this the hardest discipline to execute. But like most successful strategies, it requires a tactical plan. If you've been relying solely on follow-up phone calls to close sales, why not try this plan for 30 days?

1. Create a follow-up activity series. If you use ACT! or another contact manager, assign the series after you send your proposal. If you close the sale, you can always end the series early. Your series could look like this:

0 Day-Proposal Sent

2 Days-Follow-up Phone Call

4 Days-Follow-up Email

7 Days-Follow-up Voice Mail

10 Days-Follow-up Email

14 Days-Follow-Up Voice Mail

30 Days-Follow-Up Email

2. Write a compelling voice mail script. Limit it to 10-15 seconds. (Time it!) Start with your name, company and phone number (which gives the recipient an opportunity to retrieve your number without having to wait for the entire message to play). Next, say your compelling message; then, a declaration about what you want them to do. Finally repeat your phone number at the end. I often give my email address as an alternative way to "return the call."

My voice mail sales follow-up call goes something like this: "Hi, ___, this is Lori Feldman with Aviva, 800/264-5478. I just completed a project for another client who was as concerned as you are about ___. Listen to what happened when they bought my services: (Recap story). I have some additional ideas for (Company's project for which I sent you my proposal. When are you available to discuss it? Here's my phone number again and my email address, if that's an easier way for you to contact me: (Phone and email address.)

3. Send a Fax. Once I get 30 days out from a sent proposal, with no feedback from a prospect, I figure it's time to put him back in the prospect bucket where he'll receive the regular direct marketing I send to all customers and prospects (ACT! Tips, User Group invitations, newsletters, etc.) However, because he was interested in my services-enough to ask for a proposal-and he hasn't said "no" yet, I still want to give him his own follow up.

Based on the value of the proposal, I may put in a recall date every 30 days, or start emailing again, but first I'll try my "last ditch effort," a fax that says, "It looks like your needs may have changed since we last talked. Please check the appropriate box and fax it back to me at your convenience: 1) We're still interested, but I've had no time to follow up with you. Try me in ___ days/months; 2) Our needs have changed, and we don't need you! 3) We went with another vendor, sorry! 4) Who are you again?" Humor goes a long way, too.

It's true that persistence pays off in higher close rates. But your prospect is busy, too, and sometimes you're just not the high priority you think you are. Many potential customers prefer responding via email, which is faster and less intrusive in their day than a phone conversation can be. Giving a prospect several ways to communicate with you-especially when it cuts down on the time you're spending with non-buyers-is a more effective long-term sales strategy. When you focus selling time on buyers who want to buy today, your sales go up!

Lori Feldman is president of Aviva, a mailing list/database marketing and Internet consulting firm and an ACT! Software Certified Consultant. She is this year's Direct Marketer of the Year, awarded by the Direct Marketing Assn. of St. Louis. Reach her at http://www.aviva-aviva.com/act.html

Mission-Critical Public Relations?

As a business, non-profit or association manager, any tool that helps you reach your department, division or subsidiary objective IS mission-critical.

And particularly so when that tool helps you persuade your most important external stakeholders to your way of thinking, and then moves them to take actions that lead to your success.

Here is such a mission-critical tool. One that lets you get serious about your public relations. It shifts the emphasis away from communications tactics to a workable plan for reaching those outside groups of people with a large say about how successful you're going to be ? namely, your key external target audiences. The tool says, "People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished."

Use this blueprint to create behaviors that lead to activities like more follow up purchases, higher contributions levels, increased qualified employment applications, new joint venture proposals or a big boost in capital contributions.

First, meet with the public relations people assigned to your department, division or subsidiary and let them know you're serious about finding out what your most important outside audiences actually think about your organization. The rationale being that target audience perceptions usually lead to behaviors that can help or hinder you in achieving your operating objectives.

Decide among you which audiences are really key to your success then build and prioritize your list of important outside groups of people whose actions most affect your unit. Now, let's work on #1 on that list.

Your new mission-critical public relations effort will rest heavily on how efficient you are in rounding up the perceptions of your key target audience.

You can put your public relations team to work interacting with members of that #1 outside audience. Or, if you can tap a good sized budget, you can ask a professional survey firm to do the job for you. However, because your PR folks are already in the perception and behavior business, my choice would be to use them for this assignment.

One way or the other, someone must interact with members of that prime audience and ask questions like "What do you know about our operation? Are you familiar with our services or products? Have you had any negotiations with us? If so, were they satisfactory?"

But watch the responses carefully. Notice any evasive or hesitant comments about your organization? Be especially alert for misconceptions or untruths. Are there false assumptions or inaccuracies you need to remedy in light of experience that shows negative perceptions inevitably lead to negative behaviors ? the kind you must correct to protect your unit's operations.

The result of all this work is that you are now prepared to set your public relations goal. For instance, clarify a hurtful inaccuracy, fix that misconception or flatten that rumor once and for all.

But there's more to reaching your goal. As with just about any goal you pursue, you don't reach it without the right strategy to show you how to get there. Fact is, with matters of perception and opinion, you have three strategic options: change an offending opinion/perception, create it where there isn't any, or reinforce an existing perception.

Now comes some work that requires real writing talent ? preparing the message you will use to carry your corrective facts and figures to members of your key target audience.

The message must display several characteristics. It must be clearly written as to why that misconception, inaccuracy or false assumption should be corrected or clarified. Your supporting facts must be truthful leading to a finished message that is both believable and compelling.

Now, how about moving your message to your audience? This is the least complex step in the sequence because there are so many communications tactics ready to do the message delivery job for you. They range from op-eds in local newspapers, radio and TV interviews, speeches, consumer briefings and brochures to newsletters, emails, personal meetings and many, many others. Only caution: be sure the tactics you assign to the job have a good record of reaching people just like those members of your target audience.

What about progress? Only way to know for certain if offending perceptions have been altered, is to interact out there once again with those audience members asking the same questions as before. But this time, you and your PR team will be watching carefully for indications that the troublesome perception really is moving in your direction.

That's where the rubber meets the road, isn't it? Alter the offending perception?that leads directly to the predictable behavior?that helps business, non-profit or association managers use mission-critical public relations?to reach their department, division or subsidiary objectives.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com

Choosing a Daycare or Pre-School ? Top Ten Safety Tips

When it's time to put your child into a daycare or pre-school, there is some homework involved. Here are the top ten safety tips that are useful when looking for a pre-school or daycare center.

1. Take the time to make sure the program is reputable and whether the facility has had any past complaints. Either with parents, previous teachers or care-givers. You also want to know about the existing teachers.

2. Talk with other moms on where they bring their kids. They will let you know if they had good experiences or not.

3. If you are new to the neighborhood, go to the receptionist at your area's pediatrician. They know everybody! They pretty much have a pulse on the community. Nurses and doctors are O.K., but busy. Receptionists will have the time to answer your questions.

4. Learn about the school or center's hiring policies and practices. Find out whether they check an applicant's references, perform background checks, and verify previous employment history before hiring.

5. Learn whether the center or school welcomes and supports parental participation.

6. Make sure you have the right to drop in and visit the facility at any time.

7. Make sure you are informed about every planned field trip and outing. Never give the organization general permission to take your child off the premises.

8. Make sure that the facility has you sign a release to publish your child's picture in any local newspapers. And it is definitely O.K. if you don't what to have your child's picture in the paper for their safety.

9. Prohibit, in writing, the release of your child to anyone without your explicit consent. Make sure the program knows who will pick up your child on any given day.

10. Ask the facility what their policy is on strangers or unauthorized persons that might come into the facility. Do they have any type of safety measures when someone who does not have custody or right to a child, show up. What is their protocol? What would they do?

You want your child to have an enjoyable and fun experience in their first learning facility. By asking questions and doing some investigating, you can rest assure that they will be in a safe environment as well.

Michelle Annese is a 3rd degree black belt with 15+ years experience teaching self defense and safety for women and children. She is a World Martial Arts Hall of Fame inductee for Achievement and best selling author of The Realtor Survival Guide, Protection for Women, and The SafeGuard System for Kids. For more information on how to protect yourself and your family go to http://www.michelleannese.com and check out other articles by Michelle Annese and get her free safety tips e-newsletter.

Cell phone Etiquette. The Do?s and Don?ts

With more and more people buying cell phones, it becomes more significant to know how to use your cell phone without looking obnoxious. Cell phones play an important role in our lives, but cell phone rage, like road rage, air rage and general rage is rising. Here are some tips for cell phone etiquette.

Out with a group of friend(s) and your cell phone rings? Excuse yourself from the group and take the call elsewhere. Taking the call elsewhere will not disrupt the flow of conversation within the group.

With a friend and the cell phone rings? Keep the call short and sweet. Otherwise, it gives the appearance that the friend you are with is less important that the caller.

Out on a date? The point of the date is to be able to spend time to get to know the other person. I would suggest that you disregard such calls. The romance is lost by the sound of the ringtones of your cell phone. Your date will appreciate your undivided attention.

It's a good idea to put your cell phone on vibrate when in restaurants, theaters, churches, weddings and funerals. When I'm out in a restaurant, I feel like asking for the non cell phone ringing section. Like many others, it is not often do I get to spend a quiet evening away from the children, work or other distractions. An evening going out to dinner with my husband is supposed to be relaxing, and we do not enjoy being distracted overhearing how wonderful your life has become since you started using Viagra.

I was in a movie theater once and someone's cell phone rang and the individual took the call. Someone else in the theater did not react well to the intrusive call and started shouting at the cell phone user. The cell phone user ignored the cell phone raged individual and the focus of the movie was lost and everyone's attention was on these two people. While nothing came of the incident, a relaxing evening out with my husband was lost. I felt like asking for our money back. The next time we will.

There is no question that cell phones are an important part of our lives. Use cell phones with good manners. Everyone will appreciate it.

P.S. ? As for ringtones? Not all people will appreciate listening to the latest pop tune or classical music each and every time your cell phone rings. May I suggest using the vibrate feature instead of your ringtones in a public place.

Catherine Kenyeres is a free lance writer and publisher for http://Best-4u-Cell-Phones.com. Catherine provides the latest information, reviews and comparisons for cell phone clients.

Instant Car Loan - Get an Approval Online Quick

Your car loan is now less than an hour away from approval with an online car loan lender. You can have a check in hand to buy a car the next day once your online application is approved.

How It Works

Online car loan lenders work with several financing companies to offer car loans for all types of situations. Whether you have poor credit or a first time buyer, car loan lenders can find you financing.

The entire process just takes a matter of days to complete, but the application just takes minutes. The car loan application is completed online, which takes less than fifteen minutes to complete. You can expect an approval usually in less than an hour. Your car loan package will arrive as soon as the next day. You can complete the paperwork that day and buy your car.

Applying For A Car Loan Online

To apply for a car loan online, decide ahead of time the amount you are willing to spend on a car and the length of the loan. It is a good idea to apply for more than what you think you need, leaving you room add in sales tax and other fees.

Your online car loan application is a short form, requesting personal information, employment history, and mortgage payments if any. Once you complete the form, simply press the submit button. During regular business hours, you can expect a response within a few minutes. If approved, your check and paperwork will usually arrive the next day.

Buying A Car

With your check in hand, you can purchase your car. Your check allows you to buy your car from a dealership or an individual. You just enter the amount on the check and sign it over to them. You will also need to fill out some additional forms, which are including in the paperwork sent by your car loan lender.

With an online car loan, you are basically a pre-approved car buyer. You can shop anywhere and you have the money on hand, giving you added leverage in negotiations. Use this to your advantage when you sit down to make a deal regarding your car.

To view our list of recommended auto loan companies online, visit this page: Recommended Auto Loan Companies Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ABC Loan Guide, an informational website about various types of loans.

How A Sense Of Wonder Makes Life Richer

It always amazes me when I meet someone who has a disdain for expansion of knowledge.

The other day, over lunch, I was arguing with a girl about a principle of abundance. I illustrated this principle with anecdotes about historically famous millionaires who had applied this principle successfully.

Her response: ???I can't use this information. It doesn't come from my experience.???

Since her idea of reality was only what fell into her immediate experience she was discounting the possibility of knowing anything outside it. Yet, unless she was willing to acknowledge the possibility of something outside her immediate circle of influence, how could she invite the actuality of the experience. Unless one has a hypothesis, experimentation is not an option.

Here is another example. During a certain period of time, a friend of mine and I, while working and living in similar circumstances, developed a completely different view of reality. During this time, I read books on super-string theory, quantum mechanics, occult phenomena, and strategic thinking. My mind was exploding with the richness of the world that I had uncovered. She, on the other hand, preferred to live within the range of her limited experiences. My life took a quantum leap for the better, hers remained the same.

Since my college days, I have consumed an average of three books a week. My view of the world since those days has expanded so enormously, and my experience of my life and of myself has grown so exponentially that I barely recognize the person I used to be.

In my view, the development of the printing press and the genius of the global brain called the Internet, have been inventions of such massive importance that they have accelerated the development of consciousness to an unbelievable extent.

In this century, we have experienced more awareness than at any other time in history. Never before have we, as a species, been aware of so much possibility, so much power, and so much diversity. Perhaps, somewhere along the line, there is a distinct possibility that we will even give up our brutality.

Dr. David Hawkins, who uses a unique method to measure the expansion of consciousness using the non-linear dimension, has concluded that at the time of the Buddha, the average consciousness of all of mankind was around 80; during the time of Christ, it was around 100; and during the present day, it is around 200 to 210. To appreciate the enormity of this jump, you have to consider that he uses a logarithmic scale of 0 to 1000, with 1000 being the highest state of measurement on this planet, exemplified by the Christ Consciousness. A rise of well over a 100 points for our species is enormous considering a significant rise in consciousness is about 5 points in a single lifetime.

In Vedantic literature, the highest values are considered to be Jnana and Bhakti. Jnana is knowledge of the absolute; it is recognizing the field of pure potentiality, the quantum soup, from which all manifested things arise. When this Jnana is reached, a state referred to as enlightenment, or satori, or connecting with the Christ Mind predominates; at this point true Bhakti, the unconditional love for all life, emerges.

Thus the pursuit of knowledge, whether exoteric or esoteric, is of supreme value. Exoteric knowledge allows for a greater power in the world of matter. Esoteric knowledge allows for the next step in consciousness, living beyond conditioned thinking in the pristine quality of the moment.

What I find fascinating is the idea that both exoteric knowledge, exemplified by science, and esoteric knowledge, exemplified by mysticism, appear to be reaching a common consensus about the nature of reality, the nature of ourselves, and the purpose of life.

Since we cannot, due to the limitations of time-space, learn through direct experience, we must rely on vicarious experience. In a single book, a man's condensed knowledge can be transmitted to your brain. It took Albert Einstein many years to formulate the Special and the General Theory of Relativity, and behind his breakthrough was the research and the pondering of hundreds of the finest minds. Yet, in a week, given a 200 page book, I can grasp the essentials of what took so long to discover. This is nothing short of miraculous.

Sometimes, I meet people whom I have not spoken to in years. I find that mentally they have as little understanding of themselves and the world around them as when I knew them before. They even have the same problems that they used to have.

One does not have to be an intellectual to read a book; one merely has to be curious. And if our species were not curious, we would still be in the neolithic age.

Books are magical apparitions. Time-bending messages. The wisdom of Socrates or Marcus Aurelius can inform my decisions today in the 21st century. And now with the advent of the Internet, knowledge will expand so rapidly that before the end of this century hover-cars and the scourge of horrific mental and physical maladies will be a thing of the past.

Resource Box

Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Ca., 15 years ago and now resides in Denver, Colorado. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.

The Yellowfins from HELL!

Hi Lee Palm/Red Rooster crew(San Diego - California).. Keep my rail spot cool for me - won't you?

Fishing Report from Nassau Bahamas (8-10-2000)(Thursday)(Air Temperature 92 degrees. Water temp. ? mid 80's degrees). Clear skies, no wind and burning hot sun. Caught two Yellowfins in the 60-pound range that almost sent me to the hospital.

Caught 2 YFY on Thursday - fishing "solo" aboard my WellCraft Scarab that had just been repowered with two 225 Evinrude fichts (cost was $28,000 including the installation).

Both YFT went about 70#s each (83 pounds of filet). Drift fished with fresh/frozen squid to start. Began fishing at 9:30AM and quit at 2PM.

As I arrived at the US Navy's AUTEC buoy 10 miles offshore (a practice area for the US Navy's nuclear subs ? which show up on the surface now and then)(the AUTEC buoy is in 6,000 feet of water) Capt. Robbie New (from Trinidad) of the "Little Trick" was just starting to fish.

For the first hour all I managed was a 2 pound jack ? that I later used for bait.

Robbie was having no luck either, but we saw several 50# YFTs come high out of the water several times, so that kept us anticipating.

At around 11:00 AM my bow rod with 80 pound test line and 80# green Berkley trilene leader, with a small Mustard circle hook on the end (with a 100# test Sampo swivel in between) went off.

I had just seen a big YFT fly through the area minutes before, and I was thinking I had him or his cousin ? for sure. The line screamed out, and the fish ran deep. Everything pointed to a YFT, but after about 10 minutes I saw a 25 pound foot shark on my line, hooked right in the mouth with the circle hook.

Leaving the shark on the line in the rodholder, I sat down for a drink of water ? out of a gallon plastic jug in my cooler.

Cut him loose, I thought to myself. But, then I remembered how many YFT's I'd caught using shark as bait, and went to take another look at him. He was a good 4 feet long. Normally too big to bother with, but the fishing was slow, and I decided to take him.

Even though I knew he would thrash about crazy-like when I gaffed him, I decided to go for it, but I missed my 5-foot long fishbox, and watched him go bonkers on my deck, as I hustled to slide him into the Scarab's 2-1/2 foot deep fishbox.

By 12 noon I switched from "squid" to the fresh jack for bait on all three of my poles. By now, the shark was dead, so I dragged him to the stern and started to filet him ? throwing bits and pieces of shark meat overboard ? with plenty of blood being washed overboard with my saltwater thru-hull washdown pump.

I filleted one side of the shark, took the skin and cut it into 5 pieces, and through it over the side. All the time ? washing the blood and guts overboard. I cut the shark's giant liver into small pieces, and watched them float on the surface ? as I slowly drifted along towards to AUTEC Buoy.

Within 5 minutes of cutting into this shark, the bow line went off ? "screaming". This time I knew it was probably a YFT. The fish had hit the 80# test trilene line on a 5-1/2 foot Palm Beach tuna rod, held in a Perko side mount rodholder.

I immediately scrambled about for my harness and playmate belt. Several times the YFT would stop his run deep, and I'd reel the line in fast to make sure there was no slack in the line, and smiled when I felt his weight again on my pole.

But, it was 95 degrees in the sun, and I was about to expedience something in 8 years of YFT fishing (and over 350 caught and landed), that was going to make this no ordinary day on the water.

After picking up the rod and snapping into the harness, I began the slow process of bringing him to color. I was grateful he had picked the rod with the 80# test line, as the other two reels (Shimano graphite a Penn 30W) had 50# test Trilene (Big Game) line, and fighting a YFT on 50# test line is a completely different ball game.

Fifteen minutes into the struggle, my thumb (on the reel) got an awful cramp, and actually stuck to my palm. I couldn't understand why this was happening, but kept going ? attempting to shake off the cramp.

A few minutes later the cramps spread to my forearm ? then up to my biceps. I'm 220 pounds, a former HS All American swimmer, and 4 time NY State gold medallist, so I'd been through tough workouts, but this was something I never dealt with.

Even my legs were cramping up. There was no wind, no cover from my bimini top, and it was 95 degrees in the shade. It all added up to one thing - "Heat Exhaustion".

To cool off I tried stepped into a 5-gallon bucket of saltwater, but this didn't help one iota. My feet were also too big for the bucket.

In addition, I was getting unusually tired ? FAST. HEAT EXHAUSTION had set in, and was challenging me like "The old man and the sea".

It took me 55 minutes to land this 70-pound YFT, but I finally got him in the boat. Boy, was I relieved.

Usually I wash all the blood off my boat immediately upon landing a fish, but this time I went to the stern, turned on the saltwater pump, sat on my cooler, and just let that saltwater run over my head for 5 minutes. I finished off about 3/4 of that gallon jug of water too.

As I slowly headed back in the direction of Capt. Robbie's "Little Trick", the cool air hitting my Toronto Raptor NBA Jersey (#14 worn by Vince Carter) made me feel much better, but I still wasn't 100%.

By the way, you might want to purchase one of these NBA "Jersey's sometime. You'll know why the NBA uses them. They are 1000 times cooler than anything cotton or other material. I have a Laker's #34 too. My favorite.

I waved at Capt. Robbie, as I passed slowly off his stern, and he shouted ? "I thought you were fighting 2 YFT, you were gone so long."

Anyway, I set up again to try for another (YFT).

Now I'm using white shark chunks on all my hooks, and chunking with the fresh shark ? as the lines are let out.

About 45 minutes later, the stern line goes off ? screaming. This is my Penn 30 International with no leader and 50# Trilene line ? no swivel. Christ, I said to myself, why did this fish do this to me?

The hook on this line was only a #4 Mustard live bait hook - that you can buy 50 to a package for under $10 at Wal-Mart or K-Mart.

This was going to be a whole new "ballgame". I'm going to have to be "gentle" on the drag ? or he'll bite through the trilene, or pull the hook.

As it turned out, I eventually got this YFT to color after over one hour. I experienced the same cramps as before, and at one point ? on this fish ? I thought about "giving up".

It wasn't the fact that I get $6 a pound for the fillet (from my restaurant friends) that kept me at the rail, but the thought of cutting a YFT off was out of the question.

After gaffing this 70# YFT and pulling him over the gunwale, I trolled by Robbie (who stayed until 7PM and caught not a one) and waved ? saying I'm going home.

True Story.

THE END

Capt. Solo ? aka Tom Azzara
Boat ? "the Taxman"
Nassau, Bahamas
British Commonwealth territory
(not part of the "East Coast")

Tom's Fishing Gallery.

http://endtaxes.com/images/gallery.html

Take a break, and check out these pictures from the 6th annual Billabong's fishing tournament held in Nassau, in the sunny, tax free Bahamas.

click onto (or browser it) below....

http://endtaxes.com/images/gallery2.html

From: Lee Palm Long Range Sportfishers

TRIP #14; August 6th to August 11th 5-Day Trip:

The second of the three back-to-back 5-dayers in the Red Rooster III's summer schedule once again provided outstanding fishing for her passengers. Chuck Melber of Agoura CA led the way with a 84.1 lb. bluefin tuna to take the jackpot, followed by a 79.8 lb. bigeye for Justin Christensen of Newbury Park CA and a 73 lb. bluefin for Joe
Stickles of Orange CA. "It was good consistent action throughout the trip" noted captain Andy Cates. "Some days seemed wilder than others of
course, but looking back on the trip I'd say that there was good consistent fishing the whole way through."

The trip fished as far down as Guadalupe Island for some excellent grade yellowfin, but the albacore grounds closer to home yeilded limits of the longfins and a good take on the bigger bluefin as well. "We had some really exceptional moments," noted co-captain Jeff DeBuys, "but none
quite as surprising as the second-place jackpot bigeye landed by Justin . When we got that puppy to color we knew we had found
some quality fishing for our guys. It was definitely a notable fish, and in the end it added nicely to our trophy bluefin count." This,
combined with the quality-sized albacore had by all, gave the Rooster yet another in her long string of exceptional long range adventures.

FISH COUNT: LIMITS OF ALBACORE, 52 BLUEFIN TUNA, 49 YELLOWFIN TUNA, 45
YELLOWTAIL AND 1 BIGEYE.

Thomas Azzara
New Providence Estate Planners, Ltd.
54 Sandyport Drive
P.O. Box CB 11552
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax/phone: (242) 327-7359
e-mail: taxman@batelnet.bs

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