After the memorial ceremonies at the Scottish Rites Center in Mission Valley on Wednesday, November 25, a large flotilla of sportfishing boats headed out to the entrance to San Diego Bay early on a beautiful Santa Ana blue sky afternoon.

Led by Poole's last boat, the 124-foot Excel, the long line of white sportboats in the procession reminded Bill Roecker, photographing from Cabrillo Monument atop Point Loma, of the trains that carried the bodies of presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt, the "Long Black Train" that carried the bodies of those famous men to their final resting places.

Most of the boats were built, finished or designed by Poole over the many years when he shaped the course of long range sportfishing in San Diego. Without Bill Poole, the majority wouldn't have been built and those who own and work aboard them would not be in their present occupations.

The long white line was joined by the Coast Guard, and stopped near the mouth of the bay for final ceremonies and the scattering of the ashes. The boats circled into a group. A hose played water far up into the air. Horns and whistles blew and honked at the event's conclusion.

All the boats, loaded with grieving friends family and anglers, headed back on the blue water to the sportboat basin on a warm, sunny November afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving.

It was a grand send-off for a much-loved man who will be deeply missed by thousands of people all over the world.