The Great Fishing Trip
Trolling our way into the bight
Wow, what a great idea - spend a small fortune to go a little way offshore and troll for Spanish or dolphin (fish.) It started out the way it always does when you leave an inlet, major rollers and chop. The dogs, as usual were terrified. I went below to hold paws and act as a 'squeeze chute." The cat looked at me as only a seasick cat can, meowed, curved her tail, and peed. Are we having fun yet?
Once past the breakers, we encountered 2-4 waves and nobody felt any happier. I took over the helm and Bill rigged the big rods with an umbrella rig on one and a dipsy and gold hook on the other. I cut to one engine, as even on the lowest speed two are too much for trolling. Immediately the boat lost any semblance of steering and we started to yaw.
Bill pulled in the lines and managed to catch the dinghy with the umbrella rig. He climbed back up to the bridge and took over the helm, announcing that he was a little seasick.
I went below to rescue the umbrella rig and that ended our big fishing trip.
Looking aft on the bridge.
Gramma's omnipresent bougainvillia
Grampa eats dinner on the bridge
Grampa reads until almost blind as the sun sets on the bridge
BFFs love us for our potato chips
Cape Lookout sunset
All was not lost, however, as we dropped a hook and took the boys ashore for a rest stop. It was brutally hot, as there was no breeze, so I went for a swim and paddled around on the kayak, looking for sea turtles. I didn't see my pals, so I came back aboard. Meanwhile, the breeze had picked up nicely, so after showering off the salt water, I joined my spouse on the bridge for a read-a-thon. Later, Chef Boyardee went below and cooked our bratwurst dinner, portions of which we shared with the gulls and the turtles. The sunset was gorgeous.
During the night, the wind shifted 180 degrees.The bight was too rough to take the boys ashore, so we weighed anchor and headed back. Since we had a following sea, the trip was quite comfortable and everyone was happy. We dropped a hook again, and took the boys for a pit stop on Shackleford while we did some shelling.
All in all, it was a very pleasant fishing trip.