7/25/16
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

The last week was full of fun stuff for us. We had a run over the the secluded beach again, this time trying to do some fishing as well as wallowing. The mullet (bait fish) have started to appear and we thought we could catch some in the surf and fish off the beach. Alas, the mullet were somewhere else, so we settled for wallowing.

The next day we went fishing on our friends, John and Mary Ann, boat. They have a 1960 Merit. An all wood boat that was built specifically for sport fishing off shore. The boat is immaculate, and is a joy to drive. They win awards at the wooden boat show every year. We went about 40 miles off shore and had 5 lines in the water as we trolled along. The ocean was really calm and it was a beautiful day on the water. It was fun to travel at over 20 knots, and in 2 1/2 hours we were as far as it takes us almost a full day to travel in the sail boat! Tricia reeled in all 3 of the fish we caught, first a Mahi Mahi:

Then an Amber Jack:

And lastly a Barracuda, that we thew back. Mary Ann wasn’t able to go, but we had a great time with John. He and Tricia tended to the fishing and I drove the boat. It was a good day on the water.

The day after, we made a dinghy trip to the sandbar to wallow, and then rode over to Bald Head Island.

We have also been having some great get-togethers on the dock and at Matt and Shirley’s house. We have been eating and drinking very well! There has been some work as well. Tricia used a boat cover that was in the trash, and made some covers for our jerry jugs (diesel fuel and gasoline).

They get brittle over time when exposed to the sun, so this will help them last longer. She also used the material to make a bag for our dinghy anchor, so it won’t scratch the finish on the floor of our new dinghy.


She is awesome! We also sent her up Matt’s mizzen mast to bring down parts of the wind generator, and then take them back up after repairs. Boat wakes from passing boats in the ICW caused the boat to roll quite frequently, and it didn’t make it easy for her.

We also received the bulk of the parts for 2 big additions to the boat: a Marine Kinetix wind generator, and a water maker (to make fresh water from sea water while in the Keys and Bahamas). I need to get some more parts and will get busy, probably after our trip north in August.