February at the Cape

The last week of February sported a few warm days so I dropped the dock lines and headed for Cape lookout. The wind was north east so the sail was calm and one tack all the way to the bight.

I launched the skiff as soon as the anchor was set. Tiller was off the deck and into the skiff and ready for dog activities on the beach. Our first discovery were two Kemp Ridly turtles freeze dried on the beach. One hundred feet down the beach we found the decayed remains of a young Minke whale. We salvaged a few vertebra and moved on. Just a stones throw from the whale, tiller stopped to investigate an adult Loggerhead turtle. We were located on a cul-de-sac beach facing north. The prevailing winter winds pile, all the sea life that dies in the bight, onto this little beach on the sound side. The cold winter temperatures keep everything dry and cool. I call this the winter grave yard. When the spring warmth arrives, the winter die off will succumb to insects and bacteria.

In the rush to get to sea, I left the camera on the bed at home. That means no good pictures of all the great finds. I took cell phone pics of all the critters but the quality is so poor I feel bad showing them. Its all I have so I will post them.

A short hike across beach brought both us to the jetty. This structure was built in the early 1900's to create a harbor for the N.C. Port. It was decided to locate the Port in Morehead City so the jetty was left to the wind and waves. After 100 years it is still there, with some of the best fish and invertebrate habitat in the state. The speckled trout were so thick that a cast into the school would immediately hook a 27" trout. Every time I pulled a fish on to the beach the dog would run in circles and bark. It was mayhem casting and snagging fish until I put a hook completely through my finger. This ended the fishing. This is why fisherman carry wire cutting tools with them. I had to push the hook through my finger and cut the barb end off. The dog continued to circle and bark during this process. The hook was removed and the fish gathered up in a discarded onion sack ,and we headed back to the skiff.

We were treated to a dolphin show just at sunset. That sure went well with an evening cocktail.

This photo was taken in June of 2008 while we where having lunch at Wade Shores.

November and December Sail

Good fortune has had several interesting sails this winter in North Carolina. The November sail was out the inlet and south west along Atlantic beach to see dolphins. The wind was gusting to 30k and we sailed with a doubled reefed main and jib. We knew that there was a frontal passage coming so we tacked around and headed back into the inlet. As we sailed in, rain started to stream down from the clouds to the north west. Unlike summer rain this appeared to be wispy in appearances. A quick look at the color radar revealed snow rather then rain. The front came through blowing about 50K with driven snow. Sailing in 50 knots of wind with snow is not my idea of tropical sailing, but the passengers where from a northern climate and saw nothing unusual about the afternoon sail. In fact they thought it was very exciting.

December brought another extended trip to Shakelford banks. We spent time in the maritime forest and then walked over the dune to the beach. The winter beach was vacant and festooned with winter shells. The find of the day was a nutmeg shell (Cancellaria reticulata) in very nice condition. I have found many of these in the sub-tropics but this was the first one I have found in NC. We shed our coats and finally our shoes on a day that felt like spring.

Early February brought news of a beached Wright Whale on Cape Lookout. I assembled a few interested locals and hoisted sail for the Cape. Once out the inlet it was clear that our journey was going to be a little tougher then the weather service had indicated. The forecast was for light winds from the north, what we found was 20 knot winds from the west, kicking up a nasty sea that would follow us out and pound us on the way back. We decided to sail down-wind to the "bight of the cape" and have lunch while hoping for the predicted wind shift. We ate down below in the heat of the cabin and emerged after a great lunch to find the wind had increased from the west. I knew it was going to be a long motor-sail home. A phone call let us know that the whale had beached about four miles south of our position . I knew the whale was on a small sand island off the very tip of cape lookout and not a place one would venture near, with gale force winds blowing right on to the beach where the whale was located. It was time to return, and we did ever so slowly against six foot waves about 3 seconds apart. Good fortune barely made 2.5 knots motoring into the prevailing conditions, but after about two hours of slamming into the waves we made our turn and headed into the inlet. Again, every one had a great adventure, Captain Ron was a little stressed. We did see the whale on the evening news with a great photo shot the day before when the wind was not blowing as hard. Timing is everything.

Wright Whale at Cape Lookout

I have included a photo of the mother and calf whales right in front of the light house in the far background. This was taken on June 8th of 2008. My hope is to see more this fall through December. Mid December was a great viewing time last year. Keep checking the blog for updates. We are into the dolphin migration at this time. The second week of October has been great for dolphins.

Labor Day and September

This posting is the 25th of August. The following seats are open.
Saturday the 30th----Open for any trip
Sunday the 31st---4 seats, Dolphin sail 9:00---2 seats 6 hr. sail to Cape Lookout 1:00 to 7:00
Monday September 1st---Open for any trip.

The weekends always fill up first in the fall. The weekdays are generally open. Please call for more information on openings during the fall season. I will attempt to keep you updated on availabilities on the weekends.

June and July events

The late spring and summer has brought Right whales, at least 10 leatherback turtles, and plenty of loggerheads and dolphins . Sooty, Audubon and Greater Shearwaters were plentiful. We are moving into the snorkeling part of the season with lighter winds and clear water, August is our best month for viewing underwater.
Please call for reservations this time of year. I run the boat almost every day with very little time to deal with E-mail. The best contact number is 252-241-6866.

Spring is here

Good Fortune will be at her berth in Beaufort by the 25Th of March. The spring season is the best time for cool sailing and lots of winter wildlife hanging out until it is time to move north for the summer. Loons, cormorants, gannets, seals and whales are all here until early summer. The turtles will start to arrive in late April along with our summer dolphins. Cownosed rays and ocean sunfish are inshore this time of the year. Low humidity and great spring winds make this the best time of year to sail. Warm days and cool nights, just like California at half the price.