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.

Sharks and Whales Oh my, Oh my!

Right Whales were being reported in the inlet off of Beaufort the first two weeks of December. The annual trip to the calving grounds off of southern Georgia was under way. What great luck to have a group of rare Right Whales spend time in our local waters.

Good Fortune left Morehead City, our winter port, and proceeded down the Intracoastal Iaterway at sunrise. The marine radio was already chattering about whale sightings by the seasonal Bluefin Tuna fisherman. Most of them come from New England where whales are common in the summer. They were more than happy to converse with me about exact locations of there sightings. I spent four hours maneuvering from one group of whales to another until I finally anchored in the bight of Cape Lookout for lunch and a little fly fishing.

While I sat on the back deck I noticed a large commotion in the shallows next to the beach. I quickly launched the skiff, boarded the dog, and headed in the direction of the disturbance. As I approached I noticed a very large animal with a triangular fin. No, it was not a dolphin. The dog jumped out of the boat and dashed through the shallow water right at our mystery fish. It occurred to me that Great White sharks have a triangular dorsal fin. I jumped from the skiff to pursue the dog before he became lunch in the sharks mouth. The dog was jumping around and barking at the fish when I arrived. We were both soaked and out of breath by the time I realized the animal was a shark, but not the toothy dog-eating kind. After some inspection and picture taking I went back out to the boat to consult a shark key for better identification.

The shark had a very distinctive torpedo-like nose with eyes on the side of the nose and no apparent teeth. These characteristics matched the description of an immature female Basking Shark. A plankton eater by trade, this 11-foot shark had been hit by a boat. The wounds on its back were very apparent and perhaps life threatening. When I returned to the beach I brought all the antibiotic cream I had on the boat. She lay still while I plastered the cream into her wounds and, with a rising tide, slowly maneuvered her back into deeper water. The process entailed grasping her firmly by the nose and wiggling the shark back and forth. I also pushed on the dorsal fin and lifted the pectoral fins out of the sand while continuing to wiggle. The huge shark finally broke loose from the sand and slowly swam about 20 feet. She then turned and swam back to my position. I stroked her on the head and back for a short period of time and then turned her seaward. She swam out into the bight on the surface. I followed her for about a mile until she finally submerged and disappeared.

When I worked for the Mote Marine Lab, it was not uncommon to get into the pool with dazed sharks that had been caught on a "long line" and walk them in shallow water until they were revived. We then, of course, got out of the pool. It was interesting to touch and mingle with a shark more interested in a big plate of algae than munching on one of my appendages.

This whole day was a great experience so I have included a short video of the shark encounter.
I hope you enjoy it.

Winter trips

We had a great year with no hurricanes and lots of great sailing. Good Fortune is back in her winter slip in Morehead City. It is safe and convenient but we have to operate around a tidal schedule. The wildlife in the winter are very active, including dolphins, gannets, mergansers, loons,and loads of cormorants and pelicans. With a little advanced notice we are available for trips to the ocean and the barrier islands. Our winter prices have a minimum of four passengers or the equivalent price.
You may contact Capt. Ron at; 252-241-6866.

Don't forget to check with us for whale sittings!

Comment from passenger

I just got this e-mail from a recent passenger who also included a photo album. With thanks, I am sharing it here - Capt. Ron

Hi Ron: Thanks for the fabulous trip on Good Fortune - we all had a wonderful time and I greatly enjoyed hearing about your interesting life and listening to your wisdom about marine biology - fascinating. Big hugs for Tiller. Many more happy sails, Marcy www.marcymorrison.com - you can see my adventures here ; )
- Marcy

The busy time

The next five weeks will be very busy. The best way to book a trip this time of year is to call my cell #, 252-241-6866. I'm on the boat a good deal of the time. Returning E-mail is time consuming and difficult this time of year.

I still have many openings, you just need to call.

Capt. Ron

The Bahamas are still there

The Bahamas trip this year was in late June instead of our usual trip in mid May. Yes, it was a lot hotter when I arrived. At least the boat had a generator and air condition.

We sailed for Wardrick Wells in the Exuma park and arrived after dark. Not the best way to travel in coral infested water but we anchored off shore and went into the island the next day. We had inoculated Alligator Cay with six iguanas in 1988 in the hopes of placing a population of Cycluara cyclura ordinata in a protected area in case the Leaf Cay population where some how wiped out. Getting 14 people ashore in an 11 foot Boston Whaler through rough seas with lots of nets and other gear always takes some time. Off loaded and on the beach we spent the entire day thrashing through the underbrush trying to round up the offspring of the six iguanas we had left there 19 years go. It proved very difficult because the animals where not bait sensitive and very weary of nets and nooses. Ten Iguanas where all we caught. A bit disappointing for so much effort.

We moved the boat north 10 miles the next day to Bush Hill Cay and went ashore in even worse conditions. At least the increased wind made it a little cooler. It had been two years since we had made a census of the other subspecies of ordinata. The San Salvador Iguana was inoculated on this Cay in an attempt to provide a safer habitat in a protected area. This iguana is smaller then the Allans Cay iguana but makes up for it in color variation. Blue with orange spots, orange with blue spots and yellow with green spots. The color variation is unique. We spent one and a half days, again thrashing around the island over rocks and through bushes to net just over 100 iguanas. Not a record for us, but a very good effort.

We where all sporting puncture wounds, scratches and sunburn by now. The next day we again sailed north to Alans Cay this time. The weather was windy with clouds and rain which made it difficult to attract iguanas, since they are sun lovers. We did a survey of the islands in the Alans group searching for new, untagged, animals and fresh nest burrows.

Our trip back to Nassau sailed through some more rain and high wind. Its always that way. We had large numbers of conch fritters, washed down with a fair amount of local beer that evening and made our way to the Airport the next day. It was exhausting but good, very good.

Off to see the lizzards

Ron and Good fortune will be in the Bahamas from June 23 to July1 to track the populations of Rock Iguanas in the Exuma Land Sea Underwater park.
I will resume charters on or about July 2 or 3.
Really, its just a conch fritter and beer drinking contest. Hope I win!