"Hey guys, there's a yacht out here bailing dolphin"

 I can not believe it! We finally got a day that we could head out to the Gulf Steam to do some fishing.  Now when I say a good day, it was still not conducive to taking the small, center console loaned to us by our friend.  We did however take Southern Style out.  The waves were a good 3-4 feet going out in the morning, and the inlet was rough as stink.  Southern Style is a big beefy girl however and her stabilizers are also a big help.  We made it out to the Gulf Stream and within an hour the ocean calmed down and we had a really pretty, nice day.  

Sunrise as we headed for the inlet then out to the Gulf Stream

Fishing was slow to start, but by about 10AM I was able to find a weed line with no other boats around.  Bait fish and thus bigger fish that eat bait fish like to hang out around this floating grass.

                                     The weed line I found mid morning.  It stretched for over a mile.

It was not long before we started getting hits.  Before you knew it, we even had multiple lines going off at the same time.  It was quite a rodeo at times.  Keith was trying to wrangle lines and I was running back and forth between driving the boat and helping with the lines.  Within about an hour our cooler was getting awfully full.

I leaned out of the side door of the pilot house for this picture while Keith was getting ready to bring in a mahi.

Mahi at the end of Keith's squid daisy chain being reeled in. 

By lunch time we decided to leave the weeds and begin to troll toward home.  We had plenty of fish and getting back early allowed us to clean the boat and fish without having to rush.  We would be back early afternoon which was great.

Our big cooler stuffed with fish and ice - 10 Mahi and a Blackfin Tuna

This was our little blackfin tuna for the day.  He became tuna poke that night for dinner.

Tuna poke bowl for dinner (minus the rice, its a low carb thing).

We also had 10 mahi (also known as dolphin fish).

Keith cleaning the fish at the cleaning station by the docks

Between the fish we caught with Southern Style, and some Keith caught the day before out with some friends on their fishing boat; we had fish everywhere.  I began brining and freezing as Keith was giving me the meat.  The galley looked like Poseidon himself was throwing a feast.  We were also given a bunch of fresh clams from a fishing buddy who had gone clamming just the day before.

Clams from the sand bar just off Ocracoke

The galley on Southern Style with just some of the fish.  There was a load also in the smoker and some already in the freezer.  Below fish are drying on racks before going into the smoker.

I have really gone head over heels for smoked fish.  I love the dip we make, but also enjoy smoked fish on a salad for lunch.  The other day I also made some smoked fish cakes.  They were pretty good.  I need to tweak the recipe just a touch, but there is great potential there.

Smoked mahi fish cakes

It has been so much fun going and catching all these fish here off Ocracoke.  The local fishing fleet here know us well now and get a kick out of the fact that we take our boat out to the Gulf Stream to fish just the two of us.  This past week there was a BIG blue marlin tournament out of Morehead City and some of those boats were off Ocracoke while Keith and I were fishing.  Later that afternoon Keith was talking to one of the mates from the fleet here in Ocracoke and he told Keith he heard some other boat from the blue marlin tournament on the radio saying "guys, you won't believe it but there is a yacht out here bailing dolphins".  The mate said he immediately knew it was us and we were on the dolphin fish.  We all got a chuckle out of that.

More Friends Visit Ocracoke

 It was another fairly busy week for us.  Just as our friends from Charleston were leaving more company arrived.  Dave and Janet on "Sequel" arrived from New Bern, NC for several days and Rick and Deedy on "Rejoice" arrived from New Smyrna Beach, FL.  We met Rick and Deedy while doing "The Loop" back in 2018.  They heard us talk about how much we enjoy spending time in Ocracoke and decided to comes visit.  We are so glad that they did.

Rick and Deedy on the back of their boat "Rejoice"

This was Rick and Deedy's first visit to Ocracoke.  We tried to show them around this quirky, little island, hitting the highlights.  As has been the theme this summer, the weather was not exactly cooperative.  We all tried to make the best of it.  There was a little bit of fishing we got to do on the center console "Lab Cab",  

Here are Rick, Keith, Dave, and Janet on "Lab Cab" heading out to fish.

We were able to pick up several Spanish mackerel.  I introduced Rick and Deedy to my smoked fish dip.  This was a very anxious event for me as Rick is a professional chef.  Talk about pressure!!!   He gave my fish dip a thumbs up which is the biggest compliment.  Of course the weather was not cooperative enough to be able to get our friends out to the Gulf Stream to fish.  Maybe next time.

It was also noted that Pengi has not been seen on the blog for some time.  He was specifically invited to dinner on "Rejoice" along with Keith and I.  

Pengi enjoying a cocktail on "Rejoice" before dinner.

Rick made us the best streaks we have ever had.  He ages them for 35 days, then grills them.  Even though his grill was giving him fits that night, the steak was AMAZING!  As soon as we stepped back into Southern Style that evening Keith and I both said at the same time, "Was that not the best steak ever!!"

Rick working on finishing the steaks.  Pengi keeping close watch.

Too soon their visit came to an end and they had to begin their return cruise to Florida.  We hope to catch up with them again maybe when passing through Florida or who knows (hey guys, the Bahamas have great boating and fishing in the winter, hint, hint).

Waving goodbye to Rick and Deedy as "Rejoice" heads out of the channel into the Pamlico Sound

"Rejoice" cruising across the sound

Dave and Janet spent several days on the island as well.  They had us over to their boat for Dave's famous crab cakes.  As always dinner was fantastic and we wish they would have stayed longer, but the weather was not great and they decided to leave for home early.

Janet even got her fishing license just for this visit.  Luckily she did get to catch some fish inshore before they left.

Dave and Janet fishing off the bow of "Lab Cab"

Janet reeled one in (he's a keeper).

Hopefully Dave and Janet will come back sometime before we leave in the fall.  The weather has got to improve at some point.  

It was really great to have so many friends visit us on Ocracoke.  It was a real treat to see everyone and catch up.  We only wish everyone could have stayed longer.

Let Us Tell You About Our Week

 This has been a very interesting week for sure.  We started with an attempt at fishing in the Gulf Stream on Tuesday.  I say attempt because the weather as usual was predicted to be marginal for a small boat.  Waves in the Gulf Stream were two to three feet with some four footers.  Keith and I decided to give it a try, so at 5:45AM we headed out.  The 30 mile ride out to the "Stream" was rough and by the time we got there Keith was soaked from the water being blown over the boat.  I was able to stay relatively dry cowering in the corner downwind of the center console.  Getting all the lines baited and out was also a chore for Keith and it made him nauseous looking down trying to get all the lines set.  We did not have the lines out 30 minutes when he said "this is ridiculous, we're going back in".  So that is what we did.  What a nightmare.  That was a lesson learned.  Fishing a 26 foot boat is definitely a completely different undertaking than fishing a 57 foot boat with stabilizers.

So after getting back to the dock, we chilled for the rest of the day.  The next day was our second COVID shot.  All went well with the shot which was in the morning.  We even went out into the ferry channel and did a little Spanish mackerel fishing Wednesday afternoon.  Just before dinner I decided to cut a few paper bead strips.  Well about 10 minutes into this my ruler slipper and I proceeded to lop off the inside half of my thumbnail and a chunk of skin on my thumb.  What a bloody mess (literally).  And of course this is on an island with no full time doctor, and even the small health center was then closed for the evening.  I did eventually get it to stop bleeding and realized there was nothing to suture anyway.  So I am just keeping it clean and letting it heal.  But boy was it painful.  I now know why one ancient torture method is pulling off peoples finger nails.  I will spare all of you the pictures of my mangled thumb.  One good thing about the incident is the pain from my thumb far outweighed any symptoms from the second COVID shot.  Plus I was taking two extra strength Tylenol every 8 hours after the thumb accident, so any major COVID signs were not noticed.

Thursday was a day to try to catch up on some sleep and get ready for our friends Ron and Robin Terry's visit.  They arrived on Friday from Charleston.  We had several great days with them.

Selfie at Sunset. 

Left to right: Ron, Robin, Gail, and Keith

Collecting driftwood on Portsmouth Island for Robin's landscaping.

We deforested the beach. (This was our haul loaded into the dinghy).

Riding back from Portsmouth with our loot.

We also took a ride on "Lab Cab"

All of us ate too much, drank too much, spent too much while shopping, and had way more fun than should be allowed.  The visit ended too soon, but hopefully they may be able to sneak back in the fall  for another visit before we leave Ocracoke.

Ron and Robin in their Jeep headed onto the ferry to go back to Charleston

There are more friends arriving this week and the next several weeks should be busy.  We are praying for some lighter winds so we can do some fishing with them.  Once again fingers crossed.