October 16, 2012
last minute fishing in Cape Lookout
stopping by for a visit
As much as we would have liked to stayed anchored in Cape Lookout, we had family and friends waiting for us in Beaufort. It was time to pick up the hook and make the 2-hour journey to a place we like to call home.
We raised the mainsail, hoisted the anchor, and sailed out of Lookout Bight. Once outside of the Bight, we unfurled the genaker, and glided through the water at about 8 knots. The skies were sunny and blue, and we thoroughly enjoyed the sail as we made the homecoming.
Just inside the Beaufort Inlet, and in the middle of the channel, we came upon a swarm of birds diving at schools of Spanish Mackerel. It was total chaos. Seagulls and pelicans were dropping into the water in front of us, as fish were splashing at the water’s surface. Several small power boats were drifting through the fish schools trying to get their catch. We still had our fishing lines out, so we aimed straight for the thick of it. Within seconds of reaching the chaos, we had a fish on. It was only a small Spanish, so we had to toss it back. As fun as it would have been to make several passes through the schools of fish, we needed to pull in our lines and continue on towards Taylor Creek at the Beaufort waterfront.
As we were making our final approach to Beaufort, we thought we heard a boat we met in Annapolis on the VHF, but we couldn’t be sure. Once we arrived in Taylor’s Creek and our hook had settled, at just about the same moment our wifi antenna found a signal, Colin already had a Skype call from his buddy, Derek, on What If. They, too, had just arrived in Beaufort, and were anchored around the corner near Town Creek Marina. Immediately, the boys made plans to get together.
Our first evening back in Beaufort was spent with Wil’s mom and stepdad aboard for dinner. It was great to see them again and we did plenty of catching up.
