Fishing Fever

Apparently I have a fever...fishing fever. Today was the last day of school before the winter holiday and I rushed home! To my sweet husband who had the boat all ready to go...again!

Even though the sun was almost setting we set out to see if I could catch a fish!

We trolled out to the bay to find the fish. I assisted in the navigation (which I actually like to do), commandeered the boat and using the combo GPS/fishfinder guided us (okay...the boat was on autopilot!) to a spot!

We set out the fishing poles with the lures from Sunday and slowly circled the targeted area. Nothing. Absolutely nothing!

Nothing except a beautiful evening on cold, tranquil waters with my loving husband on OUR boat! No fish, but a great time and more learning for me. And a breath-taking vista.

The "fishing" is the fun part!

First Fishing Foray

Shawn and I went on our first fishing foray on the YellowBird! I have to confess that I am a fishing novice. I mean, I did the cub scout thing with my two boys and fished off a platform on a fresh water lake with a bamboo pole and a string. I went on one of those off-shore fishing trips from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina when I was in my late twenties. And I went with my son on a fishing excursion on a stocked fresh water pond this summer...but FISHING....real FISHING only once with the kind Captain Smooth and Shawn when "I" (and I use that pronoun VERY loosely as in the excitement, I believe Shawn actually did most of the work helping me reel it in and netting it--that sucker felt HEAVY!!) caught a cobia, fell in love with it and released it!

So enough of the backstory! I have been wanting to go FISHING...real fishing on the YB. So Shawn located all the necessities, loaded the boat (as my wonderful husband always does! ) and away we went.

Armed with our gear, we trolled out to the Bay to a top secret spot. It is rockfish season after all and there are lots of fishermen out there!

By the way...did I mention it was COLD??? So we were bundled up but it was a good cold. Plus the heater Shawn installed kept the salon toasty warm. My plan of action is to stay outside and enjoy the cold until it gets frizzy cold and then race inside to the heat and "assist in the navigation" while I thaw out and then repeat the cycle! It works great! :)

When we got to the fishing spot, I received a quick lesson in using lures and weights and O. M. G.--

did you know fishing lures have nicknames like "Stretch"???

 I got to fish and fish and fish and fish. I  waited (patiently!) and waited (impatiently!)...but no fish were biting! I was not disappointed at all. Seriously. I had a blast. I loved casting and that jolt of excitement when you think you have a bite only to find seaweed tangled in your line.

And I did avail myself of the rod holders when I got cold and would go inside to get warm (and have an adult beverage--I was drinking wine which does not go with fishing at all...next time I will take beer!).

While I was thawing, Shawn would check the lines for me!

So we had a great after fishing....no catches...but lots of fun being together on the YB out in the water where we love it best! 

It gets dark WAY too early now. Happy fishing!

It's What We Do

Saturday morning, Shawn spent a few hours installing a HEATER on the YellowBird! Yay! Now I will not be cold as we spend time puttering around our nearby creeks. The heater installs onto the engine, using the heat from the engine as the heat source.  He created a vent in the stairs so the heat blows into the passageway between the galley, head and stateroom. It is quite comfortable now after sundown. Some of the heat naturally rises into the salon. A most excellent placement, in my opinion, to give us the best bang for the buck.

Heater
 

So to test it out, we gathered our provisions of wine, ale and snacks and headed out to the bay. Just in time to catch the last rays of sun. It was about 51 degrees outside and the heater kept the inside at 63 degrees which is a good temperature for us in the boat.

Flag-flying proudly

We returned to the dock, intending to head to the house to cook dinner, when we saw that despite the clouds, the moon was beautifully (almost) full and shining. So we untied the lines again and headed out to see the moon! As soon as we cleared our creek, the moon went behind the clouds again, but we decided to stay out until we saw it again. After a brief game of hide and seek, the moon appeared. Very bright and beautiful.

Moonlight