Start of 2010 Hurricane Season--Predictions Ominous This Year

By Jim Field

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially starts this Tuesday and runs through November, is predicted to be a deadly one. This past Thursday NOAA issued its expected lineup: 14 to 23 named tropical storms, including up to seven "major" hurricanes. More specifically on the hurricane front:

- 8 to 14 storms will strengthen into hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher
- three to seven of these could reach category 3 status or higher--meaning sustained winds of 111 mph or higher

This adds up to picture of one of the most turbulent seasons ever (hope they're wrong!). Last month forecasters at Colorado State University issued similar predictions: 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes.

NOAA's Administrator commented: "The greater the likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a landfall." (No kidding. Really?) The big fear, of course, is a hurricane in the Gulf and its potential impact on (1) efforts to plug the leak and (2) the dispersion of surface oil. If a hurricane rolled over the spill area (moving counter-clockwise), the winds and storm surges would disperse the oil over a wider area and push it far inland into fragile marshes. Were this to in fact occur, a tropical storm researcher at Colorado State warned: "It would definitely turn an environmental disaster into an unprecedented environmental catastrophe."

Takeaway message for sportfishermen: buy extra line and bumpers, secure the hatches, and run for cover.

Very Cool Guide to Tunas--For Free!

By Jim Field

I have attached a guide to tunas published by NOAA. Simple click here and then click into the second line entitled "Guide to Tunas of the Western Atlantic Ocean." It's great information about each of the species we pursue, catch, and eat. Recommend we print out copies and read the material to build our shared expertise. Then we can sound brillant talking to each other and with interested bystanders on the peer.

Gulf Oil Disaster--Photos and Kill Numbers

By Jim Field

The oil spill disaster in the Gulf keeps getting worse. Solutions for stopping the free-flow of oil are few and each one attempted fails in turn. Now we're told to expect the contamination to continue into August. The devastation to wildlife will be immense--no one can estimate what it will do to fish populations. I will start to post regular updates on the disaster and its implications on the ocean and the fishing life. The New York Times offered this update today:

By the Numbers
¶More than 20,000 personnel are involved in the effort to protect the shoreline and wildlife and to clean up coastlines.

¶More than 1,400 vessels have responded — including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels — to help in containment and cleanup efforts. Dozens of aircraft and remotely operated vehicles are also involved, as are multiple mobile offshore drilling units.

¶Approximately 1.9 million feet of containment boom and 1.85 million feet of absorbent boom have been deployed.

¶Approximately 13.1 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.

¶Approximately 920,000 gallons of dispersant have been deployed — 720,000 gallons on the surface and 200,000 gallons below the surface.


Gulf of Mexico Fishing Ban Extended
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration increased the area closed to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico by more than 6,500 square miles. The ban now covers about 60,683 square miles, approximately 25 percent of federal waters in the gulf.


The Toll on Wildlife
Here are the numbers on animals collected from the spill (the first number is the total in a category, and the number in parentheses is the total collected in the 24 hours ended at noon on Sunday):

BIRDS Alive: 70 (4), dead: 491 (13).

SEA TURTLES Alive: 17 (1), dead: 227 (3).

MAMMALS (inc. dolphins) Alive: 0 (0), dead: 27 (2).


The burning rig and spreading highway of oil

Video still of break in pipe


Oil, oil, everywhere at sea


A shrimp boat deploying containment floats--new line of work

The Transit to Hatteras Village--Nice to Return Back Home

By Jim Field

With winter completed, a month ago already--April 25 to be exact--we moved the Sea Ya Bea back home to Hatteras Village, slip #48 in Teach's Lair Marina. Dan, Jim, and Andrew formed the nucleus of the Crew. Andrew, in turn, was anxious to bring a friend along, and so an invitation was extended to a close running mate, Austin Taylor, and his dad, David. At previous school and sports functions, David and I had exchanged notes on outdoor hobbies, and David expressed an interest in deep sea fishing. In proposing this particular trip, I wrote David an email outlining the game plan: depart Alexandria 4:30 pm Friday after school and work; drive five hours to Manteo and Pirate's Cove Marina; eat along the way; sleep onboard; cast off lines and depart for Hatteras Village at first light Saturday morning; transit and fish heading South; tie up in Teach's around 5:00 pm; clean boat and fish; check into Breakwater Motel at Oden's Dock; clean body with cocktail nearby; go to dinner and eat and drink well; sleep hard; wake up early Sunday morning; breakfast at Sonny's; head North for home; stop off and see Cape Hatteras lighthouse. I cautioned about severe lack of sleep and potential for rough seas. I copied Diane on the email, and she responded by asking why anyone would want to voluntarily do something like this, i.e., a weekend involving long car rides, up before the sun, boating for an entire day, etc. "Is this really something fun to do?" I told her this was fishing. To be honest, I expected the Taylors to politely decline: I've found over the years that there is a big difference between talking about going fishing in theory--as part of friendly conversation over a beer--and actually committing to a trip when presented for real. To my surprise, David and Austin were "in" and excited to go. Fantastic! We had a shared adventure before us.

In high spirits we departed Alexandria and arrived at Pirate's Cove in Manteo about 10:30 pm. Dan arrived 30 minutes later in his truck. David and I had stopped earlier at a grocery store and gotten ice and squid (for bait). We set up the cockpit and stowed equipment, sipping beers, until about midnight, and then hit the bunks, Dan sleeping (snoring) on the carpeted cabin deck.

Long before official sunrise, the men were up and preparing to depart. Andrew and Austin, alternatively, elected to stay in their bunks. We cast off from the slip and navigated the inland waterway channel without incident (not a guaranteed outcome, to be sure). Clearing the last set of red-green ocean channel buoys, we set a course to run South (180 degrees on the compass) to the 280 Rocks, distance 40 miles, where we planned to begin fishing. We encountered a 2-3 foot, 5-7 second swell from the SE, but were able to make about 25 knots SOG. The sky was a mixture of gray overcast, with darker sections where we were headed.

The ocean forecast for the trip had been tricky. According to the report from Diamond Shoals buoy (reproduced below), Friday (our travel day, of course) was going to be benign: wind 10 knots, 2-3 foot seas with waves 11 seconds apart. Pure cake walk. Friday evening, however, wind speed was to increase to 10-15 knots--which is still perfectly fine--but noteworthy in starting a trend towards progressively higher wind speeds across the weekend, culminating in 30 knot winds Sunday evening. With a notch-up of wind speed, seas were also expected to increase, but remain 2-4 feet on Saturday and only increase to 3-5 feet Saturday evening. The takeaway message was that if the weather cooperated, we could expect 10-15 knot winds and 2-4 foot seas--conditions ideal for transiting and fishing. But, if the weather trend developed earlier than forecast, we could end up dealing with 20 knot winds and 5 foot seas, which would prove challenging--not to safety, but bringing fish onboard the boat. Oh yes, and rain and scattered thunderstorms were 30% likely, lending yet another wrinkle to the weather scenario

Diamond Shoals buoy report for Friday

AMZ152-154-231930-
S OF OREGON INLET TO CAPE HATTERAS NC OUT 20 NM-
S OF CAPE HATTERAS TO OCRACOKE INLET NC OUT 20 NM
INCLUDING THE MONITOR NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY-
351 AM EDT FRI APR 23 2010

TODAY
W WINDS 10 KT...BECOMING VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS THIS AFTERNOON.
SEAS 2 TO 4 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 11 SECONDS.

TONIGHT
SE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING E 10 TO 15 KT AFTER
MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 11 SECONDS. A SLIGHT CHANCE
OF SHOWERS.

SAT
SE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. A
CHANCE OF TSTMS IN THE AFTERNOON.

SAT NIGHT
S WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT. A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND TSTMS.

SUN
SW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT...INCREASING TO 25 TO 30 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 6 TO 9 FT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS.


As things turned out.....the rougher weather did arrive sooner than expected. Upon reaching our fishing spot, we set up to troll and made a go of it, but were unable to hook up. To be fair, this was due to the vagaries of fishing and water temperature and clarity, not to wind and surface sea state. After an hour on the troll, we came across 3-4 boats bottom fishing near the Rockpile, and so we switched tactics. By this time, the wind was a strong 20 knots and we were definitely seeing rolling waves of 8-10 feet, although a friendly 7-10 seconds apart. We lowered our weighted baits to the bottom in about 250 feet of water, and found that we were drifting at a 2 knot pace--so not too bad. Across the next hour, we were able to hook up to some nice fish--David in particular catching 2 very nice vermilion snappers. By around 3:30 the other boats had departed, maybe due to the weather. We brought a few more fish onboard. Had we worked the area for 3 or 4 hours, we likely would have been able to bring in 10-15 fish, although our timing today (and Andrew feeling green) didn't align with spending a lot of time with bait on the bottom.

We picked up at 4:00 pm and set course for Hatteras Inlet, about 25 miles to the North. Benefiting from a following sea, the ride home was comfortable. We navigated the channel and inland waterway without incident (an easy run compared to Oregon Inlet) and pulled into Teach's Lair Marina, returning after nearly six months away. All in all, our trip had been successful, in that we had accomplished "Mission A," which was to move the boat back to Hatteras Village. On the fishing side, "Mission B," things didn't go our way, and so this was disappointing. (Note: we'll get'em the next time around!) Yet no one got hurt, nothing was damaged, no mechanical failures, and we had a day at sea in all its glorious elements--with family and friends--and this kind of day is always something special to cherish and remember. So net-net: a great day to be alive and blessed to have such adventures.

With the Sea Ya Bea secured in its slip--all cleaned up and ready to go again--we shifted gears to the next set of priorities focused around food, beverage, and comfort. Unfortunately, Dan had to head home for Sunday family commitments and departed in his truck (WaWa Bob and his Crew drove our two vehicles down from Pirate's Cove the previous evening; thanks Bob!). The four of us checked into the Breakwater Inn and showered and rested before dinner at 6:30. We decided to dine at Teach's and had a great meal--three of us had grilled or blackened mahi-mahi, with huge portions served. Austin went with the snow crab legs. As an appetizer, we shared two dozen local shrimp prepared in Old Bay seasoning. While we were peeling and devouring, David told us a funny story from college days when he entered a contest and ate 22 dozen shrimp (he didn't mention if he won). After a day of work at sea, and with a pitcher of beer at hand, I think I could get at least half way to his mark. With our stomachs full (we had dessert too), we headed back to the Breakwater. I believe we said goodnight around 9:00 pm. I was fast asleep 10 minutes later.

The next morning we met at 6:30 and walked across the street to Sonny's for a big breakfast of eggs and meat. Then into the car for a 10 mile trip North to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. We were almost alone and directed straight to the lighthouse for immediate access. About 270 steps to the top, where we found the wind blowing about 40 knots, just below the point where they would close down for safety reasons. The view was magnificent. Five hours later were were home once again--back in civilization.

Thanks to David and Austin for coming along--Andrew and I had a great time with you guys. Hope you'll come down again--this time to do a number on our watery friends!


The Taylors--David and Austin


David bringing in one of his snappers


The boys--"Hey, you fish want to mess with us?"

On top of the world (Hatteras version)


Leaning into the wind, Andrew thinking of Fabio's goose encounter


Looking SSW toward Diamond Shoals

Diver Services Done Right--Preparing to Move Home Ports

By Jim Field

This winter, to recap, the Sea Ya Bea was homeported at Pirate's Cove Marina in Manteo, NC, just South of Nags Head. Our theory-of-the-case was to move the boat North and fish off of Oregon Inlet so as to capitalize on the winter tuna fishing which always seemed to center on these waters, as opposed to further South off of Hatteras Village, where we have been based for the last two years. For the past three to four years--we've been told by the Hatteras locals--the yellowfins had not ventured South, although the bluefins were still very much around. Being men of action, therefore, if the yellowfins would not come to us, we would take the boat to them, and thus we shifted our home to Pirate's and civilization up the road.

How did things turn out with our experiment? Well, I'll capture our experiences and thoughts about Oregon Inlet in a later posting. For today, I want to share some commentary and photos about the diving service I used, three times, while at Pirates to clean the hull and running gear on the Sea Ya Bea.

The name of the service is Sound Diving Service, a local outfit. The sole owner and sole diver is a young man named Billy Cox. Turned out to be a great guy: responsive, polite, on time, thorough, helpful, and inexpensive. He makes his full-time living as a professional diver, apparently doing a lot of work for the state inspecting bridges, piers, breakwaters, etc.

A week before we were expecting to move the boat back South to Hatteras Village, I went to Pirates for a day of maintenance (April 13) and scheduled Billy to stop by. He showed up for our 4:00 pm appointment on the minute, and I watched him set up and do his thing. Being a former Navy SCUBA and salvage diver, I was very interested in observing him--his gear, tools, methods, and so forth. It was nice to watch him go about his business, suiting up and entering and exiting the water. He set up a communication system that would allow us to discuss in real time what he was finding and doing.

The photos below share a moment of Billy's professional life servicing the Sea Ya Bea. The most interesting (and unexpected) aspect of the job was watching him enter the water, fully geared up and stepping rung-by-rung down a latter, to wind up only waist-deep, standing erect by the transom. From there, he had to lie on his back and inspect and clean the hull/gear with very little clearance between himself and the hull. Turned out that the props, at low tide, had about 6 inches of clearance with the bottom, with the water getting deeper only at the boat's midway line fore to aft. He suggested we push the boat out of the slip 10 feet before we engaged the props.

All in, Billy spent about 90 minutes with me: 30 minutes setting up, 30 minutes in the water, 30 minutes to break down. After it was over, he charged me $100 (cash only), which is a bargain basement rate. I gave him a $20 tip, which he flatly refused. "That isn't necessary, sir." I forced it on him.

We shook hands, he hopped in his truck and drove away, we exchanged hand waves. To bad he's North and we're South. Doubtful if he'd come to Hatteras Village on the cheap.


The diving van with air compressor at front right


All suited up, reporting for duty


Descending the ladder into the brown, brackish water


Standing on the bottom, donning flippers


Tools and artifacts of the diving trade


Organized on the wall: knives, scrappers, hammers, etc

All the Tuna We Wanted--A Perfect Day of Winter Fishing

By Jim Field

March 20, 2010 will be a day on-the-water long remembered by those who were lucky enough to be onboard the Sea Ya Bea. About a month previously we had spent two back-to-back days in perfect weather trolling for tuna, and had gotten skunked. Ironically, the ocean on those days was calm and literally teeming with life--hundreds upon hundreds of porpoise, whales, sharks, baitfish--but the tuna simply weren't biting for their own (inexplicable) reasons. Days like this can leave a fisherman mentally scared and beaten. With this weight on our necks, March 20 carried with it expectations of a catch: we were owed (by the fishing God); we had payed our dues; it was our time to come home with fish in the coffin cooler.

Our chosen day was gorgeous weather-wise: blue sky, 10-15 knot winds, 2-3 foot seas with no chop, high 50s air temperature. And did I mention that the water was deep blue and crystal clear? Well, it was.

We departed Pirate's Cove at first light, so around 6:30 am. The crew consisted of Tim, Jon, Dan, myself, and Andrew, my son, 13 years of age. Andrew remained in his bunk for the 7 mile inland waterway transit to the Oregon Inlet bridge and channel. And then he remained in his bunk for the 40 mile transit Southeast to our first targeted fishing grounds. The boy just can't get enough sleep.

With respect to our first targeted fishing grounds, our plan was to head Southeast on the compass going all the way down to the 280 Rocks on the 100 fathom line. We had surmised from fishing reports and word on the peer this was where the yellowfin tuna were concentrated. Upon completing the 40 mile transit from OI channel, we shut down and put out our spread of ballies and an orange plastic squid spreader bar. Looking around, there were four or five charter boats trolling in our vicinity. Our hooks were in the water for less than five minutes--no kidding, five minutes--when the rods went active, line peeling off to the beautiful accompaniment of the clickers on the reels. We had four on. We yelled for Andrew to come topside; he ran from the cabin and picked up one of the rods; from bedside to transom in 15 seconds. This could be his opportunity for a first personal tuna catch.

Minutes later we had four yellowfin onboard. So 4 for 4 on the encounter. We re-organized the cockpit, cleaned up the blood, put out a new spread, and within 15 minutes had another single yellowfin onboard. So now five in the coffin. At this point the question became how many to catch? I mean, how much meat can one group consume? We decided we had taken enough, and so proceeded with Plan B, which was to head North to where we had heard the bluefin tuna were congregated, around the 400 line on the 100 fathom curve, the idea being to troll toward the Point. We picked up the spread, put on knots, and eventually closed in on perhaps and dozen charter and private boats under the troll. The VHF radio had been silent, suggesting a lack of action with the bluefins so far. We shut down, put out spread #3 for the day, and within five minutes--yes, five minutes--we had two hooked up.

Current regulations allow one bluefin per boat per day, so we had to make a decision of which of our two fish we would take, and which we would release. Playing it safe, we decided to take the first one we brought alongside--take the one you have (i.e., love the one you're with) and eliminate the chance of releasing the first and then losing the second should something go wrong (as it often time does). Not knowing the size of the second fish, the decision boils down to taking the first one even though the second could turn out to be a grander prize. As it turned out, the bluefin we took weighed about 50 pounds. The second one turned out to be significantly larger, maybe 70-80 pounds. That's simply to way it goes.

Releasing a fish intact--any fish, and particularly a large one--to survive for another day is a tricky task, and to pull this off successfully, we decided to open the transom door, drag the fish through it on the swell, and bring it up on the cockpit deck. It worked like a charm. We removed the hook and slid it back into the water like a torpedo exiting a firing tube. Away it swam; we closed the door; everything done smoothly, just like you'd want it to go.

With six tuna onboard, we decided to continue trolling just for practice and the pleasure of it all. (How many times does this happen? Like never!) We caught and released an additional bluefin and then picked up and headed for home around 4:00 pm. We had about 35 miles to OI. The ocean was still calm. We ran the engines to make 28 knots. How good can it get? Fish in the box; all we cared to take; smooth seas and beautiful sky and water; friends and my son onboard. And oh yes, Andrew got his first personal tuna, hopefully the first of many for him across a lifetime of sportfishing. Life is good--great!--at such moments.


Dan shows his (excellent) form on the rod


Andrew midstream in catching his first tuna


The second bluefin--minutes later skillfully released


Big Jon puts on the heat


Father and son


The Crew--left to right, Tim, Dan, Andrew, Jon

Fish tales--reviewing the day's events headed back to the barn


Dan taking his "return to port" nap--don't it feel good!


In port and showcasing the day's catch


The boy and his fish--welcome to big-time sportfishing

Vehicle Carrier--Innovative Design--The Canopus Leader

Perhaps 20 miles off of Oregon Inlet we passed the Canopus Leader, a car/truck carrier of unusual design. She is owned by NKL (Nippon Yusen Kaisha) line and registered in Singapore (the flag she flies). It was a clear, calm winter day: March 20, 2010. Her dimensions: 540 foot length, 96 foot beam. Her cargo capacity: 5,340 units. I particularly liked her cut-away bow and how it looked in profile. I'm curious about its advantages in smooth and heavy seas. The obvious design effect is to reduce her length at waterline. Does this reduce friction through the water per foot of cargo length/capacity space, thereby increasing fuel economy? How does she ride in heavy seas: would large rollers tend to push the bow up and out of the water? Fun to speculate about design motives.

Here she is in profile


Here is a good look at her bow

The Blog is Back! Amen.

After a two-month period in literary drydock, the Weekend Sportfishermen blog is back as of today. Currently getting ready to depart with Dan for Hatteras Village to bottom fish Monday. Water inshore is cold--an atypical situation--and we're unsure how this will affect things in 600 feet. Will have to see what happens. It feels good to be writing again about the sportfishing life; I admit to missing it--a lot.