Like many southern families, our holidays center around cooking and eating. One of the christmas offerings we made for some family and friends was a basket consisting of a vacuum sealed package of smoked king mackeral, a box of stoned wheat crackers and laminated recipe for Captain James smoked kingfish dip.  Another holiday tradition is to stand around the grill and eat Chesapeake Bay oysters right out of the shell, smathered in Texas Pete and horseradish.

Everyone in our family cooks, each finding our own niche. I tend to grill, smoke or make things in very big pots. My brunswick stew and chili with beans are legendary in our family circles. My daughter inherited my love for cooking and southern fare, although she approaches her cooking with much more style and flair than I. She even goes so far to publish her own southern food blog. Check it out here.

I asked her if she would give me a category on her blog titled “Captain James Cooks” which she thought was very clever, since last year’s Christmas present to me was the book “Blue Latitudes”, a book by David Horowitz about the famous mariner Captain James Cook. Captain Cook, a hero of mine basically discovered (at least for the Europeans) everything in the South Pacific.

Well, I need to get back to cooking on this Christmas day, but I thought I would take a minute or two and wish everyone a blessed and enjoyable holiday. I can only hope your day is going to be as tasty as mine. And maybe I will share some of the Captain’s culinary secrets at some point.

One of the wonderful benefits for me this winter while tuna fishing is to expand the number of days I see Mother Ocean and her many winter moods. I have spent many winter days on the open ocean, but most of those were south of latitude 27N and although the experience at sea in South Florida was totally different than the summer conditions, it really never felt like winter to me.

This winter while tuna fishing off the coast of Carteret County, I have experienced sea, sunlight and sky conditions I have never had the opportunity to witness. From sunny, blustery and sharp waves to clear calm  skies and a slick ocean surface.

Last Thursday I experienced a total fog that enveloped us all day. I had seen fog like that, but it always kept me in port, securely moored to my dock. Last Thursday, we decided to venture out onto the ocean in a fog so thick that you would not be able to see a battle ship a half mile away. Using modern gps/chart plotter technology and a capable radar, we were able to make it a safe endevour. But what struck me more than anything was the “feel” the ocean gave me that day. I have seen her in many of her moods this winter, but I certainly got to see the mysterious side. I found myself recalling all the stories I have read about the early seamen, and the bizarre things they encountered. In my armchair, reading by the fire, it all seemed surreal. In my Captain’s chair, at the helm of a boat 20 nautical miles from safe harbor, the thought of those early mariners seemed so more surreal than I could ever have imagined.

At 50 years old, I feel like I am discovering things about the world that I live in, the people that came before me, and the mystery ahead of me, all for the first time. It is exhausting and stimulating at the very same time.

I hope all of my readers can be so lucky.

Calm seas and fair skies,

Captain James

For a less than spectaular video clip of the foggy conditions click here.

Unfortunately, Tortuga has ventured out on to the water of Onslow Bay two additional times since the last report. The winter time sunset video in the gallery was at the end of the first day and a day without a tuna bite. Last Sunday we ventured out to far less inviting conditions, and once again returned empty handed.

Video Report at Sea from Captain James

To compound my frustration, as I was leaving my driveway I spoke to my neighbor Zach. who I knew was a talented free lance mate at 23 years old. “Are you tuna fishing?” I called over to him through my open car window. He immediately came over, his phone flipped open and his thumb pushing buttons. I just assumed he was finishing a text message he had already started as he walked to the car. “Look at this” he said as he turned the screen around so I could see the picture on the screen. It was an image of two big tuna lying on the deck, Zack looking up at the bridge where the photographer snapped the picture.

When Zach told me that they hooked two at once just two miles away from where we were fishing, I almost sank into my seat.

It was their day to prosper. They got two out of the five fish landed, and I saw at least 80 boats in the fleet out there. Tortuga’s day will come. Maybe it will be tomorrow.

Fair skies and calm seas,

Captain James

While waiting for the 2009 dive season to roll around and truly kickoff Tortuga diving, we have been Bluefin Tuna fishing commercially. Although she is a dive boat at heart, it took very little effort to rig her for fishing for the giant tunas. The hardest part was navigating the maze of bureaucratic government agencies to be compliant with all the permits and vessel requirements for commercial harvest of highly migratory species such as Bluefin Tuna.

Tortuga with her temporary Commercial numbers attached

About 15 years ago, it came to the attention of local anglers that an undiscovered fishery existed in the inshore waters of Onslow Bay during the winter. Starting in late November, the giant tunas, ranging upwards of 700 pounds migrate to our coast to feed on the plentiful baitfish, including menhaden. Because of the shallow inshore depths (<100′) it is much easier to land the majestic fish because they do not have the ability to dive very deep during the hook and line battle. The fish’s only choice is to run away from the boat, and that allows the angler to maintain a more managable angle on the line, as well as use the boat to chase the fish.

Fish that are landed by boats licensed to harvest are generally at the auction in Tokyo within 48 hours of being caught. There are special procedures for handling and cooling the fish that determine the price per pound for the sashimi grade fish. Prices upwards of $20 per pound make the giant fish a valuable prize.

I was at the hardware store last Thursday, the day after my 4th unsuccessful tuna trip, and the clerk asked: “How is that tuna fishing working out for you?”.

“Not to well, right now I am down four grand, it sort of seems like going to Vegas, you stay up all night at both places” I responded. “Well, at least in Vegas, you stay dry and warm and they bring you free drinks” she mused.

Smart lady.

Stay tuned, the wheel might just land on Tortuga’s numbers very soon.

Until then, calm seas to you,

Captain James

Halloween 2008 from Tortuga Charters on Vimeo.

After a big night celebrating Halloween on Front street in Beaufort, the next morning we decided just to slip out of the inlet and head for AR315 (the Clifton Moss Reef) for a couple quick dives. We found a a great late October day and found ourselves wishing that we had headed offshore. We made the best of it and came back with a cooler full of inshore species, including the biggest sheepshead I have ever seen speared.