Bear Island 2019

    It was another great year at Bear Island!

    I got the boat and truck all loaded up for the trip. The worst part of this is packing or a few days at the lake, a few days on the island and clothes for a day or two back at the Lake.

    I started out a few days at my buddy Steve's house on Kerr Lake to fit the boat with a new motor and do some test runs!

   The Whaler did great on the lake and was pretty fast with two guys. The only issue we had was getting the boat on the trailer without any guideposts. I cured this problem right away by going to Overby's Marina and getting some guidepost to add on. While I was there I also picked up a cheap tiller extension and some new bearing caps for the trailer. The Bearing Buddies that I put on before leaving GA fell off somewhere on the trip up to NC. Thanks for all the help Rufus!

    We took the boat out once more with three good-sized guys to do a little fishing and more tet runs. I could tell it got slower but still did ok.

    A little dock fishing to kill some more time before heading to Bear Island.

    We got up early Sunday morning and headed out. We had a convoy of three. Steve and I with the Whaler, David with his kayak and Steve H. with his kayak. The rest of the guys, Tim, Dan, and Jim, met us at the boat ramp. Once we got all of the gear loaded into the boats we headed out on the 3 mile trip to the Island. Although we had to balance out a few loads, we all made it across without incident.

      The Whaler handled the weight like a champ but it did lose a ton of speed.


     Once on the island we had a blast fishing and enjoying the island. The first night brought on a storm with some wind, lightning, and thunder. The next morning most of had a ton of sand blown up on our tents as well as inside! I took everything out and removed as much sand as possible so I would not have to sleep in it another night.

Tore my zipper flap trying to get into my tent :( I already sent it off for repair!

The next morning...

Here are all of the pictures during our stay.

Even steamed some fresh-caught crabs!

     Tuesday's weather was great and we had thought the rain would pass us up. Not the case... Tuesday night we got more rain and a huge storm was due in. We decided to pack up and leave rather than ride it out since a couple of the guys had to leave Wednesday anyway. We decided the best way was to make a few trips since the wind was gathering speed as the morning got later. We made 3 trips and everyone got across safely. We got some hard rain during the trips but nothing to worry about. Most of us had rain gear so it was just a nuisance. The little Whaler handled the rougher water like a champ. Again it was slow-go with the extra weight. The trips back to the island empty were a blast.

Looking forward to doing it again next year!!