If you are a fan of sport fishing, you’ve likely heard of Jarrett Bay. It’s kind of a big deal.
I’m sure this will come as no surprise to anyone, but I wasn’t familiar. Honestly, there are some days when I struggle to recall the brand of our boat.
For anyone who needs a crash course, Jarrett Bay is the Porsche of the fishing boat brands. They’re high quality, top luxury boats with an incredible reputation in the industry. And they’re absolutely gorgeous!
By now you might be wondering what we have to do with a top-of-the-line fishing boat company. Great question!
Jarrett Bay is also known for being one of the best places for service work on the East Coast.
We had a few boat projects on our list and by some twist of fate, we were able to get Light & Salty in for a week (moms, remember preschool registration? The stress of “getting in”…I think this was a similar process except Brent handled it so I was blissfully ignorant.)
Anyway, when we pulled up to Jarrett Bay several things were abundantly clear. First, we were totally out of our league. JB was full of mega yachts and premium sport fishing boats.
Secondly, we were among some of the kindest people we’d ever met. Less than an hour in, the dockmaster was giving the kids bait and fishing tips. And everyone on the massive property greeted us with big smiles and a warm welcome.
Lastly, we knew it was going to be an incredible week.
Essentially, we had just moved into the Disney World of boating.
For one entire week we were going to have a front row seat on the world’s coolest construction site.
Here are a few of the highlights of our week at Jarrett Bay:
1. Miller’s fishing career took off.
Miller’s been really into fishing ever since we moved onto the boat. But the funny thing is that he hadn’t actually caught a fish. So, imagine everyone’s excitement when he caught his first fish at Jarrett Bay!
He ended up catching a ton of fish that week, including a fairly impressive Red Drum. Every time he reeled one in he had an audience cheering him on. It was very sweet to see all the professional fishermen patting him on the back and congratulating him on his catches.
2. We got into our first boating accident- and it wasn’t our fault!
We were docked and suddenly we felt a big thump. As we all looked around we realized there was a boat right in front of us. Turns out, it was the dinghy of a megayacht (the dinghy was almost the size of our boat!)
They bumped our boat trying to park in the slip next to us. There was no damage, but it made us feel really good. Docking is tricky and even a professional crew doesn’t always do it perfectly. (Also good to note that despite a pretty hard bump there was no damage!)
3. Our family got a tour of the Jarrett Bay facility.
We got to see every step of the boat building process and see how much detail and time goes into building a JB boat. To say that it’s an impressive operation would be an understatement. Miller told everyone who would listen that he plans to work there one day. And own a Jarrett Bay boat, of course.
4. Mary Grace furthered her marine biology career.
She started measuring, photographing and categorizing all of Miller’s fish. Her journal is full of notes on each one. Several people were very taken with her dedication and gave her all kinds of information and advice on marine biology. She’s currently interested in spending a semester at a school in the Bahamas called The Island School.
5. One day a “famous” Jarrett Bay boat pulled up next to us, Sea Striker.
It is a Jarrett Bay and had just won a huge The Big Rocks Fishing Tournament the weekend before we met them. (Same tournament that Michal Jordan got a lot of press for fishing in.)
Miller ran out to the boat as it docked and the owner invited Miller on board for a picture. Then the owner pulled up a picture on his phone of his winning marlin. Miller immediately called me and said “Mom, can you bring me your phone. I want to show him a picture of my red drum.”
In addition to these big highlights, our days were spent gawking at all the cool boats coming and going.
Brent worked. The kids and I walked around and watched all the happenings. Our boat got worked on. We did lots of fishing, and even a little baseball. Not a bad week!
For my boater friends following our journey: Jarrett Bay sits right on the ICW near Beaufort, NC. There really isn’t transient dockage unless you are having your boat worked on. Tip: Find something wrong with your boat and see if you can get into Jarrett Bay for the work!
Thanks for following along on our crazy adventure!
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