Frying Pan Shoals

@williamcharles9480 5 years ago

When I was stationed on the Coast Guard Cutter Laurel, a 180 foot bouy tender out of Atlantic Beach, NC, part of our designated duty was to refuel Frying Pan Light. This was back in the early 1970s when full crews of Coast Guardsmen were assigned to duty aboard the light. It was a community unto itself with a rotation of two weeks on and two weeks off. The fishing during the summer was fantastic as the Gulf Stream was in the vicinity of Frying Pan's position. Barracuda of immense proportions could be seen lurking in the shadows of the lighthouse. They would sit in wait to pounce on anything that caused the slightest glimmer in the sunlight. Many a Guardsmen fishing off of the light, lost the majority of a good catch from those sharp toothed creatures in waiting. I guess it was just part of the game. I, myself, a Laurel crewman, would fish off of the Laurel's bouy deck while we were anchored next to the light transferring fuel. This refueling operation would take several hours. The captain of our ship would declare a special "leisure day" for us where you could do as you pleased as long as you weren't on watch or involved with the refueling. On one particular day I caught a huge shark that was over seven feet in length on one of our visits. The recreation department had bought some nice offshore fishing gear for us to use and I was taking advantage of it. Once I brought this monster to the surface, I immediately had no desire to try and land such a huge and dangerous fish, I cut the line. It was fun to have a good 30 to 40 minute fight, though. Besides, it would have taken equipment to raise this thing from the water and I'm sure that the Captain wouldn't have approved. Then again, I really didn't want to kill the thing. While the shark was being caught, one of my shipmates did catch and land a 22 pound Bluefish. The cooks prepared it as a favor to him, but it was too fishy in taste for me to eat. The Filipino stewards, who were on board, did take delight in preparing the fish's head in a pot with rice, though. It was a traditional eating and social event for them. They wanted only the head, the rest of the fish was of no interest to them. I'm glad to have seen this video as it has brought back some memories of a long time ago when my young mind thought that the Frying Pan Light would be in service forever. I guess that I was wrong.

@jeffwalvoord777 5 years ago

I have a feeling that this will soon become a much more popular destination! Love the cam view of the approaching hurricane. Might look into a weekend here myself. Great story..

@faithcastillo9597 3 years ago

What a lovely idea, but well out of my price range.

@matthewfithian891 5 years ago

I was Stationed at CGAS Elizabeth City,NC, in 1983-1986, Crewed as a Flight Mechanic on the HH3F we brought in supplies like oil and diesel for the automatic Generators when the CG owned it. landed the Helicopter on the Platform then, saw a lot of Rays and Hammer Head Sharks flying out their!

@toddgordon2809 2 years ago

I really hope they can battle the rust and keep this thing up.

@nallen6559 5 years ago

Hurricane Florence brought me to this site too, awesome story. Wish him all the luck in the world. hope he achieves his dreams.

@sierravista9782 5 years ago

Well said- his last statement - you only have so much time. Live Life!

@TheAdadadada 5 years ago

There's another little known, offshore B&B idea that's starting to catch on as a vacation destination now. I think they call it, "Cruise"! The only difference is, they can run from hurricanes! Love this idea! Good luck!