Sunset, Moonrise, Rainbow and the Fish Story

There was a full moon on Tuesday of this week.  They were having a night climb at the lighthouse between 7 and 9 so at around 6:30 we left Barnegat to cross over to LBI and north on the island to the lighthouse.  The sun was setting quickly and there was quite a crowd when we got there.  

It was not our intention to climb the lighthouse, but I had hoped to get a picture of the lighthouse and the full moon.  We had to book it to almost the end of the walkway along the jetty to get far enough away for the lens that I had on the camera to be able to get in the whole lighthouse.  As you can see, by the time we got out there far enough the sun had dipped below the clouds.  

And there was no moon in sight.  At least not in that direction.  A nice gentleman walked past us and commented on the cloudiness of the evening and that the moon was supposed to have risen at 7:16 and there were clouds over the ocean obscuring the view.  At that time (approx. 7:30) we could just see the faintest outline of the moon and I did get a picture of it, but it's so faint I won't waste time posting it.    

Thinking now that we needed to be on the other side of the lighthouse to try to get both the lighthouse and the moon in the same frame we started back down the path when the sun dropped under the clouds and gave us this sight below. 

And moments later.....

We walked to the furthest point on land that we could to try to get the whole lighthouse in the picture again, but it was to no avail.  And the moon was too far to the right of the lighthouse anyway.  This is the shot of the full moon over the trees that lined the parking lot.  As we traveled south on the island to get to the bridge to get home we could see the moon as it was rising over the ocean and then once over the bridge and heading north again to the condo, it was on our other side.  By the time we got back home, it was pretty high in the sky and illuminated the bay, but picture opportunity for that had passed.

Late the following afternoon we had a little bit of a rain shower here.  And even though it looked a little threatening still behind us, HWNSNBP and I did get out our fishing poles and actually took the car across the street to the dock just in case the sky opened.  It was drizzling as we pulled up there and by the time we baited out poles it was a little steadier of a rain.  It felt good though, and we knew it was going to pass so we opted to stick it out.  Then we got a treat.......

I took the car back to the condo and grabbed my cameras and a plastic bag and took way more pictures than fish I caught (HWNSNBP pulled ahead of me by 5 that night!).  

Make sure you click on the one below so you can see the double arc that formed. 

Each year HWNSNBP and I have had a contest to see who can catch the most fish for the summer.  This will be the third year and we've each taken the "title" once so far.   The rules are simple in that we only count the fish that are caught when we're both fishing, so the other night when I left to get the cameras he could not count the additional two fish he snagged while I was gone.  The night before, I was left on the dock while he went back to get another hook since the huge fish he caught just before that had snapped his hook off.  (Well, I think the removal of the hook from the fish actually caused the snap, but we'll not debate it.)

We stir up kind of a ruckus when we fish.  Especially when we seem to be the only ones catching fish.  People come over and ask what kind of bait we're using (spearing) and want to see the rigging.  They check the bucket and the little kids sometimes want to "pet the fish".  HWNSNBP has to explain to them that snappers are baby blue fish and that they do have very sharp teeth even if they're little.  We've been catching some pretty big snappers 7-10 inches and will only keep the very biggest and usually no more than 4 or 5 of them.  HWNSNBP will eat them, I don't.  

Two weekends ago Rachel came up and joined us on the dock for some afternoon fishing before she left to go back home and that day she caught more than we did, so I made her the card below.

It says "Silver Snapper Award".  

Well, it's just about time to get back out there today before the crowd starts gathering for the Saturday night concert.  Last night we only lasted 5 mins. as the air was still and we were being attacked by these tiny black gnat-like insects.  They were terrible - I have so many bites!  The day has been beautiful and there is a steady breeze so we should not have that problem.  

Let me see if I can make up that 5-fish difference tonight!  Wish me luck!