By Paddy McCarthy
I will tell you that I did overexert myself last week after having such a nice time at the Smith Point beach in Long Island and this week was the total opposite, now where would yea get it, ah well.
One of the biggest weekends and the real start of summer time is the 4th of July, Independence Day, just guess what happened? It rained almost for the whole weekend, now what a spoil sport that was huh! Remember this rhyme: “rain rain go away, come again another day, all the family wants to play; rain rain goes away.” Now saying all this we still had a good time because we all went fishing on the Celtic Grace out from Port Jefferson. Now, we had booked for Saturday July 3rd at 12 pm to 4 pm, arrived at the pier and it was just pouring down from the heavens, cats and dogs as we say, so we had no choice but to cancel until the following day.
Even though it was a little bit overcast out we went fishing on the Celtic Grace. Here is the good news I hooked in four Porgies to my surprise; now that was over the four hours, everyone else was hitting 8 to 10 or more, last again as usual. Well, it will come as no surprise to anyone who has consumed expertly filleted porgy, be it baked, fried, broiled, even poached, that the fish is one of the better eating fish in Long Island Sound. Names aside, porgies are one of the most if not the most important recreational fish species in the Sound.
Now I feel like a hero fisherman, ha ha. I did have them for dinner and everything that was said about them was perfectly right. Now here is the motto of my story, the Captain of the boat’s name was Des Sullivan whose dad is from Limerick, Ireland, now how about that for a coincidence as Limerick just beat Cork in the Munster semi-final that day. Des the Captain as I said, his dad also Desmond O’Sullivan had played quite a lot in Gaelic Park in the Bronx for teams playing hurling and Gaelic football and I am sure should be well known in GAA circles. I had a good chat about him being Captain and also involved in sports as he also loves the Gaelic sports and football (soccer) and is also a big golfer and a musician who loves traditional Irish music.
Des was born here and went to Fordham University. Desmond grew up as deckhand and a Captain for local party boats. After graduating Fordham University with a degree in Liberal Arts and Music he decided that he wanted to continue being a fisherman and moved to Montauk where he worked as a Captain for the Viking Fleet for three years. In 2002, Desmond returned to his home in Port Jefferson and began his own business, Celtic Quest Inc. which he owns and operates today. Their humble beginnings began in Mt Sinai Harbor, where they kept their first boat on a mooring and picked everyone up at the boat ramp. The Celtic Quest was a 45-foot, 30 passenger boat which was no frills to say the least. It was a boat though that has seen some epic fishing trips for sure! Luckily, with the tremendous fishing in the area and the great fortune of receiving a berth in Port Jefferson Harbor, business grew over the years and they have now fished with tens of thousands of fishermen and are on their fifth boat, including the latest addition, the Celtic Grace an 80-foot beautiful fishing yacht!
What an amazing journey it has been! I’m not finished yet as we also took the fireworks cruise the same evening and again it was amazing. What a way to celebrate Independence Day with a beautiful cruise around Long Island sound followed by an amazing fireworks display presented by the Village of Port Jefferson! First, they will take you on a cruise around the local area as the sun sets on the beautiful Long Island Sound. Then they anchored up in a prime location to watch the awesome Grucci Fireworks show off Port Jefferson harbor!
Here is my advice: gather your family and friends and hop aboard for a great evening together! Feel free to bring beer, wine, and a few snacks. (Sorry no hard liquor permitted) and that is what we did, just fabulous and highly recommended.
I’ve included some pictures just to give you a glimpse of what you can do and also have some fun with a great host, Captain Des O’Sullivan, UP LIMERICK!
To book a trip call (631) 928-3926 or email them at office@CQFleet.com and tell them The Irish Examiner USA sent you.
That’s it for this week hope to see you all again when I am Out&About…