Sensation Sportfishing runs the serious blue water boat in the ranked Morehead City field, a 53 foot Carolina sportfisher that holds a piece of local history: it was the first hull ever built by Jarrett Bay Boatworks of Carteret County, launched in 1986 and since restored and repowered. Captain Dale Britt has fished it for more than 25 years, is an IGFA member, and carries a tournament record that includes the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. For a dedicated Gulf Stream day chasing marlin, tuna, and wahoo, this is the best boat and captain on this page, which is what earns it a place despite a thinner public review trail than the boats above it.
The verdict and where it ranks
At fourth in the port, Sensation is a strong choice and the top of the field for one specific job: a full day in the Gulf Stream on a tournament grade sportfisher. On the two factors that carry the most weight, the boat and the captain, it scores as high as anything on this page. It sits at fourth rather than first because of the rest of the picture: the review trail is thin compared with the booking platform boats, the rates are quoted rather than posted, and it is the priciest way out of the port. It also runs a narrower menu, blue water trolling and the winter bluefin run, with none of the nearshore or bottom options the smaller boats offer. Book it when a real billfish or tuna trip is the point and the budget is there. For a nearshore day or a posted price, Offshore Outlaw and Reel Time fit better, and for a comparable Gulf Stream boat that posts every rate, Legacy is the option.
The boat
The Sensation is a 53 foot Carolina sportfisher, notable as Jarrett Bay hull number one, the boat that started one of the most respected custom builders on the East Coast. It has been restored and repowered since its 1986 launch, and it is fully air conditioned and heated, with the cockpit, the fighting setup, and the range a Gulf Stream tournament boat needs. It carries up to six anglers. The honest qualifier is age: even restored, this is a hull approaching 40 years old, so it is a classic rather than a new build, and you are booking it for the pedigree, the rig, and the captain rather than for a modern boat smell. For the offshore trolling it does, it is well suited and well kept.
The fishing and what you target
Sensation is a blue water boat. The full day Gulf Stream trip runs roughly 40 to 50 miles out to troll for blue and white marlin, sailfish, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, mahi mahi, and wahoo, with the billfish largely caught and released under the federal permit the boat carries. In winter it targets the giant bluefin tuna that move in off the Crystal Coast. It does not run the nearshore mackerel trips or the bottom fishing days the smaller boats and head boats offer, so it is a summer blue water and winter bluefin operation, and you book it for that calendar. The captain’s tournament background is the relevant credential here: this is a boat set up to find and fight big fish.
Trips and prices
Sensation sells by the whole boat, private only, for full day Gulf Stream and offshore trolling trips. The captain supplies the rods, reels, tackle, and bait, and the boat is air conditioned and heated for the long run. The mark against it on value is transparency: the rates are not posted online and are quoted when you book, and as a 53 foot tournament boat it sits at the top of the port’s price range, well above the smaller sportfishers and far above a head boat seat. The price is defensible for the boat and the captain, but you cannot compare it up front the way you can with the posted rate boats. Our cost guide explains what a full day offshore generally runs and why a tournament boat sits where it does.
The crew
Captain Dale Britt runs the boat, with a mate, and the credential is the tournament record: over 25 years offshore, IGFA membership, and placings in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament and other regional billfish events, fished out of the Big Rock Fishing Center in Morehead City. The customer review trail is real but thin next to the booking platform boats, around 25 reviews at 4.8 on Google, where reviewers praise the captain and mate working well together and a well run day. That thinness is the honest limit on the score: the reputation among local and tournament anglers is strong, but the public, everyday charter record is smaller than the field leaders, so the track record factor is scored on what is verifiable rather than on reputation alone.
Booking and what to know
Book directly through the operator’s site or by phone, since the boat is not on the major booking platforms and the rate is quoted. It leaves from the Morehead City waterfront at 2012 Shepard Street and runs out through Beaufort Inlet, with an early start for the long Gulf Stream day. No fishing license is needed, the boat covers it. Bring food, drinks, sunscreen, and motion sickness medication, since a full day in the Gulf Stream means hours in open water, though the air conditioned cabin gives you somewhere to settle on the run out and back.
How we scored it
Sensation scores fourth: the best boat and captain in the field for a dedicated Gulf Stream trip, a Jarrett Bay sportfisher under a tournament captain, held back by a thin public review trail, quoted rather than posted prices, and the highest price in the port. Boat and equipment and captain and crew are its strongest factors; value and track record are where the thin record and the price opacity cost it. See how we scored this boat, and compare it against the rest of the Morehead City fleet.