MEET YOUR CAPTAINS

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OWNER/OPERATOR

I am the founder and operator of Noah’s Ark Fishing Charters. For the past 20 years, I’ve been meticulously growing my business network as well as my fishing expertise in one of the best spots in the entire world from a fishing perspective—Harker’s Island, which is located on the ‘doorstep’ of the Atlantic Ocean and just a short 5-minute boat ride from Cape Lookout, part of the North Carolina Outer Banks.

 Though I have NC to thank for my success, my family, and my career arc in general, I have a much different place to thank for my upbringing. My story began 50 years ago and nearly 5,000 miles away on the small Island of Molokai, Hawaii. By my early teens, I had developed a few passions that have come to define my entire life: if I was going someplace, I was skateboarding; if I was supposed to bring dinner home, I was spearing or catching reef fish with my dad; and if I had even 20 minutes to spare on any given day, I was paddling out to find any waves I could surf. 

Naturally, when we packed up and moved away to the Outer Banks, my passions followed. After some early success in surfing competitions that allowed me to compete against some of the best surfers along the East Coast in regional and national events, I settled down and joined the Coast Guard. My time in the service allowed me to see even more of the world and fish countless other angler hotspots from the Gulf of Mexico to the South American Caribbean. I also received the Silver Lifesaving Medal during my duty for saving three people trapped in a rip current. After leaving the Coast Guard, my charter business came to be a reality. 

Business was, at first, a bit slower than now; but I remained dedicated and eventually began to gain some real exposure. Two charters a week turned into four or five, and before I knew it, I was fully booked for entire months in advance. I started accumulating sponsors that provided me with clothing, gear, bait and tackle, and eventually even custom fishing boats (see Sponsor page for a complete list). I’ve had the opportunity to teach fishing seminars, be featured in articles for fishing magazines, attend global conventions, and guest host on TV and radio shows.

 In short, I guess you could say that in a very true sense, I didn’t find my talents; instead, they found me. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

CHARTER GUIDE

It was John Kennedy who said, “All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – we are going back from whence we came.”

This is particularly true of Captain Tanner Lynk.  Born in Chincoteague, Virginia in 1994, where his father was serving in the USCG, he set his tiny feet in the saltwater off Assateague, Virginia, when he was only a few months old. From the exuberance that he showed as his little feet touched the warm water, it was clear that this was to be a place of sanctity for him. When Tanner was only six months old, his family moved back to their roots in Carteret County, to be near his extended family.  Here, his love of fishing began as he stood on Papa Mike’s fish crates to reach the steering wheel of the mullet boat as fall fishing rolled around. His maternal grandfather came from a long line of fishermen, hailing from the Banks, where Tanner’s great-grandfather, Charlie was born.  Although his time with his Papa was short-lived, as an accident took him away when Tanner was only three, he remembers the love and appreciation for his saltwater/Downeast heritage that so strongly runs through that line of his family.  But, Tanner is a fortunate son. His paternal family hails from Hawaii, where his father, Captain Noah Lynk, learned to fish off the rocky shores of Molokai when he was only a small boy.  His paternal grandfather, Howie, spear-fished off the coast to provide for his family, and Noah learned to love the waters of Hawaii just as Tanner learned to love the waters of Carteret County, at a very young age. 

So, combining the heritage from both sides of his family, Tanner definitely has “salt in his blood,” and has driven a boat to the Cape since he was a very young adolescent.  He even got his first boat, a 16’ Carolina Skiff, for his tenth birthday!  Even before he could back it down the ramp, he could easily navigate it through the trickiest parts of the waterways around his home.  Passengers, mostly family members, but some other guests as well, remarked that they felt as comfortable with Tanner at the helm as they would with a grown adult.  His ease of boat handling and knowledge of marine rules led him effortlessly to getting his USCG Captain’s License at 18, and since that time, he has been helping both behind the scenes, and more recently, in the forefront of Noah’s Ark Fishing Charters. Although the business was named for his father, Noah, Tanner truly represents the next generation of the business. His wonderful, energetic, and easy demeanor with customers and his ability to keep every line tight on every trip, is quickly making him an in-demand captain with the company.  

We look forward to a new generation of seafarers to follow Tanner, as he and his wife, Rebecca, welcomed their first child, Annie Bryant Lynk, in January of 2019 (and her little feet like the water, too).  Truly, Tanner has gone back from whence he came, as Carteret County is his home, and the water is not only his playground, but he respects it as a part of his livelihood and looks forward to raising his family where he was raised.