Murphy to Manteo: Finding new adventures, historic detours, and the soul of North Carolina on the state’s longest highway: U.S. Route 64. Read the series.

As we coasted over Croatan Sound on the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge, my husband, Alex, sat up straighter. On Roanoke Island, we turned off U.S. Route 64 to head south, and he began to tap his fingers on the steering wheel. But it was when we pulled into Wanchese Marina and he spotted the row of “tuna towers” in the distance that he got that wild, twinkling glint in his eye.

Now, standing on the dock in Wanchese, with its legendary sportfishing fleet laid out before us, my typically calm and rational better half is all but bouncing up and down. I’m trying to remember the last time he was this happy as he spouts off facts about propellers and engines when I hear, “… our boat …” I snap my head to look at him, eyebrows raised, but he’s somewhere else entirely. Here we go again, I think. If it’s not already clear, we don’t own a boat. Yet.

My husband and I (emphasis on my husband) are aspirational boat people. We both grew up spending time with our families on the waters near Topsail Island, Bath, and Beaufort, and Alex hopes to give our toddler son, James, the same experience — and I do, too. Really! But when it comes to boats, I’m the practical one. Boats — especially the center console Alex dreams of — are expensive. He knows this, but the dream lives on. “One day,” he sighs with a far-off look on his face. I suppose I did bring him to a place guaranteed to encourage his flights of fancy.

Since the first fish house was established here in 1936, Wanchese has drawn fishermen like a beacon. At first, they plied the rich waters of Roanoke and Croatan sounds. In the 1940s, as vessels became capable of venturing farther offshore, sportfishing gradually took hold.

Wanchese, situated just four miles from Oregon Inlet and the Atlantic beyond, eventually became North Carolina’s sportfishing capital. Boatyards began popping up, and at one point, at least six fish houses operated from its shores.

Today, this tiny fishing village of not even 2,000 full-time residents is a mecca for boat people in North Carolina and far beyond — for those who come to hire a charter in hopes of catching tuna, marlin, mahi-mahi, and more; for those who come to purchase a custom sportfishing build; and for those who, like us, simply come to dream. And you can do all three at Wanchese Marine Industrial Park.

With each boat that Alex and I pass — vessels with names like Game On and Wild Card and Cost of Living — Alex grows more animated. But on the deck of the Phideaux, a 52-foot Custom Carolina, Capt. Jamie Reibel and his brother and first mate, Jeff, are calm, cool, and collected.

Capt. Jamie Reibel (right) and his brother and first mate, Jeff, give fishing trips on the Phideaux. The writer’s husband, Alex, has decided that “when we’re boat people,” he’ll dub his Auto-Reply. photograph by Daniel Pullen

Jamie has been casting his line from this boat — and tying it up in the Outer Banks — for nearly 40 years. Though the Reibels grew up in Raleigh, their father often brought them along on his Outer Banks fishing trips, and around age 11 or 12, Jamie “caught the bug,” he says. In 1987, after graduating from ECU, he moved to Roanoke Island and soon found a job as first mate on the Phideaux. He took a year off to travel the world, then returned to the position, which he held until he bought the boat in 1995. In the years since, the Reibels have tackled commercial and charter fishing as a team, and while the industry has certainly changed — regulations are stricter, and most of the old fish houses have closed — the Phideaux is a constant on the Outer Banks.

“This area of the coast is really unique,” Jamie says. “It’s where the Labrador Current, which is cold, and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream come together and mix. That’s what makes our fishing so good. I’ve fished in a lot of places — Tahiti, Mexico, Belize, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Thailand — but I think this is my final destination.”

The Phideaux was crafted by legendary Wanchese boatbuilder Ricky Scarborough in 1988 — “right over there,” Jamie says, pointing to the other side of the industrial park. “‘Fido’ means ‘faithful friend,’ and it has been good to us for a long time,” he continues, patting the boat like you might a beloved dog.

Later, Alex and I hop in the car and head down Harbor Road. It leads us to the other side of the park, where deep-sea dreams are built from scratch, where storied sportfishing boatbuilders like Scarborough, Bayliss, Daniels, and Blackwell Boatworks are home to their own fleets. Alex drives slowly with the windows open.

There are boats with gleaming hulls of Carolina blue and gunmetal gray and bright, clean white. There are boats with names like Almost Time and Dream Girl and Lucky Day. There are no small boats, but there are gigantic boats that I think are technically yachts. We pass a row of smaller-big boats with center consoles, and Alex sighs grandly. “That’s the one,” he says. I start to laugh, but Alex’s reverie on the dock has morphed into something calmer and surer, and as he notices my look of incredulity, he nods and smiles and pats my leg gently like I’m the crazy one.

“One day,” Alex says, mostly to himself, “we’ll be boat people.”

He pulls over at Bayliss Boatworks, and I watch through the windshield as he peeks over the fence, gazing at the smooth curves and sharp lines of fantasies made real. Somewhere just beyond, the Phideaux bobs gently in the marina.

“The best part is seeing people happy,” Jamie told us. “Sometimes we don’t make everybody happy — sometimes we don’t catch anything. But hopefully, they catch the bug.”

Tomorrow, Jamie and Jeff will rise before dawn once again, casting off from the dock with hopeful passengers in search of that spot where the currents meet and mix, where dreams come true.

For more information, visit phideauxfishing.com.

More to Explore: Visit storied Wanchese fish houses and local fish markets to purchase the fresh-of-the-day catch at ourstate.com/fish-houses.