South Core Banks, NC

When I went to bed Tuesday night, it was raining. The rain fell all night. When I left home in the dark Wednesday morning, the rain was falling. We loaded the truck in the rain, it stopped long enough to grab this photo...
 

Captain Lanier with the Davis Store Ferry Service (252-Raw-Fish) made the 10am run to the island, and said no more today. The rain is OK, but the wind is dangerous. But, the wind calmed a little at 2pm, and we loaded in the rain and headed to the Island. Of course, half-way across, the wind kicked up, and docking on the island was almost impossible. We backed-off the ferry, and let the air of our tires (necessary for driving in sand) in a sideways rain. As we crossed Ramp 30 to the beach, the rain let up, and the sun appeared through the dark clouds. The wind and high tide kept us to the back 'road', where we found a place to camp for the night. We hung our soaked clothes on anything we could outside the truck, in no time the wind had whipped them dry.
 
 
We can see the Cape Lookout lighthouse all weekend. The keepers house/museum is open, the light is not. We drive south, along the beach, to the Cape, and back up the west side 2 more miles. The high tide and wind stop us at the jetty. It is so beautiful out here.

 
 
The island is crowded with men in every kind of vehicle you can imagine. Some non-altered trucks, but some really creative altered vehicles. An old "Lance chips" truck is a great base vehicle, and the back porches and fishing racks and water containers are all different. No pics, that would have been rude without permission.
Portsmouth Island, the next island north, is our favorite, but it's closed right now. The hurricane last month filled the ferry slip with 75 feet of sand. The National Park Service is dredging it out, we hear, and the island will reopen in about 2 weeks. We're sad for our friends Kari and Rick, who run the ferry from Atlantic to PI, who are out of business until the dredging is complete. Life on the coast is altered quickly by the weather.

Sam found this shark's tooth, the Treasure of the week.

 
K and Sam fish without much luck, but that didn't matter so much. There are very few women on the island, and we got lots of double-takes when the fishermen realized they were seeing three women in the Big Truck. The man from Sanford we stopped to ask about the fishing summed it up: What, no men? Hey, boys, y'all have to see this! So, our camp was named: Camp Wutnomen. And, we cook, too.
 
 
After the rain stopped Wednesday afternoon, the sky was gorgeous. After the wind calmed Thursday night, the sea was calm. The sky was clear, and we had two beautiful nights for the meteor showers. A fine trip, we'll do this again.