Author Archives: j0jgvm89bj

Serendipity, the moving experience

The somewhat legendary house called Serendipity has been moved away from the S- curve and out of harm’s way, at least for a while. For the current owners’ sake, I hope a good while. They plan to restore the building to it’s cinema screen glory and rent it to visitors. If popularity has anything to do with it, it should rent pretty well.

The media and public interest in it’s relocation has been extraordinary. Last Friday, before a hundred curious onlookers, it was removed from it’s piling foundation and lowered onto I-beams supported on big tires. The weather window was ideal, especially for this time of year. It was brought back from the beach to the edge of highway 12, where it sat until this morning for the big move.

As I entered the arena today, there was a helicopter up for an aerial view, and what seemed like at least a couple hundred spectators. Others involved were Dare County Sherriff’s Department, State Troopers, electric coop workers, cable TV people, firefighters, EMT’s and more. The place was bustling with activity, all swirling around Serendipity. 

As for myself, the moving aspect was interesting, but the general spectacle of the people taking it all in was equally interesting.

Caught between a rock and a hard place

Oregon Inlet is a place notorious for vessels in distress. I’ve seen it through the years, as man has tried to tame the inlet. Today I heard about a fishing vessel stranded on a shoal up there. I don’t know the circumstances, only that it had run aground.

_MH06252

When I arrived on the scene, northwest winds were blowing a gale and temperatures were below freezing. It was bone chilling just to go out on the catwalk to get a better vantage point. The Coast Guard Station at Oregon Inlet stood by with their 47 foot motor lifeboat.

_MH06225

This being just another incident of curiosity on the Outer Banks, I hope no one is injured in this mishap. I also am hopeful that this boat can be saved in tact. Commercial fishermen have a tough enough livelihood as it is, without loosing their boat.

_MH06235

 

P.S. The “Sheila Rene” was returning to Wanchese with a recent catch of fish, said to be about 10,000 pounds when it ran up on a shoal. The trawler was freed Sunday evening and has been towed back to port.

More troubles at the S-Curve

Just as NCDOT people are working feverishly to bring some semblance of normalcy back to the S-Curve portion of highway 12, another weather system hits. At high tide this morning, the new dune area was breached and suddenly there’s 2 feet of sea water on the road. We’ve seen it before, and we’ll see it again.

 

_MH05985

This looks like a repeat of the last northeaster.

 

_MH06015

Traffic moves slowly, one lane at a time, while DOT equipment continues working.

 

_MH06017

 

_MH06020

The Outer Banks can be hell on your vehicle

 

Even with the new alternative road bed paved just west of the old pavement, the reconstructed dune line going in, complete with huge sandbags, it looks like a loosing battle to me. I wish I could say differently, but at this stage of the game, that’s how I feel about it. And with the storm season only beginning, it’s going to be a long winter, as far as this is concerned.

 

 

_MH05983

 

_MH06005

 

_MH06025

Condemnation notice.

 

_MH06028

 

_MH06031

 

_MH06032

Jacuzzi anyone?

 

Editing a Storm

This blog entry was originally posted on November 19, 2009


 

Now that the storm is over, the memory still lingers. Many of us also have images to refreshen those memories. Some of my favorites have already been published on this blog. But I have a few more to share.

 

At one point, during the fury of the storm the sun popped out for a little while. The seas were building and the water was swirling across the shore. Walking the area of Mirlo Beach, I could see that this was just getting more intense. I can’t explain taking pictures in this situation. It’s almost as though another sense kicks in. I’m surrounded by vibrant, visual energy, and I have to enclose portions of that in the viewfinder. Some shots, I know have impact as they are taken, but many come as surprises, later in the editing process.

 

_MH05412

 

_MH05423

 

_MH05433

 

_MH05439

 

_MH05448

 

_MH05461

 

_MH05470

 

_MH05474

 

_MH05487_MH05484

 

_MH05517

 

_MH05525

 

This may be the end of my storm entries for a while, at least I hope so.

 

 

 

NCDOT to the Rescue…… again

This entry was originally posted on November 16, 2009

 Yesterday the 15th of November, one day after the storm wiped out a portion of highway 12 at the S-Curve, North Carolina Department of Transportation officials began work to reconstruct the main road coming into north Rodanthe. They are working to build back the berm that was washed away. What they are going to do about resurfacing the road is another matter. In the meantime, only 4-wheel drive traffic is allowed to transit on a temporary sand road west of the affected area. This is in effect only during daytime hours.

_MH05698

_MH05706

_MH05710

_MH05736

 

This morning, I looked out my upstairs window over the Pamlico Sound to see the NCDOT ferry “Stanford White” heading to Rodanthe. Once I arrived on the scene, I learned that the ferry operations would begin tomorrow carrying mainly commercial traffic and other vehicles between the Stumpy Point ferry terminal and Rodanthe. This is not an official notice, however, just what I was hearing at the time. It could be rumor. It could be fact. So far I see no notice about it on NCDOT or Dare County web sites.

_MH05743

_MH05747

_MH05754

The new Rodanthe ferry service has had a few test runs in the past, but never truly implemented.

_MH05761

Salvo native, Richie Austin seems pleased about the prospects.

_MH05771

Jack Cahoon, the present NCDOT Ferry Operations Director was personally on hand to help smooth out the transition. Locals here have known for some time that this day was coming. It was just a matter of when.