Author Archives: j0jgvm89bj

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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This looks like a repeat of the last northeaster.

 

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

 

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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.

 

 

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Condemnation notice.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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

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Salvo native, Richie Austin seems pleased about the prospects.

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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.

 

November Northeaster

This entry was originally posted on November 14, 2009

 

One of the things that originally attracted me to Hatteras Island was the raw nature of the place. As the son of a meteorologist, I must have had this fascination ingrained in me. Dynamic weather conditions have shaped the Outer Banks for centuries, and this recent northeaster was a prime example. 


Forecasters had this one pegged pretty well. There was ample time to prepare, but for those with real estate interests on the Rodanthe oceanfront, all the preparation in the world could not hold back the force of the sea. 


I’ve photographed this particular location during storms for decades, and the coastline here has one of the highest erosion rates on the North Carolina coast. The ocean has chipped away storm after storm, year after year. In that time, people have chosen to build dream homes by the sea. Many have fallen victim to the waves, and many linger close by.

 

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Looking north toward Mirlo Beach.

 

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Serendipity on the north end of town, holding on.

 

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Highway 12 at Mirlo Beach facing north.

 

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The infamous S-Curve.

 

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The S-Curve 2 days earlier.

 

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The S-curve one week ago.

 

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Remnants of the S-Curve.

 

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This time the raging sea not only threatened beach houses, but it took a portion of our only roadway connecting us to the mainland. The State of North Carolina has spent millions of dollars trying to keep highway 12 intact. In a couple of spots, NC12 has had to be relocated to the west as previous roadways succumb to the sea. The S-Curve has been moved 3 times since I’ve lived here, but now it’s running out of room.

 

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Stay tuned for further developments!