Category Archives: beach

Getting to the Point

This has been a year of some personal loss and heartbreak, and I’m glad to have it behind me.

There is so much to be thankful for. The Summer and Autumn have been exceptionally gorgeous, especially in light of the severe storms the past few years.

December has almost turned into winter, and things on the island have been relatively quiet preceding the holidays. Yet a few weeks ago on the 5th, I had a first glimpse of a snowy owl. They are generally rare to the region, but not unheard of.

The first reported sighting was weeks prior, and Cape Point saw a deluge of photographers and naturalists looking for the wayward creature. My reaction was to wonder, at what point will the onlookers be harassing the bird or distressing it in some way. Certainly one’s discretion to minimize impact is important.

I felt guilty about venturing to the point with so many other folks, but when the bridge access to Hatteras Island was shut down for repairs, the onslaught of birders was also shut down considerably.

With hardly any one else around, I was directed to a location where I saw a big white spot in the distance. Sure enough, there it was, perched on a piece of driftwood. I was able to get reasonably close with my 500 mm telephoto.

There was intermittent rain and light overcast, perfect for shooting a white bird in the wide open tundra of Cape Point.

Two weeks later I ventured out again with my long time friend Ray Matthews, and the owl was nowhere in sight. We surveyed the area with binoculars and discovered a falcon perched on a piece of wood. We advanced some, yet respectfully kept our distance.

It was a peregrine falcon, a frequent winter resident of Cape Point.

The Point is an amazing place. There’s always something interesting going on, and you never know what you’ll see or experience.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

The Paddle Out

Nothing can pay tribute, to a surfer who has passed away, more than a ceremonial paddle out. It is surfing’s honorable sendoff. We put the word out to do this for Robin and didn’t know what kind of turn out to expect.

On October 5th at noon, participants began arriving at the Rodanthe Pier for an informal covered dish beach party. By about 1:00 there were well over 150 people on site to pay their respects. We began paddling out at 1:15. It looked like about 80 people, aged 8 and up, on surfboards, a few kayaks and boogie boards.

It was slick calm, warm and sunny, ideal conditions for Robin’s memorial.

The photographs shown here are a compilation of several contributing photographers:

Amberly Dyer, April Contestable, Bev Martin, Jim and Marcy Martin, Ben Tran, Denise and Mike Halminski

Kelly Schoolcraft and Russell Blackwood were on hand to pay their respects

So were Jay and Scooter.

There was plenty to eat, especially when Eric came in hoisting a bushel of steamed crabs.

Chandra Rutledge made three beautiful leis for the occasion.

Denise was my co-conspirator for this great event.

Beverly Bull gave me some bird of paradise flowers to throw out on the sea, along with Chandra’s orchid lei.

Our special guests were Robin’s cousins, Rob and Jean Marie from Delaware. They were accompanied by their spouses, Jeff (left) and Bev (center). There were many great stories shared by them.

Charlie and Betz Mullen had it made in the shade..

Jo and Buddy Brothers did too.

Eric Anglin was ready to go out.

Let the paddle out begin!

GoPro YouTube video: courtesy of Brett Butler

Richard Byrd was paddling Robin’s ten foot Gary Propper model vintage Hobie.

Eric and I thought it would be nice to extend the paddle out to the shipwreck and secure the lei to a buoy.

Selby Gaskins Jr. and crew watched from the pier.

Colin and Ben Tran witnessed their first Paddle Out.

Twelve year old Ben made this remarkable interpretation of the ceremony.

There were petals out on the water.

We paddled out to the wreck.

April had her old Dewey Weber.

Jon Brown brought out his Redman shaped Hatteras Glass.

Robin’s old buddy Benji Stansky watched from the pier.

Jan Deblieu, Susan West, Marcia Lyons and Beverly Bull celebrate on the end of the pier.

Allen Jones had his studio set up.

At eight years old, Mia Phillips made the entire paddle out to the shipwreck.

Eleven year old Johnny Contestable also made it out to the wreck.

Here I am with Robin’s favorite Natty Bo and writer Jan Deblieu.

There were shots to be had.

Allen Jones made this striking portrait of Robin with his “Propper” in 1998.

Robin had this photograph on his wall for as long as I’ve known him. It was taken at the north side of Indian River Inlet in 1967. He would have just graduated from high school.

Aloha, Robin!

The CR Connection

In 1982, at the invitation from friend Jeff Ray, I made my first trip to Costa Rica. Jeff had been there lots of times and even owned a rustic thatched hut on a secluded beach. It was this introduction that had me returning numerous times thereafter. I loved the country, the surf and the diversity of nature. It was a photographer’s dream.

I went again in 1990. This time I was traveling with my brother and Robin. They had never been to Costa Rica before and I showed them places that I enjoyed on previous trips. We moved around for about a month, but spent the bulk of our time in one of my favorite spots, the left handed point break of Pavones.

Robin posed with our rental 4×4 at the Monteverde Cloud Forest.

We set up camp right at the point, and the cantina pit bull became our friend.

Once camped out next to the river mouth, we made ourselves quite at home. This was Easter dinner.

Tailgate party at the point, featuring Rob, Ron Centenario and Robin.

One afternoon my brother and I sat on the wall at the cantina and watched Robin buzz by toward the cove.

Then he walked up the rocky beach and joined us in the cantina

Robin was so amazed by the place that he went back there almost every year since. He got to know the locals and made many new friends. His final trip was 2010.

I went back in 1994 for some extensive hiking, but didn’t return after that. It was not until 2007 when Robin invited Denise and I to Costa Rica for a belated honeymoon. Through some friends, he arranged for us to stay in a beautiful house perched on the hillside of the rain forest at Punta Banco. It was a trip of a lifetime. We will never forget his consideration and love for us.

The view from our room was spectacular, and the beach exquisite.

Latest Casualty

Yesterday morning I heard that the yellow house at the end of Buela O’Neal Road had just fallen on to the beach. Of the latest casualties, this is one of the older ones, a modest beach box. It may have been built in the 70’s or early 80’s. There was a light rain coming down, but I went to look anyway.

The owner had been working with local government and Park Service officials on trying to save the house. His insurance company would not help. In order to collect through the federal flood insurance program, the structure has to have been already damaged or destroyed by flood (encroaching sea) before collecting. I hope this owner was covered.

Now the remnants will be all over the beach, creating an unsightly and potentially dangerous condition. This is nothing new. It happens time and again. There is little incentive to save these imperiled structures.

There is something wrong with the system that repeatedly allows this to happen.

This is the view looking to the south toward the Rodanthe Pier. So much for our pristine beach.

The Grommet House

An accountant from Northern Virginia by the name of Myers, owned a cottage on the oceanfront in Rodanthe. It was a ramshackle place, built at a time when, if there were any building codes, they weren’t enforced much. The Myers family used to spend Summers there. Two of their kids were Worth and Gladys. They partied with the locals. In the winter, two of my friends Carlen and Dave, rented the place.

Robin and I surfed in front of it for years. It had a consistently good breaking wave and the mainstream surfers from Virginia Beach hadn’t discovered it.

A bit of a landmark, I photographed it for a period when I thought it was going to wash away. I saw the Rodanthe oceanfront nearly every day, checking the waves and exploring. What I didn’t realize at the time, was that I was also witnessing a complex process of barrier island dynamics. It fascinated me, how the beach environment reshaped with each storm.

Then the surfers from the north began coming. And as surfers will do, they name a spot after something they can relate to. From then on it was dubbed the grommet house. Grommet is surfing slang for a young or beginning surfer. In the longboard days, they were referred to as a gremmie. The Grommet House became a popular, packed out surf spot, but by then Robin and I moved on to other secret breaks to elude the crowds. We were always one or two steps ahead of the masses.

The Myers cottage gets some weather in March of 1980.

The house was still holding fast in 1982, and the beach made some accretion. The dune line in the background would later shelter a subdivision called Mirlo Beach.

The driveway got pummeled into the sand.

The ocean eventually took over, and the house fell into the sea.

Michael Halminski Photographer

Waves, North Carolina