Category Archives: commercial fishing, boat, pamilco sound, gillnetting

More Soul Surfers

Soul surfers ride waves for the sheer pleasure and experience, not to prove themselves through contests or competition. It doesn’t matter if someone has an ability better or worse. It really all comes down to one person, one wave and the interaction between the two.

One of my best friends in life has been Robin Gerald. We arrived on Hatteras in the early 70’s, exclusively to surf. Others came and went, but we have remained to this day. In the process we found ourselves a way to earn our livings that would permit us to drop everything when the waves got good. In our heyday, if the surf came up, one of us would know and alert the other. For years, it was sort of an unwritten pact of loyalty.

Robin is shown here dropping into an overhead wall at the old S-Curve site, October of 1976.

This 1998 photo shows Robin on a nice fun wave on the north side of the fishing pier at Rodanthe.

Robin was very adept at waterfowl hunting. He would often provide friends with hearty meals of fish or fowl or both. He was affectionately known as Marshman. Here in 1987, he retrieves a nice black duck from a fresh water pond in Buxton.

Another friend of mine was Ed Corley. He already lived on Hatteras when I arrived, and was an outsider, turned local. A short time later, he was involved in a horrible truck accident that landed him in a coma for 2 weeks. His recovery was slow, but he eventually gained most of his former self back. Ed and I bought 2 of the original Boogie Board kits and did a lot of body boarding together. It was good therapy for him in his recovery.

This photo of Ed was taken in the Fall of 1974 during a swell breaking near the ruins of the original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton.

Ed Corley surfing the S-Curve in 1976.

Ed on a nice left at Salvo Shipwreck, 1974.

Ed chose commercial fishing as a way of life. Like many of the locals that fished for a living, he did it more because he loved it, than the financial rewards. This is a shot I made in 1977 when Ed, holding a sturgeon, was gillnetting in Pamlico Sound. He later went to work on offshore fishing trawlers, and relocated to Coos Bay on the Pacific coast. It was there that the boat he was working on sank on a stormy new years eve, taking him down with it.

to be continued….



Day at the Docks

One of my favorite festivals on the Outer Banks is Day at the Docks. Held in Hatteras Village every September, it originated as a way to jump start the economic and general interest in that town, after being devastated by Hurricane Isabel. I photographed it as a magazine assignment in 2005, and have attended ever since.

This year, it was held on a beautiful Saturday, September 18th, with lots of exhibits, demonstrations and activities, mostly related with working on the water. Events like the concrete marlin contest, mullet throwing, survival suit race, seafood chowder cook-off and kids fishing tournament are popular, as are the seafood cooking demonstrations by local chefs.

You can make your own fish print t-shirt.

Mingle with fishermen and boat captains on the dock.

Watch the crab races.

Contestants reel in concrete marlins for prize money.

The survival suit race is quite the spectacle.

Nicholas Midgett and his freshly caught pinfish.

The headboat, Miss Hatteras sits at the dock for the blessing of the fleet.

Day at the Docks has grown each year, and is a fun way to spend time with family, friends and community.

So if you’re in the area next September, I highly recommend checking out the waterfront at Hatteras Village.

http://www.dayatthedocks.org



Portsmouth Village Homecoming

For me, the most intriguing town on the Outer Banks is the village of Portsmouth. Situated on the northeast tip of Portsmouth Island, it played a significant role in local maritime history for well over one hundred years. It’s geographic location next to Ocracoke Inlet was important in making it a major port of commerce when wooden ships still sailed the seas. Deep draft ocean going vessels could offload goods there, and smaller boats would come from inland river towns to pick it up. From the 1750’s to the 1850’s, Portsmouth was a thriving seaport. According to an 1860 census, the town had a population of 685 residents.

But by then, things were beginning to change. A series of storms opened other inlets, and at the same time Ocracoke Inlet began to shoal. Shipping routes changed, commerce dropped off, and gradually the town dwindled to only a few people. With the death of Henry Pigott in 1971, the last man to live at Portsmouth, the last two residents, Elma Dixon and Marion Babb reluctantly left the island.

Today the 250 acre historic district of Portsmouth Village is a part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. The remains of the town have been left intact and maintained.

Since 1992, the Friends of Portsmouth Island have sponsored a homecoming every 2 years. I went in 2008, and looked forward to this April 24, 2010 event. Again I was not disappointed. Here are a few things that caught my eye.

Descendants of village residents pose for a photographer in front of the Dixon/Salter house.

The Robert Wallace house.

The Dixon family cemetery.

The post office opens every other year for this event, including canceling postage stamps.

Ocracoke fisherman Gene Ballance demonstrates the art of net mending.

James Gaskill wears a device once used for fire-lighting waterfowl. He is also a commercial fisherman from Ocracoke.

At the old Coast Guard Station, Dave Frum explains the beach apparatus method for rescuing shipwreck survivors.

The Methodist Church was always a focal point of the community and still is.

88 year old Rudy Carter and Mil Hayes ring the bell to begin a church service. Rudy is a descendent of Henry Pigott, the last man to live at Portsmouth.

Get to the church on time if you want to get a seat.

Born in 1921, Dot Willis affectionally known as “Miss Dot”, is the last surviving resident that was born at Portsmouth Village. The light coming in the translucent windows of the church was very nice so I took the opportunity to speak with her, and make this available light portrait.

Back in the day, the flat-bottomed skiff was a preferred mode of transportation. These guys were fastening the bottom planks in a boat building demonstration.

Roy Willis from Stacy, NC was showing his waterfowl carvings.

Roy made and hunted over these green winged teal decoys last season.

The main tent provides seating for up to 500 people.

Then there’s the covered dish dinner with plenty for everyone. And the mosquitoes weren’t even that bad. If you go in 2012, I’ll see you there.

Group shot of attendees at the 2010 homecoming.


Buxton Woods Boat Works

In the early 70’s, there was a small migration of people that transplanted to Hatteras Island. They came because they enjoyed the island for what it was and what it provided. The surf, the fishing, the serenity were just some of the things to savor. The kicker was to somehow find a way to make a living. Some went into commercial fishing, restaurants, real estate or construction.

Mike Scott went into the boat building business. At his Buxton Woods Boat Works he made dories for the commercial fishermen to haul seine from the beach. He also did a lot of boat repair jobs. As he got busier, he hired Richard Ryder to help.  Richard was also a transplant, and like everyone else was looking for ways to make ends meet. He and Mike were not only good friends, but also excellent craftsman.

This 1977 photo shows a Mike Scott dory in use. Here Dennis Midgett on the left, and Pete Smith haul net in the stern to make another “set”.

With more repair jobs still coming in, Mike asked me if I wanted to help them out for a few months, so I began sometime in February of ’82. We restored two old shad boats that had been converted from sail to mechanical power. One of them belonged to Lee Peele, standing here on the right. It turned out to be a complete overhaul and it was a beautiful boat. Mike Scott stands proudly on the left.


This shad boat belonged to another Hatteras fisherman, Mark McCracken. We replaced some rotten planks and gave it an epoxy treatment.


Then Mike got two orders to build boats. One was a 24 foot, flat bottomed net skiff for a longhaul rig. The skiff took only a few weeks to finish, and was simple in design. For me, it was a perfect introduction to boatbuilding. It taught me a lot about “dressing” rough cut lumber, working with power tools and epoxy techniques. The lumber came from a small sawmill in Camden, operated by Mose White. Note the shad boat in the shop.


The other boat ordered was a 39 foot dead-rise, commercial fishing boat, designed after the Albatross II. Based in Hatteras Village, the Albatross Fleet has been around for years. They are tried and true, built in Marshallburg, NC.

Beautifully designed as very seaworthy displacement hulls, they are unlike the more modern, over the top, planing hulls. All the Albatross boats have rounded sterns, but this new one would have a square stern with rounded corners. It was made for “Big Bill” Foster, and would take over 6 months to construct.

The original Albatross was built in 1937.


The keel and bow stem are the backbone and were cut from yellow pine , then the heart cypress bottom frames were fastened to the keel… then the side frames installed.

The planks made from atlantic white cedar, are bent and fastened into place.


Richard Ryder applies epoxy to the finished hull.


Once outside the unpainted Mamacita is ready for a cabin.

Years later in 2007, Mamacita is still an active fishing boat.

Today Mike Scott is a boat captain and runs charters on the Albatross lll.

Richard Ryder went on to work for Hinckley Yachts in Maine, then began his own business called Union River Boat Company.

I left Buxton Woods Boat Works in September of 1982 to dredge oysters on the Chesapeake for the next 2 winters. See earlier post on Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks.





Modern Day Shipwrecks

Often referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the ocean off the coast of the Outer Banks is  littered with hundreds, if not thousands of shipwrecks. Before modern modes of sailing, navigation and weather forecasting, commercial shipping was a more dangerous proposition than it is today.  Vessels transiting these waters however, still encounter problems.

I was reminded of this as I wrote a previous blog entry about the Sheila Rene running aground at Oregon Inlet. Similarly in October of 1977, as I was driving over the Bonner Bridge, south to Hatteras Island, I noticed a capsized trawler in the water next to the bridge. It was the fishing vessel Tosco. It was coming in the inlet with a 10,000 pound catch of flounder, when it ran aground and crashed into one of the bridge’s concrete piers. With a gaping hole in the hull, it sank right there on the spot. The boat was an estimated $100,000 loss, and the bounty of fish was also lost.

The Tosco at Oregon Inlet in 1977.

When most people think of shipwrecks along our shores, they think of the wooden sailing ships of the distant past. One of the last such wrecks was that of the GA Kohler. Built in Delaware in 1919, it was a 4-masted schooner, just over 200 feet long. Washing up in a 1933 storm, it is significant as marking the end of an era. It lay upright on the beach and was stripped in the war effort for materials, and subsequently burned. Some of the old artifacts, like wooden timbers, compass and even dinnerware, are in local homes today. The remains of the GA Kohler are currently buried beneath the beach sands near Ramp 27, but on rare occasions the remnants are uncovered by the ocean.

This photo from 1989 shows my friend Robin Gerald inspecting the stern section of the GA Kohler.

Since then, maritime mishaps have become less likely, and rare. Most of the activity on coastal waters nowadays pertains to sport or commercial fishing boats, and private yachts, among others. 

One exceptional event though, occurred in January of 1976 . It was during a freezing northeaster. I awoke in a bitter cold mobile home and couldn’t open the north door to get out. It had been frozen shut during an ice storm. The entire north side of the trailer was coated solid with 2 inches of ice. Once I got outside, I looked toward the beach and saw a sight that I could not believe. A 500 foot World War II liberty ship, Betelgeuse was washed up and towering on the beach. The moth-balled ship was being towed by a tug offshore when the storm hit with a vengeance. The tug, unable to handle the situation was forced to cut it loose. The ship sat on the beach for over a month until salvagers managed to move it, but not before Mac Midgett tied a line to it, claiming salvage rights. It was said that he made a few thousand bucks for his effort.

The World War II Liberty Ship washed in during an ice storm in 1976.

1987 was a banner year for stranded fishing boats. Here the Sweet Lady sits on the beach at Rodanthe, just yards from the pier. It was abandoned offshore during a storm as the crew evacuated via Coast Guard helicopter. It came short of hitting the pier, and was eventually salvaged.

The Hard 8 came ashore in “the hook” at Cape Point that same year.

When the Miss Manhattan washed ashore in 2000, it had hit the Rodanthe pier, and was dismasted in the process. It was salvaged.

The Sly Fox came ashore on Pea Island around Christmas of 2004… not so sly any more.

They say that one problem on the water, especially during severe weather, can turn into multiple problems very quickly. With distressed vessels in the Graveyard of the Atlantic this seems to be a common denominator.