North Carolina's Outer Banks

Heading south into North Carolina and warmth and sun seemed like a fine idea, and one that proved to be true! There are many long bridges across the many waterways and wetlands of this state and we crossed one of them and found ourselves on the famed Outer Banks, or OBX, as many signs indicate. OBX is a long chain of narrow islands of sand that protect the mainland from storm surges and big water erosion. On one side is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other is Currituck Sound to the north, and Albermarle and Pamlico Sounds in the middle and southern stretches. The chain runs for about 200 miles, which is most of North Carolina's coast. Our main stop was the Wright Brothers National Memorial near the tourist town of Kill Devil Hills. Kitty Hawk is the name of the area on the edge of town where the Wrights flew their amazing machines.

Flyers Hall of Fame

Horseshoe crab

In the early 1900's there was fierce competition to be the first to build a machine that could carry a person, take off, be steered safely, and land, entirely under it's own power. The French had made some headway with the problem of lifting the thing, working on wing design and gliders, everyone thought they were the experts. Orville and Wilbur Wright, without a diploma between them, studied the problems and scientifically solved them, using the skills they had gained building and operating a printing press and running their own bicycle shop. First, they found that the French wings were not expertly designed at all, they didn't provide the required or expected amount of lift. They invented their  own wind tunnel to test and study different wing shapes quickly and efficiently. The work they did in their primitive wind tunnel is still very close to what modern day engineers use for wing designs. Using this information they were able to build gliders that they tested and flew more than 2000 times from the top of the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk. With the problem of lift solved they tackled the remaining issues of steering and power. A fellow who worked in their shop designed and built a small 4 cylinder engine that would run long enough to make the first short flights and that was all. The next big problem was steering the craft, the major issues being roll, yaw, and pitch, the 3 dimensions that had to be mastered for safe steering. They came up with revolutionary mechanics that twisted the two wings(called wing warping) and operated the tail for right and left turning. This mechanism was operated by the pilot shifting his hips in a cradle attached to wires controlling the wings and tail. Another smaller wing was in front of the pilot, trimmed using a handle, that controlled the elevation, up or down(pitch.) 

Steel Flyer sculpture

Cheering helpers

 On Dec. 17, 1903, in the privacy of Kitty Hawk, they made 4 historic flights that demonstrated their progress toward solving most of the big problems of manned flight. They continued tweaking their designs, filing for patents and improving the performance of their airplanes. They were very smart, they kept things quiet, did not share their progress until they had their patents in place. They mistakenly thought the US government would be interested in financing their work and offered to show them their planes, if they had a contract. The government refused, financing Samuel Langley instead. Langley was not even close to powered flight and had some disastrous outcomes. The Wright Bros. took their machine to Europe and showed their stuff. They were declared the winner in the race to flight but it took some time in the States to have that status. Finally they received the financing and acclaim they deserved and became very successful. As with many inventors of the era, they had to fight to protect and profit from their patented ideas. 

Not so famous 5th flight

Nice Job Orville!

We learned much about the brothers both here and the Museum of Air and Space in DC. At the visitor's center they have a replica of the first craft, a wind tunnel and a few other artifacts. (The Smithsonian got the original Flyer.) They also have a large sand dune with a massive stone memorial, the field marked with stones showing the exact location of the first 4 flights, and replicas of the two hangers the brothers lived in and used for their planes. There is a steel sculpture of the plane out in the field surrounded with the figures that were present on that historic day. Another large exhibit area was closed the days we were there in preparation for a big celebration on Dec. 17 commemorating 110 years of flight. Every few years they induct someone into their Flying Hall of Fame and this year the inductee is William Boeing, who started his company in 1916. Well, we all know how that worked out! 

First flight monument

Plaque for first four flights

We stayed several nights in Kill Devil Hills, enjoying the beach one morning and then moving southward. We could not continue to Cape Hatteras because the bridge to that island has been deemed unsafe at any speed and closed. They had a ferry service up and running but we decided it was too complicated. We continued on to Roanoke Is. and the historic town of Manteo. In 1585, the Roanoke Colony was the first to be established by Britain in the New World but it disappeared without a trace, so Jamestown got the honor of being the first successful colony. Manteo was establishing in 1870. We toured the visitor's center and focused on the building of a replica of the Queen Elizabeth II, one of the ships that carried early settlers. They built it in the old ways just a few years ago. That night we sat in our little home while the rain pounded down for several hours, we are so happy with our rig. A little further south in Beaufort there was a tornado that pulled the roof off of an elderly hardware store.

Queen Elizabeth II

Pirates booty

Tipper and Patty

Beaufort, NC

Back on the mainland we headed toward a Boondocker opportunity in another historic town, the above mentioned Beaufort, NC. We met Tipper, our host, got the tour of his jealousy inducing wood shop and saw pictures of the fine boat he built as a young man and sailed around on for 30 years. Tipper is a master craftsman and woodworker, working on many restorations, most notably Mount Vernon and some New England Grist Mills. He also puts in many hours for the local Historical Center and we really enjoyed the several hours he spent with us touring the town. He had the keys to some of the historic buildings he has worked on so we were treated to a private showing of some wonderful old buildings. He is trying to be retired but keeps getting lured back to interesting projects, good pay and appreciation of his skills. It is the best fun to be escorted around an interesting place like this with someone who is very involved with the community. We heard some great stories. His wife, Patty, has a shop full of nice things to buy in town. Tipper and Patty left us in charge while they visited Tipper's mom in DC, pretty dang trusting! We had a huge party and almost burned the place down, but I think it will pass inspection upon their return. 

Wild pony of Carrot Is.

 I've had a hankering to see some of the wild horses that inhabit many of the Outer Banks islands. I had no idea there were so many! Right across the channel from Beaufort is a little island named Carrot Is. It is also the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge and is the home of about 30 wild horses. I rode the water taxi across the channel where I could see 3 horses browsing along the shore. These hardy little horses seem to thrive on the coarse grass that grows in the tidelands, most of them are fat and healthy looking. They don't seem to have a distinctive background, someone just turned some horses loose here in the early 1900's. To keep them from overpopulating the island many of the mares are issued birth control on a yearly basis. Fresh water is not plentiful, and when there isn't much on the surface from rain, they have to paw out a hole and drink the brackish ground water. I followed the first 3 I spotted up and over the island to a large tidal grassland where I was able to sit and watch about 20 horses grazing and drinking from a big rain puddle. They didn't mind me much at all, just watched when I moved around taking pictures. I sat in the sun and read my book for a while and just enjoyed having all of this to myself. I only saw 2 other people later in the day. 

Naptime

Heading for the water hole

Raccoons and pony tracks

 We spent an afternoon at the very excellent NC Maritime Museum. Archeologists have been excavating Blackbeard's ship Queen Anne's Revenge since it was discovered in 1994 very near Beaufort. They had a great exhibit with a lot of information about pirates, their ships and their exciting lives. Most of them came to a very bad end, Blackbeard was killed by the British and his head hung from the bowsprit when they came into port. The display about the wreck, it's excavation, and the recovery of artifacts was very interesting. The museum also featured the forerunner of the Coast Guard, those heroic men of the US Life-saving Service. These fellows watched the dangerous shores of the east, even at night they patrolled the beaches, constantly on the alert for a ship run aground. When a ship struck the surfmen leaped into action with canon, lines, buckets, life boats and if the boat was lucky enough to be within about 400 yards of shore they had a shot at survival. It was all very interesting! Thayer got sucked into the library and I'm sure he would still be there if I didn't drag him out. We also really enjoyed the many sailing ship models they had, there has been a long line of working ships, all with features making them ideal for their purpose and beautiful as well. 

A short trip to Cape Lookout Visitor Center and the Core Sound Museum on a beautiful, sunny day allowed us a nice nature walk and a fine lookout over the inland waters of the Inter-coastal Waterway.  Fort Macon was right on the way so we stopped for a short visit, it is really a lovely place. All of the Atlantic forts are being to muddle together for me, there is a common theme among them all. Within the last 200 years they have all undergone the same transformations due to the changing weaponry they expected to be used against them. They are all located in prime locations for long views and lovely scenery. Someday maybe I'll count how many we have visited.

We then started our way 400 miles across the state to Andrew and Teresa Thompson's beautiful home near Hendersonville, NC. Andrew and I sailed on the UW Racing team many years ago and had many memories to rehash. It had been about 25 years since we'd seen each other so we were definitely due for a reunion. He lives in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.