The Muggies

It is that time of year when it becomes challenging to tout our weather here on the Crystal Coast.  It is usually pretty warm, humid or just plain muggy.  There are a number of reasons that this is one of my least favorite times of the year. They might surprise you.

1. It is hard to get really nice colors in your pictures and I spend an inordinate amount of time keeping my camera lens from fogging up.
2. The water in our river, the White Oak, is almost too warm for fishing.
3. We are sometimes without any breeze.  Having spent years in Nova Scotia, I am actually quiet fond of a decent breeze.
4. It often looks like it is going to rain but it rarely does.
5. We are between early and late crops of tomatoes.
6. Our tourists seem to worry that summer is disappearing and get a little more frantic.
7. We often get tropical downpours even if the hurricanes miss us.
8. It is the least comfortable time of year to mow my yard.
9. Our centipede grass is starting a quick downhill slide and I have to start fighting weeds.
10. Until the kids go back to school, this is the worst time to find a parking place at the beach.

I could go but you get the idea. Obviously there is not really anything very significant to complain about in my list but it does mean that I have to work harder to see the bright side of things.

I am a very visual person and what I see early in the morning often sets the tone for my day. When I go for my morning walk, I love to find a great photo or two.  Getting a great shot of a bird or the water can add just enough excitement to get me pumped up for the day.   I find late July and most of August the most difficult months for great pictures.  Even the sun when it sets often slides down behind a persistent cloud bank.

Our coastal weather can be puzzling but it can keep you on your toes except when the muggies are here and our weather gets in a late summer rut.  It is still possible to have some magic days on the water.  However, they just seem to be a little harder to find as we get into August.

When we had a house in the mountains, we would often retreat there until September slipped into view. While the mountains in the South often have the same problem, sometimes a change of scenery and some cooler mornings can work wonders.   September can sometimes have a bad case of the muggies, but you know that better weather, the fall season, is on the way.

Many of us who live here along the coast of the Southern Outer Banks rate fall as our favorite season.  The fishing is often great and the beach becomes a little less crowded.  As fall arrives I tend to get some great sunset photos.  This album of photos taken early one October is a great example of the dazzling light that we get in the fall.

If you have children who go back to school in the fall, coming to the beach is pretty difficult, but everyone else should at least consider visiting the coast in September or October.  October especially can be a spectacular month with slightly cooler air and still warm waters.

If you need some specific advice on a beach visit, you can now order a paper copy of my Emerald Isle Travel Guide.   It will also be available on Amazon in a few days and we just have reduced the cost of the updated 2013 digital version to $3.99.

Andrea, The First Storm Of The Season

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

It is that time of year for those of us who live on the North Carolina coast.  The first storm with tropical characteristics is headed up the coast.

When you live just up the river from Swansboro, North Carolina, it is impossible to ignore coastal storms.  Yet in the almost seven years that we have lived just  a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, we have managed just one serious storm, Irene, and a brush with Sandy.

As most coastal residents will tell you, beyond the line of homes that are oceanfront or right on the sounds, the areas which get the most damage are often far inland.  Once you get fifty miles inland, rivers do not have the size to handle the torrential downpours that often result from tropical storms.

We live three miles up the White Oak River and the river is between one and two miles wide depending on where you measure it.  It is also a tidal river.   When our tides go out, we lose a couple of feet of water.  If a hurricane is going to hit us and cause flooding like Irene did, it has to hang around for a while.

The worst flooding that we have endured here on the Crystal Coast came from a freak rainstorm in September 2010.  If you compare these pictures with ones from Hurricane Irene, it is a little hard to tell, but I can guarantee you the rainstorm flooding was worse.  Of course there are not many rainstorms that deliver 20.25 inches of rain in less than eight hours.

Fortunately when our nearly two foot tide went out, our flooding from the rainstorm disappeared. If a hurricane surge hits at high tide, it can cause more problems but hurricane flooding is very complex once you get into the coastal rivers.  Wind direction and the angle of the river in relation to the storm's track become very important.

Sometimes a storm surge goes right by an inlet because of the direction of the wind.  Those of us living in newer homes take some consolation from the fact that our houses are built above the level of one hundred year floods, but you still know that the possibility of flooding is always there.

On the flip side of tropical storms is the beneficial moisture that they often provide.  Our area was extremely dry during the month of May.  We received only one third of an inch rain in the whole month.  While the sunny skies were great for vacationers, they were a problem for those growing crops.  Fortunately we got eight tenths of an inch  of rain this first week of June.

That rain probably saved the area's corn crop, and if we get a nice dose of rain from this tropical system it will help us make it through June and into July.  Our sandy soils need about an inch of rain a week to keep our plants growing.  In that respect, we will welcome Andrea.

In July of 2011 it was so dry in Eastern North Carolina that we had some swamps which caught fire.  Given the choice of a scenario of swamps burning or rains from a tropical system, I will pick the tropical system.

Of course that choice is highly location dependent.  A few inches of rain are not a big problem with our sandy soils and river drains that are a couple of miles wide.  Tropical moisture has caused massive flooding in the mountain valleys near Roanoke, Virginia area where we used to live.  Mountains concentrate rain into narrow rivers which break from their banks when they run out of room.  Sometimes the flooding in narrow valleys can turn into deadly flash floods.

We will not take Andrea lightly since we have just returned from trip that took us from Ocracoke Island to Nags Head.  There are still some signs on the Outer Banks of the damage to Route 12 from last fall's brush with Hurricane Sandy. 

Whether Andrea ends up being welcome or unwelcome all depends on where you live.  We are hoping our spot on the Southern Outer Banks remains a good one to weather the storms which are a normal part of summer at the beach.

Waiting for Summer

Raymond's Gut, just off the White Oak River three miles up river from Swansboro, North Carolina

Even along the North Carolina coast which traditionally has great weather, it seems that we are always waiting for the next season.

Spring has been a little cooler than normal this year, but we are making great progress towards a greener landscape.  The early flowers are gone, the tomatoes are blooming, and some yards including ours have been mowed.

Of course spring presents it own challenges such as winds and frequent showers but we have to be careful to not complain.  A few years ago those spring showers were absent and the summer thunderstorms never came.  We had a very dry year. We had blue skies every day from months. While I love blue skies, our sandy soil needs rain so I am pretty happy to see the spring showers come this year.  Watering everything just to keep it alive is not much fun.

This year we are stuck without extremes.  The winds have not been particularly bad this year, but the combination of slightly cooler temperatures, more showers, and enough wind to keep things interesting have conspired to keep me off the water except for a few times.

That we are having to wait until May to really get going with our boating and fishing is not that unusual and waiting until after the middle of April is about normal, but as the month moves along most of us will start to get impatient.

I renewed my fishing license last month and have listened with interest as a few fish are being caught over on the beach.  Still I know it is a little early for action in the marshes along the river where I like to fish the most.

All I need is an early morning high tide, some blue skies and warm temperatures and I might go chase some of those early bluefish with my skiff while I wait for the kayak fishing to improve.

If you are interested in visiting the Crystal Coast area and the beaches and waters of Emerald Isle, our 2013 Emerald Isle Travel Guide has been released.  We are doing free downloads on May 1 & 2 so it is a great time to take a virtual trip to the beach.  The Kindle book can be read on just about any device.  For more information on the download and the software for your device, please visit the free books page on my main website.

Winter on the Marsh

The marsh along Raymond's Gut has settled into its winter pattern.  We have days when the promise of warmth is fulfilled followed by a day or two of what passes for winter here along the Carolina coast.  As I write this it is early February and on a recent trip to Wilmington, we saw a few trees blooming.  We've had daffodils blooming in our neighborhood for two or three weeks.

Our winters are a far cry from those areas to the north of us. Still once you get used to this climate, our winter weather feels as cold to us as a nasty day in Maine.

Frank, the great egret winter visitor from Canada

The one constant here when the weather has turned cold or nasty is that the big shore birds find that our little inlet offers some protection from biting winds and cooler temperatures.  On really bad days we see a steady stream of birds jockey for the prime spots.

You do not live along a marsh for very long before you figure out that great blue herons are among the most feared of the birds.  It is rare that another big bird get close to a great blue. Even a pelican will not challenge them. Great blues have a nasty enough disposition that they have a hard time getting along with themselves.

Still a marsh stands still for no creature not even territorial great blues.  Most days the prime spots change hands several times.  Sometimes one of the river otters will even intrude to shake things up.  An oblivious cormorant or a well-focused loon will swim through the marsh inhabitants without causing much of a ruckus.  However, the cormorants spook easily and will do panic take-offs when they feel threatened.

In spite of all these interactions between the inhabitants, most of the visitors and regular residents are focused on one thing, eating fish.  The otters do not even mind if you watch them enjoying their fish Popsicles.  Some of the marsh inhabitants can get a little carried away like this kingfisher tenderizing his fish.  Beyond those events things don't change perceptibly in the marsh from one winter day to the next.

The storms come and go along with the tides. We have windy days and days when the sun makes you mindful that you are living in North Carolina and perhaps we should bottle some of this cool air to use in the few weeks of August when we really feel the heat.

One thing that has been different this winter is that an identifiable visitor has chosen to hang around our neighborhood.  Back in late December on a return trip from kayaking out on the White Oak River I noticed a great egret with red spots on his wings.  It was almost dark and he was a long way off.  I soon figured out a few days later that he was wearing tags.

As he became a more regular visitor, we got curious and finally learnned that he is a Canadian bird.  Along the way he has picked up the name of Frank.  You can read his full story at this post of mine, There Are Lots of Egrets, But There Is Only One Frank.  Frank has gotten popular and now has a Facebook page.  His popularity puffed him up so much that he got a Twitter account and did his first Tweet recently.  Frank likes to hear from his fans so send him a note on Twitter @frank29x.139

Icy Morning on the Gut

There are some years when when ice comes to our spot on the Crystal Coast earlier than others.  The year 2012, is not one of them.  We have enjoyed some great weather in December.  I even spent the morning of Christmas Day out in the White Oak River in my kayak.

The icy picture in the post was taken the morning of the last day of 2012.  It finally got cold enough to create some ice on Raymond's Gut.  The gut flows behind our home and heads out to the White Oak River.  We are subject to tides so you never know exactly what is going to happen with ice, but this time the ice disappeared by the middle of the afternoon.

The only reason that I got to see the ice is that I usually take an early morning walk of a couple of miles around the marsh that is near our home.  My first stop after I leave the house is the dock behind our home.  It takes me about five minutes to walk from there over to the boardwalk around our clubhouse.  There the sun is usually just getting to the tops of the big pine trees when I walk onto the boardwalk.  I snapped the picture at the top of the post just before I left the boardwalk.

It was December 31, when I was greeted by some ice in the gut and an otter enjoying an icy morning swim.   There was a pair of them and one even swam over to check me out.  It not unusual  to come upon wildlife on my morning walk.  We live in a natural paradise populated by egrets, herons, kingfishers, ducks, and other birds.  We also apparently have a good supply of fish that they enjoy eating.  At least that I what I assume since they keep coming back.

The icy morning I finished my hour and one half walk by checking out the water by our dock once again.  I found one of the otters looking for fish not far from the dock.  I only watched a couple of minutes before he caught one.  Luckily I had my video camera with me so I took a video of the otter enjoying his very fresh morning breakfast of fish.  The fish-eating otter video is now posted on YouTube.

People often ask me if I get tired of walking in the same area.  I do try to get over and hike the beaches when the weather isn't so cold, but I rarely am disappointed with my walk around the marshes.  While the cast of characters is often the same, I usually find them in a new spot or doing something different.

The numerous great blue herons that visit are my favorites.   It takes some patience and care to sneak up on a great blue and actually take a few photos.  It is a challenge that I enjoy.

I figure that my passion for taking pictures of wildlife is a great hobby.  It gets me outside, but it is a lot easier than owning a dog.  I also get to take pictures from our skiff and my kayak.  I have gotten some fantastic pictures from the kayak.  For some reason it is easier to sneak up on the big birds in the kayak than it is on foot.

You can enjoy many of the photos that I have taken in the area this fall at this photo album.  If the photos make you want to come for a visit, you can find more information at this page.

Before the Blow

We're lucky to be living tucked in by the water not far from the beaches of Emerald Isle, North Carolina.  Being protected just off a big river without pine trees close around your home is a pretty good recipe for staying out of trouble in the winds and storms of the Crystal Coast.  It is also very convenient when you want to enjoy the area's waters.

Our home is on Raymond's Gut a little more than half a mile from the center of the White Oak River.  The White Oak depending on how you measure its width is close to two miles across where we live.

Swansboro and the Intracoastal Waterway even with some zigging and zagging around oyster rocks are only about three miles down river.  The beach over by the Point at Emerald Isle is about six miles away as a pelican flies. 

A trip down the river in our skiff takes only six or seven minutes once you have idled out our inlet.  The total ride is about ten minutes and another ten minutes will put you well out Bogue Inlet and almost in the Atlantic Ocean.  We live in a place where the water provides easy access to many neat areas including Hammocks Beach, the Point, and Bogue Inlet.  These pictures of a ride down to the marshes south of Swansboro provide an idea of the beauty of the area.

It does not take many years of living near the beach to learn to appreciate a few miles of separation from the Atlantic Ocean.  Usually the wind blows a lot harder over by the beaches.  The cold seems to penetrate a little more by the ocean, and in the spring it seems to take a little longer to warm up the ocean compared to the river.  The beach is a little cooler in the summer, but I have heat pumps for that if I can't find some water to cool my body.

I truly enjoy going to the beach, but I don't mind the short commute from our home.  It comes with a lot of advantages.  One of those is protection from most storms.  As we are sliding toward the holiday season, the weather is definitely changing.  We are seeing more frequent storms and being a little farther away from the incubator of the storms is definitely an advantage.

In the last three weeks, we have witnessed Hurricane Sandy and two Northeasters.  When the storms are coming that regularly, any protection from the power of the Atlantic Ocean is welcome.  Of course as we have all learned, no place is immune from the power of Mother Nature.

Timing and location are often very important.  We have been lucky to to be witnesses to the formation of the Northeasters instead of seeing them at their peak power.  We also ended up on the less powerful end of Sandy.  My wife and I were traveling in Canada when Sandy started up the coast.

As soon as we realized the magnitude of Sandy, we turned and headed down the coast.  It seemed like we were seeing the stormy weather of Sandy from over a thousand miles away.  Yet being those six miles inland often provides a more protected life on the coast even with a huge storm like Sandy.

Barrier islands and marshes are the keys to protecting homes from storms.  We're really lucky to have Emerald Isle and its well-treed hills standing tall between our location and the power of the Atlantic Ocean.

As the wind and rain was slamming against our home on this Sunday before Thanksgiving 2012, it was easy to imagine just how much stronger the winds might be over on the shore.  I would love to open my door and go down to the beach to fish.  However, that pleasure comes with a bit more challenging weather than we have inland.

We often can tell when the weather is going to be bad.  The pelicans and herons will often abandon their more coastal haunts and come ride the storms out in our inlet.  They seem to enjoy the protection of our trees and marshes that keep much of the wind away from their perches.

I've written before about one spot where the Herons go to hide.  I'm very fortunate to be able to see that place from our upper deck and our dock.  One of the especially protected corners of the aviary requires a walk over to the community boardwalk, but I have seen several herons in there at one time.  When there is more than one heron in there, you know the weather is going to be bad because herons are not noted for being social.

Sunday morning before our latest Nor'easter, we had a pelican swimming behind the house and two great blue herons jostling with a younger great blue heron for a prized perch in the rookery.   I knew with all those big birds wandering around our cove that we would likely get a dose of nasty weather.

The rain and winds came early Sunday afternoon, but we just turned on the gas fire place logs and had a peaceful nap while the weather raged outside.  The knowledge that we were just far enough away to miss the worst of the storm made our nap just that much more peaceful.

Life by the River

Living on a coastal river is a very different experience than living on a river in other places.  One thing is that coastal river are often very wide.  The river near where we live is close to two miles wide.

While rain often causes flooding along rivers that are in the hill country or the mountains, if you live on a coastal river that is close to the ocean, the tide can often take care of a lot of problems.

In the summer of 2010 I wrote a piece called How to Enjoy a Coastal River.  Now that I look back at it, I was only beginning to understand the White Oak River when I wrote that post.

It is no joke to say that a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the summer of 2010.  In September of 2010, we had a freak rain storm in Bluewater Cove, the subdivision where we live.  We got over twenty inches of rain in less than twenty-four hours.

I have seen the Roanoke River where we lived in the mountains have serious flooding with less than half that amount of rain.  Fortunately for us the day we got the twenty-plus inches of rain on the coast, it came just as the tide was reaching its peak.  As soon as the tide turned, the high water at my dock started dropping even as the rain continued.

That the tide could take away all that water left a lasting impression on me.  Still the river had other lessons to teach.  In August of 2011, Hurricane Irene came for a visit.

Irene was an impressive storm, but our area came through in good shape.  Our power was out less than four hours.  The day after Irene came through the area, we went over to Emerald Isle and enjoyed ice cream cones.  I am certainly not belittling the power of hurricanes in saying we managed to survive in "good shape."   Another day things could have been different.

However, hurricanes are not strangers to the area.  People try not to have too many trees close to their homes here.   People in areas that are flood prone have foundations that let waters move through them.  Fortunately our beaches and marshes have not been over developed.  There is plenty of vegetation on Emerald Isle compared to many other coastal areas.

Our geography also helps us a little.  Just a little north and east of us, the Neuse River is much more subject to flooding because there is no land mass to slow the water of Pamlico Sound from blowing into the Neuse when conditions area right.

Even with these advantages life on the river has still been full of surprises.  On May 30, 2012 a very rare event happened.  We were brushed by a tornado.   Before May 30, I had heard that tornadoes normally dissipate as they approach the ocean waters.  It turns our that while it is very rare, we can have tornadoes just like the rare tornado that visited our friends in the mountains by Pulaski, Virginia.  Fortunately both in Pulaski and here in Peletier no one died from the tornadoes.  Our tornado lasted less than a minute.

The lessons of the last few years have taught me to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.  No matter where we live, we all live close to very powerful forces of nature.  Those forces are closer than we care to admit.  We just have to realize that we cannot control mother nature.

In spite of getting a close hand look at the power of nature, I would not trade where we live for any of the many places that we have lived or even the ones that we have visited.  There is incredible scenic beauty here on the coast.  While there are times to be very respectful of the forces that surround us, there are other times when it almost seems that nature opens its arms for us.

The third week in April of 2012 I anchored my kayak in the middle of our river.  Sitting there are the oyster rocks, it was hard to think of a more peaceful place.  Especially one that can so easily renew your appreciation of the world where we live.

It often seems like our world along the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina is one which has no walls.  There are times that the water, the horizon and the sky seem to merge in a world of blue.

Because our water is so accessible, it is a big part of our life.  The morning of June 25, 2012 on my boat ride down river I saw hardly any ripples.   The same river nine hours later is a mass of white caps and foam.  The morning river ride was a wonderful pleasure.  Yet even I wouldn't challenge the river and its impressive whitecaps later in the day.

Respecting the weather and the water comes naturally when you have seen the awesome power that mother nature can unleash.  That the calm water pictured in the post can have whitecaps on it in the same day is just one of the wonders of being alive.