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Joe Schwarzer is named director of state’s maritime museums

Joseph K. Schwarzer, who has been executive director of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village for 12 years, has been appointed director of all three of North Carolina’s maritime museums. Schwarzer will supervise the museums in Beaufort and Southport, as well as the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.   ....Read more

Much more than offshore drilling could be in the future for coastal waters

Even as politicians stake out positions on opening offshore sites to oil and gas drilling, other ventures could be in the cards for the waters off the U.S. coastline, including offshore aquaculture and wind energy projects. North Carolina’s Ocean Policy Steering Committee is developing a policy report with recommendations on emerging ocean issues.   ....Read more


NOAA expedition surveying German subs sunk off the coast in World War II

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is leading a research expedition this month to study the wrecks of three German submarines sunk by U.S. forces in 1942 off the coast of  North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic.  ....Read more

Baby sperm whale stranded on Avon Beach

Early on Monday afternoon, June 30, the National Park Service received calls about a baby sperm whale in distress off Hatteras Island at Rodanthe.  A few hours later, around 4 in the afternoon, the 14 foot, 6 inch calf beached itself in Avon, right beside the pier.    ....Read more

New island skate park is a labor of love and faith – and a big hit with young folks…WITH SLIDE SHOW

Three 1 Six, known to many island skaters simply as “the skate park,” is the only indoor skate park on the island, and it has attracted the attention of skaters young and old, novice and experts alike. For many island youth it has become their mainstay “hang out” throughout the year. This is its story.    ....Read more

‘Scotty’ the sea turtle goes home
Sunday evening, June 22, was a big night for “Scotty,” a large female loggerhead turtle who, after months of rehabilitation, was finally going home.   ....Read more

Hatteras Cancer Foundation is expanding its role with more support and information

Hatteras Cancer Foundation is expanding its role with more support and information
The Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation, now almost eight years old, is expanding from offering just financial support into providing support groups and helping patients find information.   ....Read more


A reminder that all fireworks are illegal on the islands and seashore beaches

If you brought fireworks to Hatteras or Ocracoke this year, don’t even think about using them. All fireworks are now illegal on both islands.  That includes everything – even such devices as sparklers and smoke bombs.   ....Read more

The bigger and better Hatteras Library is now open ....UPDATED

The Hatteras Library re-opened in its new quarters on Thursday, May 29, in its completely renovated and expanded space, located in the Community Building in Hatteras village.  ....Read more

Mainland wildfire continues to grow and plague the Outer Banks

The Evans Road wildfire grew to 40,195 acres or about 63 square miles on Tuesday, June 10.  The blaze covers portions of Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington counties in Eastern North Carolina and is presently the largest active wildfire in the United States, according to the inter-agency incident team assigned to the area. Thick smoke and ash from the fire have been blown toward the Outer Banks – and Hatteras and Ocracoke – all week.  ....Read more

41 seniors receive diplomas at CHSSCS graduation

The Cape Hatteras Secondary School of Coastal Studies awarded diplomas to 41 seniors at its graduation ceremonies on Saturday evening, June 7.  ....Read more

Ocrafolk Festival 2008 – sweltering but still spirited …WITH SLIDE SHOW

In spite of sweltering heat, the Ocrafolk Festival, which was June 6 through 8, was a weekend of great music and fun. Gary Mitchell, who started the music festival nine years ago, is happy with the way the festival has grown, yet has stayed small enough to fit Ocracoke’s small-town island style.   ....Read more

‘Nights in Rodanthe’ will be in a theater near you on Oct. 3

“Nights in Rodanthe,” the film based on the best-selling Nicholas Sparks novel and starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, is scheduled to be released on Oct. 3, according to Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie was filmed in North Carolina, much of it on Hatteras Island. The article on the release of the film is followed by a reprise of the editor’s story of “Stalking Richard Gere.”    ....Read more

Another Deadline gets away in effort to replace Bonner Bridge

Another planning deadline has been missed in the replacement project for the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, but bridge officials say the project is still on schedule. By Catherine Kozak in The Virginian-Pilot.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/another-deadline-gets-away-replacement-ncs-bonner-bridge

Cape Hatteras beach makes Top Ten list

Buxton Beach at Cape Hatteras has been named the No. 8 beach on Dr. Beach’s Top Ten list for 2008.
 ....Read more





Kinnakeet vacations


Mark Augustson is a Hatteras Island native who now lives in Cary, N.C.  His family includes Grays from Avon, and he often returns there to vacation.  He says he misses the island and has shared some of his favorite photos with us.



Winter on Ocracoke

Ben Spain of Tarboro, N.C., a regular visitor to Hatteras and Ocracoke islands for many years, took these photographs on a weekend trip to Ocracoke in February.



Deer Go To School

Cape Hatteras Elementary School first-grade teacher Trish Dempsey took these photographs of  a doe and her fawn just outside her classroom window on Feb. 25.   "It was so cool," observed Dempsey, "they stayed around for a few minutes, giving students time to check them out!  How neat is this?"



Salvo Sunset

Jenny Hooper of Salvo sent us these photos of a January sunset at the National Park Service's Salvo Day Use Area.




A little piece of Heaven

Paul and Shirley Kelly of New Milford, Pa., have owned a unit at Hatteras Cabanas for 24 years.  Shirley says they have trouble thinking of another place that they want to vacation.  They already thought they had found their “little piece of heaven” when they came for a visit in late October.

“This beautiful rainbow happened on a gloomy week for us in Hatteras,” Shirley says, “but it reminded us how, even in the dreariness, we seem to always find something glorious to make our time there memorable.  

The photo were taken on Oct. 26 from the upper deck of Cabana 16.

The cabanas were totally destroyed in Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

“It is wonderful just to be back and part of our beautiful community again,” Shirley says.






A bagpiper on the beach

Only on Hatteras would you be riding your bicycle through the village on the day before Thanksgiving and hear a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace” coming from the other side of the dunes, but that is what happened to Buddy and Anne Swain.

“Knowing that to be a bit unusual,” Buddy says, “we parked the bikes and did a little investigating.  As we crested the dunes, there, silhouetted by the sun, was the guy you see below playing his heart out.  Of course, I raced home, got my trusty camera, returned and clicked away.”

We’re sorry we don’t know the name of the bagpiper, but if you do, please let us send it along.

Fire in the Sky

Many of us believe that only on Hatteras and Ocracoke can you view winter's most spectacular sunsets.  These photos of the sun setting on the Pamlico Sound were taken by Lynne Murray of Frisco from her home in Brigand's Bay.  And they do, indeed, look like there is a fire on the horizon.
 

Taking a marlin for a walk

Only on Hatteras can you see a blue marlin being taken for a walk.  As renovation work progressed on the Hatteras Village Community building, the world record blue marlin had to be moved from the glass display case in the front of the building to safer quarters.  The marlin will reside at the Hatteras Marlin Club until the work is complete.  After a beauty treatment, the marlin will return to a refurbished showcase in the front of the building for all to admire. The original plan was for the men pictured to load the marlin in a truck for the trip to its temporary home.  However, the day was nice and the Marlin Club is only a short distance, so they decided to take the giant fish for a walk.

Fall on Ocracoke
 
Only on Hatteras and Ocracoke are the colors in the late afternoon sky so lovely.  These photos were taken on Ocracoke by Jo Anna Chrismon of Clayton, N.C., on Sept. 27 of last year. "Ocracoke is my piece of heaven, and I try to pay an annual homage trip there," Jo Anna says.