A fun holiday tradition on the Outer Banks; the Holiday Boat Parade in Colington Harbor.
Colington Harbor is a small community on the west side of Kill Devil Hills. The video starts with a still photo of an aerial of Colington pointing out Colington Harbor (also below).
The parade took place over the weekend and lasted about an hour. Boats with lights, and passengers dressed up in the Christmas spirit…even a Santa throwing candy to kids.
The Surfing Blog (“A place where all surfers – whether beginner or advanced – can learn from each others’ experiences.”) recently compilied a list of the Top 10 places to learn to surf, and the OBX ranked as # 2.
The Outer Banks is a well-known surf destination with some of the best waves on the East Coast. OBX can be as good as almost anywhere when the conditions line up and it’s on, but for the most part, it’s a perfect spot to learn with wide open beaches and plenty of spots to carve out some solo waves.
The summer is one of the best times for beginners to learn, but the surf is great all year.
Host: Red Wolf Coalition
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Time: 4:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Creef Cut Wildlife Trail, Alligator River NWR
Join Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge staff on a Howling Safari for an unforgettable evening!
Learn about endangered red wolves, found only in the wilds of northeastern North Carolina, and get the chance of a lifetime to hear their harmonious howls.
This is a free program, but registration is required. To register and to learn more about the howling program, please visit: http://redwolves.com/howling_regis
The 106th Anniversary of First Flight – December 17, 2009
Program Schedule:
The First Flight Society’s annual Anniversary Luncheon will be held at 12:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk. You may register for the luncheon by sending an email to the First Flight Society at dec17@firstflight.org or by calling the First Flight Society office at 252-441-1903.
The Outer Banks Sentinel announced that T.J. Maxx is heading for the OBX.
Here’s an excerpt from the article: “National retailer TJ Maxx has applied for and received permits needed to remodel 26,000 square feet of the building that until recently housed the Food Lion store next to Staples in Nags Head.
Nags Head Building Inspector Ronnie Ballance said that the contractor who is to do the work said that they expect the construction to be finished in approximately five months.
Food Lion holds the lease on the building and the contract does not expire for 18 months, however, the grocery chain is expected to agree to terminate so that TJ Maxx can move forward with its plans.”
Every year people travel to foreign countries to hunt for trophy fish such as marlin. Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama are just a few popular countries that are traveled to frequently for big-game fishing, but amazing fishing is much closer to home.
Recently, Marlin Magazine put together a top ten list of the best sport fishing destination in the US. The Outer Banks received the number one slot.
Here is the excerpt that was written about the Outer Banks in the magazine…..
1. Hatteras and the Outer Banks:
From the local boat builders who revolutionized the look of sport-fishing boats to the many bait-and-tackle innovations spawned along this idyllic stretch of water, you simply cannot overlook the influence of North Carolina on the sport of big-game fishing. The first Atlantic blue marlin caught in the United States was landed off Hatteras in 1938, and this area continues to make headlines every year. In 2008, Trey Irvine landed a new state-record 1,228.5-pound blue marlin to win the Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament.
Fishing is a way of life in this part of the country, and visitors can choose from a long list of great charter boats to run out in search of billfish. The first blues of the year typically show up around May, and the bite lasts throughout the summer. White marlin also flock to this area, and when they start snapping, crews can catch upward of 20 fish in a day. The sailfish bite picked up tremendously the past couple of seasons, and the tuna, dolphin and Wahoo round out a typical day plying the Gulf Stream waters or the deepwater canyons. Some of the sport’s largest and most festive billfish tournaments call this region home for good reason. For those looking to book a charter, you’ll find 29 offshore boats running out of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center (www.oregon-inlet.com; 800-272-5199). You’ll also find charters available at Oden’s Dock (www.odensdock.com; 888-544-8115), Hatteras Landing Marina (www.hatteraslanding.com; 800-551-8478) and Pirate’s Cove Marina (www.fishpiratescove.com; 800-367-4728). For more local info, visit www.hatterasmarlinclub.com.
Plan your Outer Banks fishing excursion today. Plenty of vacation homes available.
Know Your Park: Dolphins Along the Outer Banks - Presentations to be held at Rodanthe and Ocracoke
The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science program series continues this week with presentations from Jessica Weiss from the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research.
There are two presentations scheduled; 7 p.m. Friday, December 11 at the Ocracoke Community Center and 7 p.m. Saturday, December 12 at the Rodanthe Community Building. Each program is free and will last approximately 1 hour.
Weiss will speak about the importance of dolphins to the Outer Banks environment and the significance of the Outer Banks dolphins to the development of conservation strategies along the U.S. Atlantic coast.
A marine mammal researcher, Weiss has over 9 years of experience in the field of marine mammal monitoring and behavioral ecology. She is a co-founder of the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of bottlenose dolphins in the Outer Banks.
As the Scientific Advisor, she leads a long-term monitoring study of bottlenose dolphins in the northern Outer Banks.
The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural world and cultural heritage of their neighboring National Park sites; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. “These presentations offer park visitors as well as local residents an opportunity to learn more about, and better enjoy, the coastal environment and their National Parks” stated Mike Murray, Superintendent, Outer Banks Group.
One other Know Your Park program is currently scheduled for this season.
Joseph Hoyt from the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary will speak about recent maritime archaeology work off the Outer Banks coast including an exploration of the HMT Bedfordshire and other World War I and II vessels on January 20, 7 p.m., at the Fessenden Center in Buxton, NC.
The 2009 WRV Battle of the Banks was slow to develop with contest days being canceled due to overwash on the route South and poor wave conditions on the Outer Banks for most of October (with the exception of the overwash day where waves did go off, but road conditions made it difficult for VA and OB teams to reach the contest location on time…see the clip below of the action). However, the elements aligned on Thanksgiving, and the teams from Virginia Beach and the OBX took time away from their turkeys to get in the water.
The conditions weren’t quite as heavy as last year’s thundering barrels, but there were plenty of chest to head high waves rolling in. It was a heated contest, and the results came down to the final round when Virginia Beach pulled away to hold onto the coveted title…and the bragging rights
TransWorldSurf.com has a great video that highlights all of the action, and EasternSurf.com did a great job recapping the contest.
Overall Results
1. Team Virginia, 1241.1 points
2. Team Outer Banks, 1233.5 points
INDIVIDUAL FINAL
1. Noah Snyder (OBNC), $500
2. Lucas Rogers (VB)
3. Drew Meredith (OBNC)
4. Brad Harrell (VB)
5. Ian Parnell (VB)
6. Jeff Myers (OBNC)
HURLEY “BEST BARREL” AWARD
Noah Snyder, $1000
Join Children At Play
An OBX Children’s Museum
At
The Outer Banks Brewing Station
December 16, 2009 – 5:00 pm
All profits go to Children at Play
The thunder of a cannon sounded across Teach’s Hole on Ocracoke Island as a crowd dressed in pirate garb gathered to celebrate a solemn anniversary, the death of Blackbeard the Pirate.
The second Annual Blackbeard Pirate Memorial was held on Nov 22nd. Re-enactors were there to act out the story of the ruthless pirate. The event is held on the same date of Blackbeard’s death, which happened almost 300 years ago.
There were about 15 pirates at this year’s event, all dressed in authentic pirate attire, including cutlasses and flintlock pistols. They stayed, appropriately enough, at Blackbeard’s Lodge on Ocracoke’s Back Road, where on Saturday night they watched the Disney movie “Blackbeard’s Ghost.” There is also a replica ship, which took some 10,000 hours to build.
