Seeing as I am such a fan of Toms shoes, I was ecstatic to hear that our very own local surf shop Outer Banks Boarding Company would be teaming up with Toms Shoes for their annual “One Day Without Shoes” event, and host a barefoot walk down to the beach.
If you are not familiar with Toms Shoes, they are an incredible company which promises
that for every pair of their shoes you purchase, one pair is donated to a child in need. One for One. The concept was started when the founder of Toms visited Argentina and noticed the kids had no shoes to protect their feet from injuries and related diseases from the soil.
Personally I felt this was an amazing idea, and like all new ideas-they need an army of supporters to really make a difference. With that in mind I decided to promote the event through all of our social media outlets and within Seaside Vacations. We decided to encourage everyone in the office to participate and spend the day barefoot. We also wanted to get some people out to the event here locally and take the walk out to the beach. It turned out to be a great event with local OBX musician Esther Faith performing and a crowd of supporters ready for the chilly walk, it was a blast!
Soak up the sun because it is back! Temperatures at 52 degrees with a WSW wind at 8 mph. Heating back up to the 70′s tomorrow. Not much for surf in the area until this weekend. Tuna still biting. Hopefully will be fishing out of the surf soon.
Windy day here in the Outer Banks. Wind gusts from 20-35 mph throughout the day. Temperatures in the mid to upper 60′s but definitely feels a little chilly with the wind. Large blue fin tuna biting offshore, reports that they are too large to keep. Chest to shoulder high surf this afternoon fading to a stomach high later in the day. Ready for the warm weather we had yesterday to come back!
There has been a lot of discussion since the ban on plastic shopping bags here in the Outer Banks. Many local businesses are claiming it is necessary to have plastic bags and they encourage the use of recycling those bags to their customers. Others believe this is a necessary step in protecting the natural environment here in the OBX, extending to our ocean, wildlife and reduced pollution.
But what do you think? Students from the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort are conducting an online survey on how citizens feel about the plastic bag ban in coastal counties. The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce reports that the survey is part of a larger project researching environmental management.
Results of the survey will be published in a report, available on the Duke University website, but individual responses will not be published, the chamber said.
The bag ban went into effect in coastal areas of Dare, Currituck and Hyde counties in 2009 for larger retailers. It was expanded last year to include all retailers. This year a group of Republican lawmakers filed a bill to repeal the ban, claiming it has increased the use of paper bags which have their own effect on the environment, rather than encouraging the use of recyclable bags.
If you would like to give your opinion on the plastic bag ban, the survey can be found here.
Gear up for Easter because its right around the corner!
The town of Nags Head announces its annual Easter Egg Hunt, hosted by the Nags Head Police Department on Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. at the Nags Head Town Park located at 415 Health Center Drive.
Two separate Easter egg hunts will be held for children between the ages of 0-5 and 6-10 years old. In addition, police, fire, and rescue personnel and equipment will be on scene to answer questions and perform child safety seat inspections. McGruff the Crime Dog will also make a special appearance.
Children are asked to bring their own Easter egg basket.
The Nags Head Town Park is located at 415 Health Center Drive. Turn onto Barnes Street and proceed one quarter of a mile. The park is on the left.
The Virginia Pilot recently reported the U.S Coast Guard’s intention to close the Oregon inlet channel connecting the Outer Banks Sound to the Atlantic Ocean. With water depths dropping to substantially low levels of 9 feet from the typical range of 30 to 40 feet, Coast Guard officials are worried about the safety of current conditions and the alternate routes some boaters are taking.
Mother Nature is filling the inlet with sand faster than the Army Corps of Engineers can clear in its daily dredging of the inlet. An effort was made two years ago with over $12 million in stimulus dollars appointed to dredge the inlet but was later destroyed by a storm.
With federal funding at only $1 million compared to the usual $4 million, a projected $10 million as an estimate to complete the job fully, and nature’s inclination to draw sand into Oregon Inlet, officials and taxpayers are less than eager to throw more money at the problem.
A long-term, lasting solution is clearly needed. But, in the meantime, shaving a few million dollars from the dredging work is likely to do more damage to the local OBX economy than it is to help ease the federal deficit.
According to a 2006 study by Dare County, the boating and fishing industries generate more than $682 million a year in revenues and support close to 10,000 jobs.
Given the economic detriment of allowing the inlet to close, Outer Banks residents and vacationers hope Congress and the Obama Administration fund the project until a more permanent fix is found.
We sent one of our roving reporters to Oregon Inlet the other day, and the below video helps demonstrate the issue. If you are familiar with Oregon Inlet, you will recognize the familiar scene of a fishing boat heading home from a trip to the Atlantic and approaching the Bonner Bridge. But rather than the usual straight shot through the channel, the pictures demonstrate that due to the sand filling in and the lack of consistent dredging recently, boats are now required to make an awkward approach to the bridge where they must turn south before swinging north close to the bride and hugging the bridge before turning west at the last minute to make their way under the bridge. This is a relatively complex approach that is adding danger to a usual easy cruise through the Inlet.
Update: WRAL reports that Governor Bev Purdue will order the Coast Guard to close Oregon Inlet declaring it impassable for large fishing vessels.
Update 4/18:WRAL reports that a larger dredge is moving into the area to make sure Oregon Inlet remains open to commercial fishing vessels.
Update 4/20: The Virginia Pilot is reporting that unless a new funding source is confirmed, the dredging at Oregon Inlet will stop in early June. “The $4 million budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel this fiscal year will be exhausted within the first week of June…When that money is gone, there is no plan to maintain the waterway for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.”
Hopefully Federal and/or State funding is secured before early June.
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, April 1, 2011.
This video was shot at the Sutton Ave. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 9:00 AM.
Happy April! It feels good to flip the calendar. Another month closer to warm weather. March was tough on the Outer Banks. A few nice days, but on the whole, it came in like a lion and left like a lion….a lot of wind, rain, and chilly weather. But April is off to a great start.
A bit overcast to start the day, but the sun is fighting it’s way out, and the temps are warming up. We’ll have sun by the afternoon, and temps in the upper 50′s today. The sun will stick with us for the next few days, and temps will increase to the 60′s over the weekend and 70 degrees to start next week.
We have a northwest wind at about 10 mph this morning, and it’s doing a pretty good job of cleaning up the swell we have left over from yesterday. Decent day for surf as the sun comes out. A good longboard wave in the water. About stomach to chest to start, but it will be fading through the day.
OBX fishing is going strong. Getting good reports of tuna offshore; blue fin and yellow fin tuna. And some good reports of puppy drum catches out of the sound. The water temp is about 50 degrees in the ocean and the Sound, and as it continues to rise, the fishing action will continue to improve. We should have some catches out of the surf any day now.
