As you can see from this picture taken near Salter Path on Friday, the waves got pretty whipped up.
About three am on this Saturday morning, May 10, the heavens opened up and seemed to be on fire. Thunder seemed to be right on top of us.
There was lightening coming from every direction. We got nearly an inch of rain in a few minutes.
Then as the morning dawned, the heat and humidity arrived, and the wind disappeared. I think we saw 84 degrees over here on the shore
I spent a relaxing 2.5 hours out on the White Oak. It was exceptionally pleasant. I only saw one boat.
I didn't catch anything but sunshine and a great view of a couple of ospreys dive bombing fish.
The winds were not exactly calm. I had to tie a new plastic grub on my line. When I finished and looked up, I was well on my way to Swansboro.
Paddling back up wind to my normal fishing area took some effort.
It just goes to show you that with a little local knowledge, you can get out of the wind. I managed to do it this afternoon in the kayak.
Our eighty plus degree weather appears to be short-lived. Tomorrow we just make it into the lower seventies. I think it is time we placed blame where it needs to go.
It is those Canadians with all their spruce trees, frozen lakes, and snow.
I noticed that last Saturday night it was 36F in Halifax, NS where we used to live. It is not exactly beach weather there. This Saturday night they have warmed up to 43 Fahrenheit. They are scheduled for some warmth Sunday before heading back to cool temperatures.
Last year I got a kick out of a NY Times article suggesting that people were headed to Canada for inexpensive beach property.
That might be true because the water is definitely only for admiring.
I love Canada, but I will say that I never found warm ocean water on Canada's east coast. People kept telling me it was there, and my legs kept turning blue.
I was glad to get the opportunity to spend a couple of hours on the beach Thursday afternoon. It was great. I wrote a post about it and put up a set of beach slides.
Today Saturday, May 17, we tried to spend some time on the beach, but the winds were too much.
However, according the Weatherunderground, next week looks pretty good here in Cape Carteret.
Coastal Paradise
Our area, the Southern Outer Banks, is a wonderous place to live and one of the best kept secrets on the east coast.
It is one of the least crowded beach areas in North Carolina that has year around inhabitants and a full range of services.
If your fear of hurricanes is keeping you from considering Carteret County as a spot for a second home or retirement, you might want to read my post on hurricanes. I find the risk here acceptable and something I am willing to take in order to live in one of the great spots of North America.
Pictures are a great way to view our area, and I have created a web page dedicated to slides shows and images from the Southern Outer Banks.
If you want a quick tour of what it is like to live on the coast, check out this link to a brief tour of my first year on the coast.
I also have another web page with some of my favorite posts and recipes. I even have a special Carteret County blog done using a Macintosh which offers more pictures and thoughts using Apple's .Mac service.
I have some web galleries on Mac.com for those of the Macintosh persuasion. You'll even see a duplicate one that I haven't figured out how to remove.
I try to post favorite photos regularly. Here is one called The End which I took from Emerald Woods on Emerald Isle.