Cannons Congregate in Carolina

I did not mean to delete what I wrote on Sunday, August 10, but, stuff happens. My camera has returned safely, thanks to DHL and Thrifty Rental Car. I left it in the back seat when I dropped off the car at the Norfolk, VA, airport.

In days of old, before PCs, digital cameras, cell phones, and baggy shorts, vacation cottages would have logs. Not fire place logs, but spiral notebooks where each week's guests would write about the fish they caught, complain about the weather, tell how Dad waterskied, and so on. In that spirt, here is my log from my famliy's vacation to the North Carolina Outer Banks..



Sunday, August 3





Brother Pat, nephews Tyler & Jack enter the Atlantic.

Niece Anna, sister-in-law Eileen.

Monday, August 4.

We were in Duck, North Carolina, in two large rental houses, one on the beach, the other about a 1/3 of a mile from the Atlantic, 1/2 mile from Currituck Sound. I rented the kayak on the left from Duck Village Outfitters. The $15 hour rental included a set of wheels to transport the yak across the 3 lane State Highway 12 to a nice public park with a launch at the end of a boardwalk on the Sound. The Sound reminded be of the Indian River, without the wildlife. Homes line the east shore, where I was. I saw several osprey, a lone great egret, and a crab scuttling beneath the yak. The picture is taken where I turned around, a narrow bay formed by a spit of land coming off the main barrier island.

Seagulls, of course.

Crabbing at the launch.

Look carefully, or blow up the picture, and you can see the wheels tied to the left railing of the boardwalk. I got the kayak on the platform, tien it down, and pulled it along the boards. In the park, it fell off. I reattached it, walked a ways, it fell off again. This time I made sure it was on securely, I had a highway to cross. It is classified a highway, but traffic wise is a busy street- except on Sat and Sun when the rental houses change hands. I made it across without further incident.

Our view.

Brother Chris, nephew Arlo and I went to Jockey's Ridge State Park. I had to go back to the car to get my camera.

They are the nearer of the two pairs. This is the highest dune on the east coast at 80-100 feet.

Spectacular view, and great place to fly a really big kite.

I would return to Jockey's Ridge two more times during the week.

Nephew Derek, poolside, non-beach house.

Nephews Arlo, Tyler, niece Becky.

Cousinly competition.

Tuesday, August 5.

Morning beach walk.

This empty beach is a short walk from our rental, and the many rentals lining the beach. The pier is an Army Corp of Enginers structure. Signs warn to keep of the dunes behind the beach due to "duds". None fell on the beach ? hmm...

A large group of us went fishing.

Chris, sister Monica, niece Elena, Aaron, Elena's beau, Anna and Becky. Ice cream bars and popsicles gave us strength to fight the fish.

Monica has two for one, as Chris looks for one that got away.

Nephew Evan, sister Elena, observe the mate, no realtion, with puffer fish caught by brother Arlo, straw hat.

Tyler frees a flounder, Pat and Evan fish for drinks, Aaron and Arlo scan the water.

Arlo with a flounder, Evan with a Yuengling.

Father and son.

I wonder how Eileen's picture turned out ?

Monica, Chris, niece Megan, and Pat.

Evan, Anna, Jack and Arlo.

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The Coast Guard, ready for smugglers, terroists, and my family.

As were the dolphins.

Kayak angler.

Bodie Island lighthouse. We were fishing shallow water of Roanoke Island, at the north end of Palmico Sound. Old boat, old tackle, but we had fun. Caught a lot of little fish. All we needed was a box of oatmeal, and it would have been like fishing for bluegills off a pier at a Wisconsin cottage.

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Brothers in arms. Tyler and Jack.

Becky, Monica, Tyler, Chris and I took a detour, or da tour, on the way home, checking out the northernmost part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Seashore

Sea birds

Sea Chris

Wednesday, August 6.

Brother Pete, atop Jockey's Ridge.

Beach at Nags Head, across the road from Jockey's Ridge State Park.

Pete goes in.

Nags Head Pier.

High dunes, steady wind, soft sand for the inevitable crashes, the Outer Banks had the Wright stuff in 1903.

From the Wright Flyer to jets, from the Packers to the Jets, Oh no ! did we start forces beyond our control ?!?

Back to kayaking, this is Dave's Yak Tales, after all. Pete and I in one of the two Malibu II sit on tops that were rented for the week. That's the Corps of Engineers Pier. We saw lots of jellyfish this paddle.

Megan and Monica look for a wave.

They found one.

Pat and Eileen.

Niece Abby, Eileen, Megan, Becky, nephew Aidan.

Sunset.

Thursday, August 7.

Whalehead Club, Pete, Currituck Lighthouse. Pete and I drove north to Corolla. Rented yaks from the Corolla Kayak Company, located on the Sound. The road ends just north of the lighthouse, so no rental homes to blight the view.

Osprey. Also saw great egrets, several species of seagulls, and rare for yakDave, Canadain geese.

Yakdave, paddlinpete, and the lighthouse. This would make a great entry in the Green Wave Forum Photo contest. Except, its not in Florida, and as a judge, I'm not eligible.

Here is where we began and ended the paddle. The green carpeted steps are where you get in and out.

After our paddle, which was just over 1 1/2 hours by the time of my photos, we took a climb up the Currituck Lighthouse.

We reurned to the beach house, where Pat was paddling. He landed and asked, "Dave, what's the most dolphins you've seen at once ?" ""6-10" I just saw more". I went out with Clare, we searched, but did not see the pod Pat saw.

The action was taking place closer to the beach.

Jumping Jack Splash.

Sister-in-law Anne boogies.

Cali surfer Abby makes the best of the wimpy Atlantic surf.

Abby, Anne and Derek.

Abby and Aidan hang twenty.

Tyler's moment of truth.

Beach toys.

These beach shots were taken as I sat on a beach chair, beneath a forest of umbrelas, at what brother-in-law Larry dubbed, "The Irish Oasis".

Pete, Monica and Elena.

Speaking of Larry, it was his bithday. Here he is with Anna and Becky.

Larry, Ashley, Arlo's muse, Elena and Aaron.

My family doesn't need a special occassion for a good meal, but it helps. Arlo brings in the shrimp.

Megan baked not one, but two cakes. Note the lighthouse candles.

I count 17 of the 23 in this shot. I think I now have pictures of everyone..... except, to quote my Grammy Cannon, the person who is "responsible for all of this". Mom.

Or, as she is known to the next generation, Meagan and Becky here, Grammy.

Friday August, 8.

Clare watches Pat and Pete launch. Launching in the surf can be tough, I tipped a couple times, but I never had a life guard come to the shore because heard the thunk of the kayak against my head. Pat got his bell rung, but my family is a tough bunch, and they got out, eventually.

and rode the surf back to shore.

Where, back at the Irish Oasis, we saw Pete's scrapped and bleeding ankle, the result of the same yak flip that hit Pat in the head. Now, that takes skill....... or something.

Both are fine. Later, Pat, Eileen, Jack and I took a walk to the Engineers Pier.

Aaron, Elena, Arlo and Evan- the view from the upper porch. My view was getting blocked.

Anna.

Aidan

Megan and Clare.

Tyler, looking glum as the bowl is empty.

In contrast to Elena, fresh fruit available.

Picture in Picture, Pete and Jack.

Saturday, August 9.

Too bad the California cousins had to leave Friday. Saturday's surf was the best of the week. I got soaked battling the breakers on the way out . Pretty "swell" once past the surf line.

You have seen pictures of the group from the beach, from the house, now a bit fuzzy, from the kayak

Aidan (I think) far left in the water, Megan with boogie board, Jack, Pat, Larry, and Anna, (maybe) running with boogie board.

Jack and Tyler look for a shortcut to the Olympic Games.

What a week ! We missed brother Andy and sister-in-law Jackie. I don't know if the Outer Banks could handle the entire clan.

I overheard Ashley say to someone, "You're all so beautiful". I think she may have had one to many glasses of wine, but again, my siblings married well. The 6 (Jack) to 30 (Arlo) generation is an attractive bunch. And, we all love and care for each other. That's beautiful.