Parque Natural Mexiquillo

4.30.2013

Elizabeth II

She is a 69 foot representation of the 1500's ships that brought Europeans to the New World. She would have carried 50 sailors and passengers. There was little space and the passengers would spend most their time below deck so they did not get in the crew's way.



Privy in the bow.

Personal hygiene 


The captain was the only one to have personal space

State of the art navigation instruments


The fire place for cooking

 Table ware


Good traveling companions

4.28.2013

Who Do You Call when Your Ship Flounders?

The United States Lifesaving Service was established in 1873 and Lifesaving Stations were built on both coast.  Cape Hatteras is known as the grave yard of the Atlantic. Thousands of ships have run afoul of the treacherous Outer Banks. And thousands of of sailors were rescued by the Lifesaving Service. We visited the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station (35.59575, -75.46618) to watch a demonstration of one rescue technique.
The Chicamacomico Station, pronounced chik a ma COM i co, was built in 1874. On Cape Hatteras there was a Life Saving Station every 7 miles. The Life Saving Service was ultimately merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the United States Coast Guard in 1915. 
We watched a simulation of a ship's crew when the ship flounders near shore. 



1911 Lifesaving Station

Cook house


Equipment used for a beach based rescure

Digging a hole for the dead man anchor.

Cannon for firing a line to the ship.


Firing a line at the practice mast. It was a windy day and they over corrected for the wind and went left of the mast.



Rescue line with boson chair in place. 

Success.   This demonstration took about 25 or 30 minutes. The crews stationed here back in the day practiced this drill twice a week. They had 5 minutes to complete all this or they were out of the service.


If the ship was off shore then a boat like this was launched to rescue the sailors.

Sugar Creek restaurant. (35.90558, -75.60165)


I had a great meal of fresh scollops.




4.26.2013

Nags Head, NC

Camped at Oregon Inlet Campground. (35.79727, -75.54447)


The elusive and rare North Carolina ghost crabs



Orville and Wilbur

On December 17, 1903 the Wright brothers made the first engine powered, heavier than air flight in their Flyer at Kill Devil Hill, NC


Early on the brothers experimented with wing design flying kites. 


Then they moves on to maned gliders flown off Kill Devil Hill.

Orville and Wilbur made thousands of glider flights searching for the wing that produced maximum lift.


A reproduction of the 1903 engine powered Flyer




A model of the 12 horsepower, 4 cylinder Flyer engine




Kill Devil Hill in 1903. When a ship foundered, local "wreckers" would scavenge the cargo, including rum which they hid in the dunes. The English called rum "Kill Devil" and the dunes became known as Kill Devil Hills.


And today (36.0203, -75.66873)

Kill Devil Hill was landscaped so the dune supporting the monument would remain stable

The monument was completed in 1932. Love the Art Deco style

Doors at the monument's base

Looking down from Kill Devil Hill to the site of man's first powered flight. This area was still sand dunes in the 60's.



Reproduction of Orville and Wilbur camp.

The Flyer just prior to its first flight 






After the fourth flight, the brothers moved the Flyer near the hanger where a gust of wind picked it up and turned it into kindling.