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A Month in a Little Village by the Sea

Started by SawyerTed, June 26, 2020, 07:27:26 AM

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SawyerTed

So the sawmill is buttoned up for a month or so.  The Doc and I are volunteering at Cape Lookout National Seashore in

 historic Portsmouth Village.  We are provided a free campsite for our camper in Ocracoke and stay in Portsmouth Village during the week. 

We greet visitors and look after the buildings and grounds during the day and have access to the beach in the late afternoon and evening. Over night we are the only people here. 

There are around 20 historic buildings here.  Some date back to 1850.  They took a real hammering by Hurricane Dorian. 

Ocracoke is struggling to get back to pre Dorian.  There are many houses and businesses that have been torn down.  There are a lot of businesses that closed due to COVID-19.  The school is being restored this summer.



 

 
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WDH

It is a special place for sure.  I am jealous.
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Nebraska

Looks like a tough assignment, I hope you can persevere and suffer through.

Tom King

Great way to spend a Summer!!!

When I was involved with our Boy Scout Troop, we used to take them to Portsmouth Island in the Fall.  I love that place, but it seems like it takes forever for us to get there, even though it's in the same state, and doesn't look that far on a map.

Great dark skies there some nights, since it's nowhere near to any city lights.

We used to stay at the Fish Camp.  My BIL, and his Wife, who live in Beaufort, spend some time there, several times every year.

terrifictimbersllc

Looks like a brown trout, what's the deal?
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jeepcj779

That is a speckled trout. We catch them in the sounds and brackish rivers of coastal NC.

SawyerTed

There's a speckled trout and what we call a gray trout, aka weakfish, in our sounds and rivers.  A "speck" and a brown trout look very similar. Where a brown really is bronze, a speck is iridescent black blue and purple across the back. 

Sea trout live a tough life sometimes, very quick frigid temperatures can kill them.  One more than one occasion I've seen them chased out of the water by blitzing bluefish on the beach.  

Catching sea trout is one of my favorite kinds of fishing and eating.    Thankfully the fishery is on an up swing lately. 

We took our camper down Wednesday and are at home for the weekend.  Our son and DIL were coming in to visit but a death in her family has diverted them.  So we will tend garden, do the yard and head back on Monday.  Our duties start on Tuesday 
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SawyerTed

Quote from: Tom King on June 26, 2020, 11:06:22 AM
Great way to spend a Summer!!!

When I was involved with our Boy Scout Troop, we used to take them to Portsmouth Island in the Fall.  I love that place, but it seems like it takes forever for us to get there, even though it's in the same state, and doesn't look that far on a map.

Great dark skies there some nights, since it's nowhere near to any city lights.

We used to stay at the Fish Camp.  My BIL, and his Wife, who live in Beaufort, spend some time there, several times every year.

Look at my website, and let me know if you need any help on what to do with any of the old buildings.
Tom you are closer than we are!  We caught the Ocracoke-Hatteras ferry at 8:30 this morning and pulled in the driveway at 5:30.  We did detour to Garner to Agri.Supply but that was 30 minutes. 
We usually go to Cedar Island to catch the ferry to Ocracoke.  It still is a 7-8 hour trip including the ferry trip. 
We do a ton of star gazing at night. Usually 4th of July we go to Ocracoke and enjoy an awesome fireworks show but it's cancelled this year. 
This is one of the machines volunteers "have" to use to check the beach.  The road from the village to the beach is flooded most of the time so an Argo allows us to get out there.


 
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Tom King

I was a little surprised the first time I came off the ferry to Portsmouth Island that they had a small compressor there so you could put air back in your truck's tires after letting some out to drive on the beach, or really anywhere else on the island.

Are the old fish camp cabins still standing?  I liked the old ones better than the newer ones.

Tom King

The first time I ever went, I got a little balled up in getting to the ferry, even though I was pretty close.  I saw a Deputy Sheriff's car, so I drove up to it.  He was sitting there in uniform, with the door open, and feet on the road, holding an open beer.  He didn't even lift his head, and just pointed, " So straight, and take a right" in that Eastern Shore type drogue, before I ever opened my mouth.

SawyerTed

The Long Point Cabin Camp was updated several years ago. Those are the cabins across from Atlantic on the North Core Banks aka Portsmouth Island. Unfortunately Dorian cut a wash right through the middle of the camp. Cabins were heavily damaged.  The septic system was destroyed as well as the generator and water system. The Park Service has closed that cabin camp until the Island stabilizes some and when they have money to fix it. Dorian cut several washes across the Island with one becoming a new inlet about a mile south of Portsmouth Village. I've not seen it yet but I'm told it's a quarter mile wide and 10-12' deep.  So there's no access to the village from the beach via 4x4.  In years past we had quite a few visitors from the Long Point Cabin Camp. 

The Great Island Cabin Camp on South Core Banks aka Davis Island has been repaired and is open. 

Portsmouth Village is only accessible by passenger ferry from Ocracoke or by private boat.  I suppose the old airstrip could be used, it's mowed but not otherwise maintained.  
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Tom King

I figured it must have taken a hit.  I haven't been there for a little over 20 years.

SawyerTed

Last year we used my boat a good bit while we were at Portsmouth Village.  It stayed in the water a good bit of the 30 days we were there.  Marine growth on the bottom  really slowed the boat down after a couple of weeks.  We even scraped the hull twice while we were there. 

This year I decided to paint the bottom with anti-fouling paint. Yesterday I sanded and painted the bottom with two coats.  

While I was on my back holding to sander above my head I got to thinking who would know, besides me, if I just skipped some of the sanding.  The I realized the barnacles would know.



 

 

 
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Tacotodd

Trying harder everyday.

doc henderson

looks great.  what is the active ingredient in the paint.  may have to be careful next time you sand.  
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SawyerTed

Copper is the active ingredient. 

Sanding gelcoat, epoxy, fiberglass or paint I always wear a mask.  I wear a mask for a lot of stuff - grinding, welding etc. Sometimes a VOC filter mask if necessary - it was necessary for painting since Xylene is the thinner and I'm guessing other VOCs in the paint. 

A man doesn't get to be old very long taking unnecessary chances. I have allergy induced asthma so masks are a must. 

Probably should be wearing one for this Sahara dessert dust cloud. 

The bottom paint is Total Boat Underdog.  It's what Jamestown Distributors recommended for a trailer boat. 
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WDH

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farmfromkansas

Looks like you are having a good time.  After I get done with planting, harvesting, and cutting and baling hay, plan to cut some trees down and make some boards.  But maybe someday I'll have time to go to the sea shore.
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

blackfoot griz

The first time in Ocracoke  for me was in 1969 and the last was in 1980.  My family went to the Outer Banks for vacations. Lots of great memories!

SawyerTed

We  

 Emily caught a 22" flounder last evening jigging next to the pier pilings.  I caught 6 gray trout and one speckled trout.  All were about 20-22".

We came to Ocracoke on Wednesday to set our camper up.  Cape Hatteras National Seashore helps support the VIPs (Volunteers In Parks) even though we volunteer for Cape Lookout.  Cape Hatteras provides us with a campsite with full hookups.  We went home for the weekend and returned on Monday.  

Yesterday was our first day on duty In Portsmouth Village.  We played catch up with cleaning the visitor center since the last volunteers left a week ago. 

Today was a relatively cooler day and made for mowing.  I mowed for 5 hours and covered about 2/3 of the village.  The previous VIPs had rain that prevented them from extensive mowing.  Tomorrow Emily will mow and I will meet visitors to the village. 

 Here Emily is maintaining some of the displays in the visitor center.


 This is the water line of Dorian (beside the plaque) compared to some other recognizable storms in the last 20-25 years. Dorian's line is just over elbow high on me (I'm 6'-0" y'all) standing in the post office which is about 18" above ground level.  
 

This was Monday night's sunset - I have to say it's as pretty as any in the Keys.
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Walnut Beast


SawyerTed

 

 This building weathered Dorian relatively well.  It is the visitor center. It too had several feet of water inside.  NPS crews from across the US came and did clean up.  



 This is the Post Office and General Store.  



This house is among the oldest houses on the Outer Banks.  Built in 1850 this house and one other are the oldest here in Portsmouth Village.

Dorian's waters came in and filled the buildings with water. Then the water receded so fast the buildings could not drain fast enough and some basically popped at the seams.  See the corner board, this corner and the opposite one are where this house popped.
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Hilltop366


SawyerTed

 The Life-Saving Station is one of my favorite buildings here in Portsmouth Village.  

The seven man crew would use this Mononomy type 26' surf boat to row out to vessels wrecked on the beach and shoals.  The crew here actually rescued over 400 people off of one stricken ship.  

 


 

When vessels were in the surf the crew would use a Lyle gun, a kind of cannon, to launch a line to the ship. The ship's crew would use the light line to pull a heavier rope to the ship.  Men would be taken off the ship in a breeches bouy, basically a life ring with a seat in it suspended by a pulley from the heavy line.



Their apparatus was carted to the beach on wagons.  Men usually pulled the wagon but some stations used horses.

The light line fired by the Lyle gun was laced on a rack so the line would pay out without tangling.  


 

The motto of these Life-Saving Crews was "We have to go but we don't have to come back."
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SawyerTed

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