First Ever Adventure Family Epic Kayak Lighthouse Run

For a long time, discussions among the sea kayaking Family members have included the idea of doing a long kayak trip from one lighthouse to another along NC's outer banks. The lighthouses were located at a distance apart that allowed pre-GPS mariners to see the lights of one shortly after they lost site of the last one. That works out to roughly 50 miles or so between lights. Most of us thought that distance would be manageable for an extended kayak adventure.

We can now talk about what it was like, not what it might be like!

Don's pictures
Karen's pictures

The Numbers:
2 paddlers
9 miles in 4 hours on Day 1
17 miles in 9 hours Day 2
16 miles in 9 hours Day 3
1 mile in 2 hours Day 4
6 miles in 3 hours Day 5
1/2 mile in 1/2 hour Day 6
50 total miles, roughly
200 orange-beaked people-squeaker shore birds
100 sting rays
4 snakes
2 small turtles
1 flounder with a sore mouth
1 sea bird rescued from a gill net

May 14, 2005

We started this Adventure by parking our vehicle at Shell Point, on Harker's Island. We filed a float plan at the Cape Lookout National Seashore office there and loaded our kayaks for the water. At 2 PM we shoved off into Back Sound. We immediately turned left and headed around the corner into Core Sound.
Map of Cape Lookout National Seashore

Our target for the first day was the Great Island cabins area on the South Core Banks island, located about 9 miles up Core Sound. We were hoping there would be a spot or two we could choose from for camping, since the rules only require that we had to be 100 yards from a building or structure.

We had a nice SW wind of about 10 mph pushing us along, so we made great time. The cabins at Great Island were visible from a mile or two away. There were two lines of white poles approaching the island (higher ground than the marsh grass islands). We went to the southernmost one first, where there is a significant dock for the private ferries to pull up to. We found a slight bit of sand at the end of the seawall and got out to check out the area. The beach was about 200 yards away, and there were cabins all around.

We chatted with a fisherman there for a few minutes. He recommended that we try the other dock area because it was less developed and easier to get a small boat out of the water.

The northernmost dock area did have a sandbar beach about 50 feet wide. There was one cabin beside the road leading to the beach. We found a flat area in the dune line and brought our gear up.

Dinner by sunset was great and the breeze coming along the dunes kept the bugs from the marsh at bay.

Day 2 dawned sunny for us. We had a quick breakfast and lugged our stuff back to the sound side of the island. The kayak wheels helped save a few trips, but the soft sand took away a lot of their efficiency. Our goal for the second day was the Long Point cabin area on the North Core Banks island. We'd have to cross New Drum Inlet and the Old Drum Inlet to get there.

The favorable winds continued on Day 2, but we found ourselves repeatedly having to get out and walk the kayaks due to shallow water in the sound.

The Drum Inlets weren't too difficult. We steered fairly far into the sound to avoid the first inlet and didn't have any problems. The second one, Old Drum Inlet, only had a trickle of water coming through it's southern side, but we were able to follow a shallow channel through the sand bars to within 100 yards of the main channel on the northern side. There was enough water in between for us to walk our boats the rest of the way without having to pull too hard.

We reached the Long Point cabin area about 4 PM. The cabins were visible from Old Drum Inlet. There was only one dock, and we had to make do with a 4 foot stretch of less steep marsh grass island in order to get off the water. Even then we had to walk a shore-bound fisherman's trail and plank bridge to get to the main island. Things only looked worse when we made it to the beach. There were cabins everywhere, none more than 100 feet from each other, and it appeared that they had dredged up marsh muck and a perhaps a septic tank to build more dunes. It smelled a bit rank. We decided to continue up the sound to look for a better campsite.

Most of the Core Banks islands' sound sides are fronted with marsh grass island. This is muddy land rising about a foot above the water level, but obviously goes under with higher tides. Were were hoping to find a small bay or cove that approached the higher sandy ground of the main island. The maps we had indicated there should be several of these. But there were nowhere to be found. Apparently the marsh grass is flourishing.

As the sun made it's way further to the west, we decided we might have to squeeze our camp onto one of the higher points on the outer edge of a marsh grass island. To make matters worse, the previous week's major nor'easter storm apparently drowned 5 cows and a sheep. We found them beached along the edge of the marsh grass islands as we searched. They looked like pinatas ready to explode and the odor drifted downwind. One or two possible sites had to be ruled out due to the stench.

Because we were looking for a place to land, we stayed close to the island. This is where the water is shallower and we ended up walking our kayaks a lot, which slowed our progress even further.

At 7:30 PM, we decided we needed to abandon our search for a semi-sandy spot and just settle for a marsh grass island that appeared to be above the high tide mark. The next point appeared to have the remains of a duck blind on it, so we figured it was probably higher than most other spots around it. Closer inspection revealed sand among the grass that probably had not been wet by the last tide. So we took a chance. This point also had a somewhat sloped bank, as opposed to the normally vertical edge of most marsh grass islands.

We pulled our boats up, stomped down enough of the marsh grass to pitch our tent, and settled down to fix dinner as the sun set for us. The site was exposed to the wind enough that the bugs never bothered us. Despite some nervous peeks out of the tent during the night, the tide never reached the tent, and the boats didn't float away.

Day 3 started with a little more cloudiness. We guessed we were about 2 to 3 miles above Long Point. Our goal for today was to reach Portsmouth Village, about 15 miles away.

To avoid the shallows, we decided to paddle out about a mile from shore and hold that line. It seemed to work as we had at least a foot and a half of water most of the time.

As mid morning approached, we thought we heard some thunder, but it turned out to be the jets from Cherry Point. They flew up and down the sound for a few hours. The clouds burned away and the sun came out. Then the winds died down. The North Core Banks island in this stretch was pretty monotonous anyway, but being so far away from it reduced it to a thin greenish line on our right. The last of the land around Cedar Island was left behind too, so we were all alone with just our boats, each other, and lots of sky and water and silence. A few hours of this had Karen to the point that she dozed while paddling and almost tipped over.

After noon, we spotted what appeared to be a large observation deck, rising above some trees up ahead. It must have been visible from 3 miles away, and our speed without the wind behind us was painstakingly slow. The clouds built back up on us as we slowly approached it.

We eventually reached the spot, which was not marked on the map, and stopped for a brief stretch. This was apparently one of the private holdings within the park. No one was around, so we borrowed the view from the observation deck to get our bearings. It only helped by confirming that we weren't to Portsmouth yet. But we could see some rain on the way. It met us at our boats and proceeded to dump on us.

The rain was a refreshing change from the dead calm earlier. We both wished we had cameras that could have been pulled out to shoot the drops of water bouncing back up as each raindrop hit the water.

The rain continued off and on for the rest of the afternoon. We passed a few more buildings before we finally reached Portsmouth Island and could see the church steeple. We thought we could approach it from the south by water, but decided to back out of the narrowing marsh channel we were following and go around to the north end of the island.

As we did so, the sun peeked through at us from behind. At the same time a dark cloud was forming to our north, giving us one of those neat views where the sky ahead is darker than the water below it. The winds calmed again, giving us glass smooth water to paddle through as we rounded the end of Portsmouth Island and got a good look at Ocracoke Inlet. We could see Ocracoke across the inlet, about five miles away.

All of the shore on Portsmouth Island was edged with marsh grass, ruling out a direct landing. As we continued around, we spotted a sand beach ahead. It turned out to be the end of the ocean side island as it curved around in to the inlet, ending in front of the Life Saving Station building in Portsmouth Village, with only a 200 foot stretch of water between. Portsmouth Island is sort of separated from the ocean by a wide mudflat area that has water on it most of the time.

We checked out the sand on this spit and figured there was enough space above the last likely high water mark for us to pitch a tent. Before we could do anything, the winds started picking up, coming directly from Ocracoke. We quickly got out of our wet clothes and set up the tent. By now it was about 7 PM and time for dinner. We used the tent as much as we could for a wind break and enjoyed the sunset during dinner. By the time we crawled into our sleeping bags, there were whitecaps rolling across the inlet from the wind. It was probably blowing at 15 to 20 mph.

Day 4 came with a late start. We could tell the winds were still high and that crossing to Ocracoke would not work that day. We took a walk out along the sand spit we were camped on, all the way out to the ocean side. When we returned, we paddled over to Portsmouth to check out the Village. Handling the empty kayaks with a strong side wind was not easy!

The village was neat, with interpretive signs at most of the buildings. We chatted with the lone park ranger (works here 3 days a week), and the volunteer campsite(?) hosts. We found one narrow spot to take out right at the Life Saving Station, and another very close to the church. Camping is not allowed within the boundaries of the historic area, which makes up most of the non-marsh part of the island. We also learned that Outward Bound groups camp on the sand spit where we were. It seems to be the best spot around, except for the end of the grass airstrip, but that was off limits. We asked.

After a few hours we returned to our camp. Karen fished some more, and then it was dinner time again. The winds were just as strong as ever, which drove us into the tent for dessert.

Day 5 dawned with bright sunshine. The winds were still blowing out of the NE, but had lessened to maybe 5-10 mph. There were very few whitecaps out in the inlet. We packed up camp and were on the water by 8:45 AM.

We aimed for the lighthouse as we paddled. The water was still moving out of the inlet, so we were slowly moved to the right as we paddled. About halfway across we found ourselves running out of water. Fortunately the shift to the right had brought us within a few hundred feet of the main channel by this time. We walked our boats over to it and found enough water to paddle in. The headwind kept us cool, but wasn't enough to slow our progress by too much. The water past the halfway point was now working against us too, but hugging the shoal line seemed to keep us from losing too much forward progress.

We paddled up Teach's Channel toward the entrance to Silver Lake harbor. Teach's Hole was along the way. This is where Blackbeard was finally captured, beheaded, and tossed to the crabs.

Entering Silver Lake was a bit anticlimatic. This had been our goal for a long time, but the nearly complete development of the shoreline with docks and hotels and restaurants was a stark contrast to the remote wilderness beauty we had enjoyed for the last four days. We did spot a narrow sand beach at the far corner of the harbor and made a beeline for it (someone had to go!).

Turns out this spot is known as "Kayak Corner" because there are two kayak outfitters there that use this beach as a launch spot. We chatted with the summer help working there and left our kayaks in the trees as we explored town. We found Jolly Roger's, a casual restaurant on the waterfront, and had a nice lunch.

We then got a room at the Silver Lake Inn, 100 yards up the harbor road from "Kayak Corner". We wheeled our kayaks down the street and parked them in the courtyard of the inn, before exploring a little more. Eventually we made our way to the lighthouse and took our obligatory photos.

After some well deserved showers, we sat on the porch of the inn and listened to a live blue grass band play at Jolly Roger's across the street until 7:15 or so. Then we we over and got a waterfront table perfectly positioned to view the sun setting over the harbor entrance. Very relaxing!

Day 6 started with a search for coffee. Seems "island time" really is different. We finally made our way to the Ocracoke Coffee Company on Back Street, which seemed to be the only place in town open before 8 AM. Then we went back, packed up our kayaks and wheeled them back to "Kayak Corner". We never did find out what time the "free continental breakfast" at the inn was supposed to be served. It hadn't started by the time we left.

We paddled across Silver Lake and out into the sound one last time before heading back in to the ferry docks. There is a low floating dock there which we were able to use to get our kayaks out of the water. From there we wheeled them up the docks to the ferry gate and then got our ferry tickets.

The ferry ride to Cedar Island took about 2 hours. We were a little late leaving and a little early arriving. Mandy, from AB Kayaks in Beaufort, arrived about 45 minutes later and hauled us back to our vehicle at Shell Point. That drive took about an hour. We had arranged this shuttle with them earlier.

We then loaded our stuff back up and started the bittersweet road trip that ends each of our trips.

(posted 5/20/05)