Posing with an old weathered tree among the dunes on Shackleford Banks.

This adventure started with a late night and early breakfast for several of the group who spent Thursday night at the Childrey B&B. Once we got all the Friday morning travelers together, the whole gang hit the road headed for Beaufort, NC. We made it to AB Kayaks by early afternoon and rented 3 more kayaks from Dave, giving us a healthy armada of 11 kayaks. After cramming all of our stuff into the boats, we hit the water. Some more so than others. A failed attempt at launching is how COP earned another initial and became SCOP (Salty Crotchety Old Pirate).

With the wind at our backs, we paddled out through Bulkhead Channel, towards Beaufort Inlet. Once out of the channel, we hugged the south shore of Carrot Island. By the time we reached the end of the beach, we stopped for a quick break. We spotted several mustangs browsing in the salt march behind the dunes. From this location, we were safely beyond the rogue waves of the inlet, so we cut across the sound towards Shackleford Banks and continued eastward toward our intended campsite.

We hit the beach just as the sun was setting and pitched our tents in the fading light. The cool evening breeze kept the bugs at bay but caused us to pull out some long sleeves and warmer clothes. The evening meal was chicken with mole sauce, over zesty rice, prepared by Supa Chef. We found the bottom of several bottles during our traditional wine sampling after dinner.

After a breakfast of eggs and bagels and mimosas on Saturday morning, we followed mustang trails and bushwhacked through the maritime forest over to the ocean side of the island. Despite the mist and cloudy skies, we managed to find things to interest us on the beach for an hour or two. Many of the shells appeared to have been bashed and broken pretty good by the recent visit of Hurricane Isabel. We left a sand castle on the beach before heading back through the swamp to our camp.

Since the rain wouldn't go away, several of the group decided the afternoon would be perfect for a nap in their tents. The rest of the group paddled further east along Shack and explored more of the island. We found a dead sea turtle washed up on the beach, with what appeared to be a bullet hole in his forehead. We found some rusting vehicle skeletons and tons of old and not so old glass bottles. JPQ even found a few clams and oysters. I found a short mustang highway that cut through the forest to the dunes, without having to negotiate a mucky swamp.

SCOP prepared a fantastic dinner on Saturday night, consisting of jambalaya, with "srimp" and chicken and sausage, along with some fresh-baked cornbread. Afterwards, Supa Chef serenaded us with guitar music and song, while some of us tried to accompany her with brushes and eggs. The mosquitoes finally drove us from the campsite to the beach, where we scratched up enough driftwood for a small fire. That gave JPQ the tools needed to do her thing.

Even though the sound was as smooth as glass, none of us could muster the energy or motivation to drag the kayaks out and paddle around in the dark. Just before the last of us headed off to our tents, a turtle popped his head up nearby and blew a couple of snorts for us.

Sunday dawned with a partly clear sky and a beautiful sunrise. JPQ broke free of the grip of the sleeping bag and paddled out to enjoy sunrise from the still glassy water. KLK caught another fish.

The rest of the gang finally crawled out of their tents and moseyed down to the beach. With the blue sky and morning sun, it was a fantastic spot to wake up to another day. Poo Pie and Mr. Dork fixed a breakfast of cheesy eggs, fresh-baked sourdough biscuits, and home-made granola.

Then we packed up our stuff and headed for the east end of Taylor Creek. We stopped at the east end of Carrot Island for a heavy snack lunch before one last paddle down the creek to the take-out at Dave's place.

Should I admit that after all the good food we had on the island, we then spent almost 2 hours at the Dairy Queen in Morehead City before hitting the road to go home? It must have been because we weren't ready for the adventure to end, not because we were still hungry!

As always, it was another successful adventure!!!

Check out this trip's picture album at Shutterfly.

(posted 11/7/03)