[pierre smith]

......by John Masefield begins.....

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.....

and always comes to mind as I near the ocean Having learned this poem under the Brits, growing up in Rhodesia, brings smiles of satisfaction from Jenny as I recite those words as we neared the Outer Banks of North Carolina two days ago.



We were fortunate to have a few knots tailwinds as shown on the 496. Check out the distance and ETE...truly a magic carpet ride

To go 400 miles in less than 2 hours!! Yessss

Navigating through Cherry Point's alert area was a piece of cake with the crispy voice of a lady giving us vectors to Atlantic beach...a potty/fuel stop before heading north to the first of the Outer Banks Islands.

Jenny listening to...."I must go down to the seas again..."

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I never realized that the Outer Banks were so heavily patrolled during the early years of WW2 and the German subs would simply lay off shore, pointing at the beach with Ocracoke in the background at night. Car and house lights would backlight the Tankers and Merchant ships and when they appeared ahead, silhouetted against the lit up background, the torpedo found its mark and many, many ships were lost here, in the German effort to curtail supplies to their enemy, Great Britain.

Here we approach Portsmouth Island to the South and then Ocracoke Island where we landed.

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Nearing our destination.

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Next.

 

[pierre smith]

Continued..

The Captains Landing is a great place to stay...Mr George Chamberlain owns it and picked us up at the airport, which has no fuel or services, and we had an upstairs room, complete with kitchen, stove, fridge and pots and silverware...a mini suite, for only $109/night, off season. He graciously let us use his Suburban to sight see and go anywhere that night and yesterday, (Friday). Here are views from my deck early in the morning.

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Their Hotel is the only one open during the off season and the view of the bay is gorgeous.

All good things must end, someday....so the tailwinds become headwinds and we plod 165 MPH GS home.

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Keep pounding rivets guys....this is what it's all about.

Yes, Friday is our date day. Jenny owns a Huddle House restaurant with 24 employees, open 24/7, and relishes my and the RV's time for great day, two-day, trips........with benefits

Bye y'all,

 

[Bill Wightman]

Cool trip Pierre!

Nice pics there, what a neat little place you've found! I've spent very little time in the eastern US, but there sure is alot to see and do, and the RV's will take us to all of it.

By the way, took a look at Jenny's pic which by the way is very nice. But, it says "flirt with single women in your area" under her picture.

Hmmm...

 

[N941WR]

Pierre,

Those are great pictures! Bummer we couldn't hook up when you went by Charlotte. Maybe next time.

 

[David-aviator]

Pierre,

There is a small British cemetary on Okracoke, still maintained by British citizens. As I recall, there are 4 or 5 seamen buried there after their ship was topedoed just off the coast of the island. The war was very nasty for seamen in that area until the US Navy was able to do something about the German U-Boats. They had a very easy time of it early in the war but later paid dearly for coming across the Atlantic.

Great photos and trip report, you crop dusting poet!

 

[TSwezey]

Thanks for the report Pierre! I fly up to Wilmington often and love flying along the Carolina Coast.