The Pirates Are Coming!!!
July 9, 2010 by gary
Filed under Around The Town
The Old Baldy Lighthouse and Smith Island Museum of History (on nearby Bald Head Island) are staging a weekend day pirate extravaganza event in conjunction with National Lighthouse Day. Read more
Cape Fear Flounder Classic
July 9, 2010 by gary
Filed under Cool Stuff
The 1st Annual Cape Fear Flounder Classic will be held at the Southport Marina on Saturday, July 31st.
This event is being organized as a fundraiser for the Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce. Following the prize structure of the Chamber’s very popular U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament, the all cash guaranteed prizes totals $5,300.
The entry fee for the Cape Fear Flounder Classic is $100 per boat with an optional $50 TWT. Tournament participation will be limited to boats and all fish must be taken on a rod and reel. No Check-Out. No boundaries with the exception of restricted areas such as Sunny Point and Progress Energy intake wall.
Registration for the Cape Fear Flounder Classic will be held at the Chamber Office at 4841 Long Beach Road on Monday thru Friday from 10am-4pm beginning Friday, July 9th thru Friday, July 30th from 10am-4pm. There will be additional registration on Friday, July 30th from 5pm-7pm at the Southport Marina.
A Hot Dog Dinner for the participants will be held at 6pm on Friday, July 30th and Saturday, July 31st. Fishing hours will be on Saturday, July 31st from 7am until 4pm with the scales open from 3pm-5pm. The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 31st at 6pm.
For more information contact Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce at 910.457-6964 or email them at events@southport-oakisland.com
BeachRentalsDirect.com
Beachrentalsdirect.com enables owners to rent their house or condo themselves. Renters come out ahead by not having to pay reservation fees and other add ons.
Some owners rent their property completely themselves while others are using it as a supplemental advertising vehicle to get more renters and then direct them to their rental management company.
When you find the property that you’d like to rent simply email (or call) the owner to make the arrangements!
There are other “for rent by owner sites” but BeachRentalsDirect.com is the only site focused on rentals along the Carolina Coast. http://BeachRentalsDirect.com
The Oak Island Lighthouse
June 20, 2010 by gary
Filed under Attractions And Events
The Oak Island Lighthouse was completed in 1958. It was once the second brightest light in the world. The total cost of construction was $110,000.00 (it would be millions of dollars today!).
The lights are 169 feet above the water. The structure is 148 feet tall, but it stands on a slight hill.
There is no spiral staircase as are found in most older lighthouses, but instead there is a series of ships ladders with a total of 131 steps to the lantern gallery level.
The base is set upon 24 concrete-filled steel pilings 10 3/4 inches in diameter and 67 feet deep. The pilings are capped by a 30 foot wide by 3 foot deep octagonal concrete base upon which the tower structure was built.
The main tower is 128 feet tall, built of monolithic reinforced concrete. It was poured continuously into a movable form that was raised by jacks at the rate of one foot per hour.
To accomplish this task a concrete mixing plant was set up on the site to allow for the continuous 24 hour a day operation for days.
The tower has a uniform inside diameter of 16 feet 4 3/4 inches. The wall is 8 inches thick, and the three stripe color pattern is permanently cast into the concrete.
To establish a color for each section the first forty feet is the natural gray of Portland cement. The next fifty feet was poured with white Portland cement and white quartz aggregate for the white color. The top fifty two feet is gray Portland cement with black coloring.
The smaller diameter concrete section at the top was formed with stationary metal forms after the top floor was poured. Windows in the tower were constructed of stainless steel but sashes have been replace with vinyl.
The 11 foot tall aluminum lantern housing was installed by Marine Corps helicopters. Total height of the structure above the foundation slab is 153 feet.
The characteristic flashing pattern for the light is four one-second flashes every 10 seconds.
The lighting apparatus in the Oak Island Lighthouse is made up of 8 aero beacon lighting fixtures, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
When first activated in 1958, the lower bank used carbon-arc mercury lamps in 36-inch reflectors. These reflectors with their housings were adapted from aircraft spotlights used in World War II.
When these lamps were in use the Oak Island light was the second brightest in the world. When the upper bank of lights, comprising of 24 inch theatrical lights and 1,000 watt Quartz lamps became the primary beacon and the bottom were decommissioned, it lost that distinction!
Today the brightest light along this part of the Atlantic coast is the Sullivan’s Island Light near Charleston, South Carolina which was erected in 1962.
Free tours are given on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 AM till 2 PM starting on the Wednesday before Memorial Day until the Wednesday After Labor Day. Tours are to the 2nd level ONLY.
· Weekly seasonal tours are only to the 2nd level of the tower, NOT to the observation balcony at the top!
· Children MUST be 7 years or older to enter the lighthouse due to government safety regulations.
· No more than 15 visitors will be allowed inside the tower at any time.
· Visitors are requested not to wear flip-flops, high heels, open-toed or hard leather heels/soles. Sneakers are the preferred shoes.
· Climbers are required to have both hands free for climbing due to the steepness of our steps. No exceptions will be made!
· Weather permitting (visitors are not allowed in the lighthouse if there is lightning in the area)
· There are no Restroom facilities on site
· All tours are free of charge
Sea Turtles
June 20, 2010 by gary
Filed under Around The Town
Here are three videos showing a Turtle laying eggs, eggs hatching and baby turtle making his (or her) way to the ocean! This time of year the Turtles are coming ashore at Oak Island to lay their eggs – you can help by observing the rules at the bottom of this page!
Sea turtle laying 209 eggs:
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Sea Turtles Hatching at Sunset Beach,NC during August, 2009 near midnight:
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A Sea Turtle makes his (or her) way to the ocean!:
You can help the turtles when you visit Sunset Beach by following a few simple guidelines:
Do Not Disturb: If you see an adult sea turtle coming on shore, stay quiet and keep your distance! Otherwise she may get scared and go back into the ocean without nesting. They are an endangered species and it is a federal offense to harass them.
Turn Off All Flashlights! Lights may scare or confuse the adult female and cause her to leave without nesting.
Lights Cause Hatchlings To Go In the Wrong Direction: Please turn off all outside lights each night. Also if there are curtains or blinds use them so your indoor lights do not lead the hatchlings away from the ocean.
Never Pick Up A Hatchling. It is critical that they crawl on their own.
Do Not Disturb The Nest Area. Watch for the nest markers.
Stay Off Sand Dunes & Do Not Pick Sea Oats. Sand dunes provide critical habitat for sea turtles and help prevent flooding during times of extreme tides and storms. Foot traffic kills plants and severely damages the sand dunes. The penalty for failure to adhere to this requirement is a $100 fine.
Help Us Keep Our Beaches Clean -Sea turtles may mistake a plastic bag or other forms of litter for a jellyfish (they eat them). All personal items and equipment must be removed from the beach each day- these items may trap a sea turtle.
Please Fill In All Holes On The Beach When Done Playing.- Holes can trap sea turtles and are a safety hazard to humans.
Keep Dogs On Leashes At All Times!- No dogs shall be permitted on the beach strand between the hours of 9:00am and 6:00pm during period of Memorial Day through Labor Day regardless of whether they are leashed or not.
Fireworks can scare off nesting sea turtles and leave behind trash that may be mistaken for food by marine wildlife.- Discharge of fireworks is not permitted per North Carolina state laws.
Please Report all sightings of nesting turtles, dead turtles, unmarked nests or crawls (looks like a bulldozer came out of the water).Call the Holden Beach Turtle Watch 24 Hour Pager at 910-754-0766
Keep up with the Turtle Watch by clicking here
Local Surfers Rule In CA Again!!
June 20, 2010 by gary
Filed under Recreation and Sports
Local surfers Mike and Ben Powell have once again ruled the waves the in the NSSA Collegiate Surfing Championships in Dana Point, CA!
Michael Powell took 1st Place and his brother Ben Powell 3rd Place NSSA Nationals Mens Division! What a way to represent the Oak Island / Brunswick County NC area!
Oak-IslandNC.com salutes the Powell brothers (from nearby Ocean Isle Beach) significant accomplishment.
Mike and Ben Powell came to the NSSA Collegiate Surfing Championships in Dana Point, CA with the hope of proving to the California-dominated contest that East Coasters schools could surf too. Instead, the brotherly duo from Ocean Isle Beach (surfing for UNC-Wilmington) almost took the whole thing!
Last year the brothers took second and third place and they ruled the national contest again this year,
Brothers Michael and Ben Powell together operate The Carolina Surf School which offers private and group lessons.
With more than twenty years of surfing experience combined they are semi professionals that can really are help you push your ambitions to the next level as a surfer.
Contact Michael and Ben Powell: 910.233.8908 or 910.233.4004 http://www.carolinaschoolofsurf.com
Local Author’s Books: Huge Hit!
June 20, 2010 by gary
Filed under Around The Town
Local Author and Illustrator Miller Pope has spent a lifetime as an artist Read more
Chance Of Oil In NC “Remote”
June 15, 2010 by gary
Filed under Around The Town
With the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico some people are concerned that it might come here to Oak Island in NC. However, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have told state officials the possibility is remote.
All NC beaches are open at this time and no closures are anticipated at this time. However, just to avert any fears the N.C. State officials have launched a new Web page dedicated to providing information and useful links regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The web site features information about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the potential impact on the coast.
North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokesman Ernie Seneca said the website provides daily updates on the spill as well as links to models that predict where the spill could go.
“We just felt like it was good to get it out there. More information is better than less and this is obviously something that concerns a lot of people. The nation’s eyes and the world’s eyes are on the Gulf right now and what’s going to happen,” said Seneca.
The information is available at nccrimecontrol.org. Seneca said visitors can click on the Gulf Oil Spill tab on the web site.
Featured Property
June 5, 2010 by gary
Filed under Real Estate
BANK OWNED…Very nice 2nd row home with wonderful ocean view!!
This 3 bedroom 2 bath home offers a large family gathering room with a great ocean side deck. h/c outside shower with changing area, storage underneath, plenty of parking, master suite with private balcony upstairs, hurricane shutters, and much more.
This one is ready for your family. Could be a nice income producing property.
Buyers, this is an AS IS property. The seller makes no representation or guaranties of any kind. Any personal property conveys with no warranties.
226 W Beach Dr Oak Island, NC 28465 $373,500
For more information on this or any other property anywhere in the area please contact me martha@pope-realestate.com. Visit my coastal NC Real Estate website at: pope-realestate.com
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Descendent Buys Orton!
May 17, 2010 by gary
Filed under Cool Stuff
A direct descendent of Roger Moore, who built the original Orton Plantation home in 1725 is the new owner of the antebellum plantation house and the gardens!
Louis Moore Bacon, who now resides in London but was born in Raleigh, has purchased almost the entire 5,000-acre property – including the historic plantation house and its famous gardens – from the Laurence Sprunt family who have owned the Brunswick County landmark since 1884.
The Plantation and Gardens will close indefinitely on May 31st while plans for the future and other renovations are made. Hurry to see this incredible place while this years gardens are still available to you!
Current Orton manager David Sprunt, will retain that position, said the family has kept the land around the plantation’s pond.
He said he’s excited about the plans for the plantation, but it is hard for the property leave his family’s ownership after all of these years.
A press release states that Bacon is directly descended from Roger Moore, who built the original Orton residence in 1725. Bacon’s mother’s family has strong ties to nearby Wilmington.
Many are relieved to hear that Mr. Bacon has a reputation for buying historic properties such as Orton Plantation and keeping them in their natural state. Also the N.C. Coastal Land Trust holds conservation easements covering much of the Orton property. The executive director of the Land Trust states that Bacon is noted as a conservationist and a supporter of numerous environmental organizations.
Forbes magazine notes Bacon, age 53, is a native of North Carolina who manages several hedge funds and now resides in London, and the London Sunday Times notes that that he is the richest hedge fund manager in Britain having a nearly $1.7 billion fortune.
Orton Plantation, which recently opened for the 2010 season, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the gardens. Extensive renovations were made in the gardens to open up panoramic views to the Cape Fear River, remove competing vegetation, redesign and enhance the flower beds and restore and preserve the colonial rice fields.
Among the predominant species in the garden are live oaks, camellias, azaleas, flowering fruit trees, daphne, hydrangeas, crape myrtles, dogwoods, and colorful spring and summer annuals. Lawns and water gardens lend variety to the lush vegetation.
Plan to come spend a day at Orton Plantation! The gardens are in their glory right now! The historic landscape designed around the 1735 mansion and colonial rice fields overlooking the Cape Fear River and 20 acres of secluded walking trails surrounded by hundreds of acres of rice fields make Orton Plantation Gardens a wonderful place to visit.
One of the oldest plantations on the Lower Cape Fear and the only one with a manor house still standing, Orton has become a privately owned tourist attraction, celebrated for its elaborate gardens. In recent years, the plantation and its grounds have served as locations on a number of motion pictures.
The house and grounds are located at 9149 Orton Road S.E., Brunswick County just off N.C. 133, close to the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.
Hours are 8am to 5pm March – August and 10am – 5pm September – November (except they close for Thanksgiving Day).
