An X-Ray of Drum Inlet
This amazing photograph off Drum Inlet, taken
from the air by the Coast and Geodetic survey
with use of special equipment, shows deep water
channels. Deep water shows up as black curved
lines.
The left side* of the picture is Core sound and
the right the Atlantic ocean. The light hook-like
projections at the top and bottom of the picture
are the ends of the sand bars or "banks.''
Boats passing in and out of the inlet naturally
seek deep water, which is not always in the same
place because of the shifting sands.
Inlets Come 9 Inlets Go
Along the Outer Banks
By Dr. Eugene W. Roelofs
About two months ago a yacht came limping into the
harbor at Ocracoke and the village was scoured for some
one with a diving outfit who would examine the bottom
of the boat. "What's the trouble?" I asked. Getting
out a Coast and Geodetic Survey chart dated June 1950,
one of the boys, slightly irritated by the interruption of
the fishing trip, said, "Here we
were, cruising at about 15 knots
down Wallace Channel when all of
a sudden we fetched up, but good!
The ? chart shows 14 feet of wat
er and we draw 18 inches. You
figger it out! By the way, we were
all sober!" '
This incident shows that the
poets are not dreaming when they
write of "shifting sands." The out
er banks are indeed heaps of shift
ing sand. In and around the in
lets, the sand may move quite rap
idly so that boat skippers must
constantly be on the alert. Where
there was a good channel only a
short time ago, there may now be
a sand bar. Skippers who visit the
area infrequently must "feel" their
way in and out. These shifting
sands must have caused the early
sailing vessel captains considerable
trouble, and many of the early
wrecks were probably the result
of a captain's thinking that he knew
where the channel was.
Theories Set Forth
A number of theories have been
advanced to explain the formation
of the banks or offshore bars. In
general, two processes are involv
ed, namely, longshore currents and
wave action. The first requires a
large supply of sand or other ma
terial which can be carried by a
current flowing along the shore
and be deposited in the form of a
bar. There is such a current on
our coast going in a southerly di
rection. This current, flowing in
side of and in the opposite direc
tion to the Gulf Stream has been
known for many years. Sailing
?hips in the 17th century took ad
vantage of this current, which is
now believed to be the result of a
series of counter-clockwise eddies
caused by the Gulf Stream.
But this current does not seem
strong enough to have carried
down all the material now found
in the outer banks. Another factor
ruling out the longshore current
theory is the belief that there ap
parently never has been a large
enough supply of material to the
north to have formed the present
banks.
Formed by Waves
There seems to be little doubt
that our offshore banks were form- 1
ed by the waves which have been
pounding our shores ever since the
present coastline existed. In order
to explain this theory we must di
gress a moment for a study of
waves and wave action.
When a wave moves shoreward,
we see only the top of the wave.
But actually, the wave extends as
far below the normal water surface
as it does above. Therefore when
a 10-foot wave, for example, moves
in, the water underneath this wave
for a depth of 10 feet is also mov
ing shoreward, so that the wave
really involves a vertical distance
of 20 feet.
As this wave moves up along a
sloping shoreline and reaches a
point where the water is about 10
feet deep, the lower part of the
wave starts dragging on the bot
tom. The wave literally stumbles
and falls over forward, giving rise
to the well-known white-cap or
breaker. A visit to the beach will
demonstrate this phenomenon. It
will be noticed that the large waves
break some distance offshore, the
smaller waves move farther in be
fore breaking, and the very small
wavelets stumble and fall right
near the water's edge.
Top Water Plunges
When a wave breaks, the water
which was on top plunges down,
rolls over, stirs up the bottom, and
carries the sand toward the shore
until the movement of the water
slows down to a point where the
larger sand particles settle out.
Each successive wave adds a little
more sand, until after a number of
years the accumulated sand forms
a bar at a distance from shore de
pending on the slope of the bot
tom.
When the bar is first formed, it
is not uniform, in height or width.
The tide, by its rising and falling,
keeps some of the lower portions
of the bar scoured out, while the
rest of the bar keeps building up.
As a result, the banks are inter
rupted by inlets through which the
tide moves in and out, and through
which the water from the coastal
streams must pass, a little at a
time on each successive ebb tide.
The outer banks of North Caro
lina have existed for many centur
ies. They were known to the early
traders who came to this coast The
earliest chart of our coast avail
able is one made by John White,
the English Governor of Roanoke
Island and grandfather of Virginia
Dare. White's chart was made in
1585, and shows the outer banks
with a number of inlets. Charts
made during the 17th and 18th
centuries are also available. A
study of these charts reveals a very
interesting history of the North
Carolina inlets. At one time or
another, there were 15 different
inlets between the northern part
of the state and Beaufort Inlet,
where now there are five.
Ocracoke Remain* Open
Ocracoke Inlet appears on all the
charts and apparently has been
open during the entire 365 year
period. Hatteras Inlet is missing
from the charts made in 1770 and
1780, so it must have been closed
during at least that 10 year period.
Drum Inlet, pictured here, is shown,
in the 1585 to 1763 charts, but is
absent from the chart* from 1770
to 1785. Drum Inlet was again open
ed during .the 1933 hurricane and
has remained open since that time.
Water which goes through the
inlets carries sand picked up near
the inlet. The flooding water de
posits the sand inside the inlet as
shown in the photograph. This
filling process goes on continuous
ly and mo6t inlets have to be
dredged from time to time in oider
to maintain a given depth for nav
igation. The ebbing water deposits
sand just outside the inlet, usually
Thar' She Blows!
Capt. Charlie Car row, When
16, Helped Harpoon a Whale
Capt. Ch?:lie Carrow of Beau-,
(ort, as a lad, went fishing on the
banks and remembers the experi
ence as one of the most enjoyable
of his life.
He wrote of those days, "My
First Experience as a Fisherman,"
and enclosed the account in a let- <
ter some days ago to his brother, ?
Thomas Carrow, who lives in Ph.la
delphia. His brother forwarded
Captain Charlie's story to THE
NEWS-TIMES.
Captain Charlie, who is now 79, 1
said that he was 16 years old when
he spent the fall and winter, the
latter part of 1887 and early part
of 1888. fishing.
"I had been sick for over two
years and the doctor told my fath
er to send me on the Banks with
a crew of fishermen to see if the
sun and salt water would help me,
with rough life in the sand.
"I stayed there three months and
gained so much and felt so much
better. The fishing stopped the
fifteenth of November. And then
another crew was going to fish for ]
porpoises and whales and I per
suaded my father to let me stay, j
with the understanding that if I
did not have a comfortable place
to stay I would come home.
"There were three other young
men from home went over there
that winter and stayed, and we all
enjoyed it and I have never en- j
joyed anything as much since; lots I
of old people and young ones and
they were just as good as they
could be. Captain Joe Lewis was
captain. We had four boats and
six men in each boat. I went in the
boat with Capt. John Lewis ? Black
John they called him ? as there
were other John's ? John Lewis,
Chief John and John Hill. We
caught quite some porpoises, over
three hundred and killed a whale.
"Black John was a great hunter
for ducks, and he was a great be
liever in dreams. And the night be
fore we killed the whale he went
out with his light and found a
large flock of Brants (ducks). He
had an eight gauge gun that car
ried 1/4 of a pound of shot. He
fired both barrels and picked up
45 Brants, went home and dream
ed that we were going to kill a
whale, and got up and came to the
camp at 4 a.m. in February and
called me and told me we were go
ing to kill a whale that day and
told me where he was sitting when
he saw her and the direction she
was, and that she was not hard to
kill. He wanted to do it when light
came.
"He took his seat where he
dreamed he was and concentrated
his eye. Then he told me to get
his irons, that was the harpoon
standing right by him, and fill the
water jug. And between 8 a.m. and
9 a.m. he saw her and by 11 a.m.
she was dead and we were towing
her ashore. Everything happened
just as he dreamed.
"We had several old men in the
crew. Capt. John's Father shot
three booms in her and the third
one exploded. It sounded like
worse than thunder. All these old
men had helped to kill several.
One was Indian and Spanish. He
had helped to kill 98 and wanted
to help to get 100. I could sit all
day and listen to him tell his ex
periences.
"We sold the whale to Mr. Char
lie Wallacc for five hundred dol
lars. I made fifteen dollars, and I
never enjoyed any six months as
much as I did them because I was
a boy, my health had improved and
I weighed 30 lbs. more than when
I went over there."
Captain Charlie added a bit last
week to the story above, which was
written soon after he helped har
poon the whale. There were five
men from Beaufort fishing on the
banks that winter, Joe Wolf, He?ry
Whitehurst, Bob Gardner, Ike Noe,
and himself.
Of the five, only he and Ike, who
lives In Beaufort also, are still liv
ing.
in the form of a bar or delta. Wave
action tends to keep this sand lev
elled off so the channeled appear
ance of the inside deposits is not
found outside.
The closing of inlets is a natural
process due to filling in by sand.
The longshore currents enter the
picture here. Sand is picked up
from the up-current area and is de
posited on the north side of the
channel, making the channel nar
rower. Water moves faster through
the narrower channel and 'washes
sand away from the side oppocite
the filling. As long as the scour
ing of the south side keeps pace
with the filling on the north, the
channel remains open but moves
slowly southward.
When filling occurs faster than
scouring for a long enough period
of time, the inlet becomes closed.
As a general rule, it is not feasible
to construct man-made inlets, be
cause the fact that no inlet exists
in a given spot is an indication that
the longshore currents carry
enough material to close an inlet
at that point. Inlets can be con
structed and can be kept open by
suitable- jetties, but the cost of con
struction and maintenance would
be enormous. So unless an inlet,
or proposed inlet, has considerable
economic importance, it seems best
to let nature handle the matter.
Summarizing, it may be said that
waves form inlets, tides keep them
open, and longshore currents close,
them.
Bow Lang?
Many people, looking at the map
of North Carolina, wonder how
long that "atrip of land" known as
the outer banks will stay where it
is. Studies indicate that offshore
bars tend to move landward. The
waves that formed them in the
first place now attack them and
tend to waab them away. Coupled
with the erosion of the seaward
faee is the filling of the sounds
with sand blown from the banks
into the sounds and sediments
brought "in by coastal rivers. The
narrower sounds will undoubtedly
disappear first and Pamlico Sound
Inspectors Work
Along Coast
To help enforce fishery regula
tions and collect license fees on
commercial fishing gear, the com
mercial fisheries division employs
inspectors and law enforcement
supervisors along the coast.
Inspectors and their location*
are as follows: Carl P. White, Pop
lar Branch; U. G. Wise, Stumpy
Point; W. P. Burrus, Englehard;
W. H. Stowe, Belhaven; T. M. Pop
perville, Washington, N. C.; Clifton
Wilson. Southport; Nolie Fulcher,
Atlantic; Richard Davis, Davis;
Fenner Whitfield, Lowlands, and L.
W. Hassell, Beaufort.
Law enforcement supervisors are
E. L. Nicholson, Burgaw, and F. E,
Hopkins, Vandemere.
Capt. Ira Willis, Morehead City,
and C.* R. Webb, Swansboro. for
mer inspectors, retired in July.
Should other inspectors be re
quired, they are hired on commis
sion basis. Additional inspector*
are always taken on during the
oyster season, Oct. 1 to March L
They are required to see that the
oysters taken pass the 3-inch cull
law.
will likely be the last to go.
Our children and their children
will likely know Topsail. Stump,
Bogue, and Core Sounds. But
should our civilization escape tha
atom bomb or even more efficient
methods of destruction. More head
City and Beaufort may some day
find themselves resting on tha
shores of the Atlantic.
Fish Attacks Fisherman
Singapore? (AP) ? A mammoth
swordfish leapt into a 10-foot fish
ing boat, carried out a split-second
attack on the Malay fisherman and
dived back into the sea. The fish
erman suffered a deep flesh wound.
The fish nearly capsized the craft
during the attack.