By all reports last night's rain was not as bad as had been expected.  That's great news for those areas still dealing with some flooded streets.

I snapped the post picture over at Bogue Inlet Pier yesterday just before 1 PM.  With the way blue skies have been hiding from us, I thought that I had better take advantage of their brief appearance.

Last year on November 23, the wake up temperature was 32.5F, this year's 59F is a significant improvement.  I hope this warm air trend continues.

Now if some good sized trout will just show up.

We awoke this morning to our heat pumps running for the first time in weeks.  The outside temperature was 45 degrees.  That actually convinced me to wear jeans to the mailbox instead of shorts.

The best part of getting up was seeing some blue skies.  Yesterday looked like it was going to be a pretty day early, but before the morning was out the clouds had taken over.

I had to work at the real estate office in the morning, but after that we headed over to Jordan's for lunch. Oysters were on my mind, and the only cure would be finding some oysters to eat.

We had tried about a week ago on Saturday night, but we had given up when we saw about thirty men walk up to the door at Jordan's.

We had much better luck this Saturday.  For the first ten minutes we were there, we were the only customers in the dining room.  The waitress said things had been slow this week.

Of course that meant we got our orders in just minutes. We did not even have time to finish our hush puppies before our food came.  The oysters and flounder were delicious.
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This morning we awoke to some welcome blue skies.  I was beginning to think that our blue skies had moved permanently offshore.

It is surprising how tough it is to take a few days of overcast skies.  We have had a few brief glimpses of the sun, but today looks like we might have a chance to enjoy it.

At least we have been warm.  Neither one of our heat pumps have been running so that always makes us smile.  This has been a much warmer fall than last year.

My second planting tomatoes are still surviving.  Last year at this time they were gone.  In fact the wake up temperature on November 21 last year was 39 degrees Fahrenheit.  This year it was 54 degrees.  I will take that 15 degrees and run to the bank with it.

We did make a run over to Emerald Isle yesterday.  I talked to Mayor Art Schools, and he confirmed my suspicion that the recent flooding along Coast Guard Road was highly unusual and due to 17+ inches of rain coming at a time of very high tides.  read more »

We have been promised some sun for this afternoon.  I hope so.  With last night's low temperature being 64 degrees,  we can expect some nice temperatures this afternoon if the sun will just come out.

I have been wanting to go surf fishing for several days.  I just have not been able to get the nice weather and my free time to line up properly.

Certainly no one can complain about this week's temperatures.  Of course we probably would have enjoyed them more with out the nearly 5.5 inches of rain.

It is hard to complain about temperatures in the sixties and seventies the last week of November even if there is a little fog and mist.

This morning picture would be a great one if it were a nice canal someplace.  However, it is Ocean Drive near Deer Horn Dunes just off Coast Guard Road.

Some folks who had been over on Emerald told me how bad the water was so in the few minutes of light left after work, I headed over to the island.  I was impressed by the water, but I do not think it was as bad as it was when we had the twelve inches of rain.

Last night on the TV news they announced that a larger pump was going into action.  That is a good thing because I think the water is getting a little stagnant.

I wonder if this is going to activate some mosquito eggs that have not been wet in  a while?

It is time we stopped having these five plus inch storms.

It is hard to say what is next, growing gills or webbed feet. Last night we had another deluge.  This morning my rainfall total since yesterday afternoon was 5.4 inches.

All you have to is add that to the 12 inches we had in the earlier storm this month to get 17.4 inches of rain for November.  The month is along way from being over.

Four storms this year have delivered roughly 33 inches of rain.  I suspect that is more rain that we got in the first year we lived here.

We are lucky at our home that a big storm like this just slides on by our home.  The White Oak River at this point is in places over a mile wide so it can take the water.  It will be interesting to see high tide today, but the tides have backed off a little already from the extreme one earlier in the week, so I doubt we will have any tide problem.

However, this will set up back in getting the one cleared up once again.  Perhaps this will not be as bad as the double whammy of a nor'easter and a lot of rain.

Having lived on the coast before, I know it is easy to get downpours so it is just one of the things that happens.
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By the time I went out to check things this morning around 7 AM, the temperature was already over sixty degrees Fahrenheit.  Some rain had fallen during the night, but the warmth made up for the dampness.

We are expecting showers today so I probably will not get to finish my yard work or sneak over to the beaches for some surf fishing.

Still it looks like the temperatures are going to remain in the seventies for the next few days.  It is too bad some places have to live by the time of year instead of by the weather that we have.

The Hammocks Beach Ferry has closed for the year.  I am sure the weather has been good enough to have extended the season this year.  With state budgets the way they are, it is not hard to understand why that has not happened, but I bet there are a lot of surf fishermen who would pay for a ride over to Hammocks beach.  read more »

This morning was cool and damp with a little fog on the White Oak.  By the time I was out looking at houses around 9:30 AM there was plenty of sunshine.

By 2 PM the temperature had managed to get up to 64 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is unlikely that we will climb into the upper seventies like we did yesterday.

Still this is a pretty nice day for the 17th of November.  I could be stuck in Fairbanks, Alaska where it is -12 Fahrenheit and snowing.

All things considered, the east coast is basking in warmth.  Even Fredericton, New Brunswick on Canada's east coast is 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

We have some showers coming in the next few days, but the temperatures are supposed to stay in the seventies.

You will hear no complaints from me.

It was off to the real estate office this morning for some desk duty.  It was cool enough this morning that I wore jeans which is not normally something that I do before December.

I did get one call from a Marine in Helsinki.  Hopefully he can convince his wife that the Crystal Coast is just as nice as San Diego.

I have been to both places.  I seriously doubt that I could afford to live on the water in San Diego.  I am not certain what kind of boating water they have, but I really like our boating.

When I got home, I guess I was not thinking because I changed back into work jeans.  When I went to do some yard work and  cut down on next spring's weeds, it did not take me long to figure out that I was over dressed.

I quickly got back into shorts.  I ran out of the material I was applying, and we had to make a quick trip to Redfearn's in Cedar Point.

My wife who ran in to get my chemical, told me they are planning their black Friday sale this Friday and Saturday.

So mark your calendar, hot deals will be available in Cedar Point at the end of this week.
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We are starting today with blue skies and no wind.  There is a little fog hanging near the water, but it seems to be disappearing.

Our temperatures are in the mid-fifties, and we should get into the mid-seventies.  That is pretty good for the middle of November.

If I were not working at the real estate office this morning, I would be tempted to go fishing.

It appears that we are still going to get a very high tide this morning but as we saw yesterday the waters over in the ocean are pretty calm so I am thinking I need to fish soon before the temperatures start declining.

When we were out in the boat yesterday, the river temperatures were around 59-61 degrees.

There were no people fishing on the river which is not something that you often see.  That was not the case for the beach.

It was back to shorts weather this afternoon.  We went for a walk on the beach just before noon, and I made the mistake of wearing blue jeans.

We came back from the beach and hopped right on the boat for a quick ride down to Swansboro.    I could stay cool there by keeping the speed at a reasonable level.

One of the buoys on the White Oak River is missing after all the rain.  If  you are coming back from Swansboro, after you pass the island, you make a cut towards the eastern shore of the White Oak and then make another cut up river.  At that point your boat is aimed directly for the campground that you can see far up the river. 

The next buoy which I think is number 11 is missing.  It is buoy where you make the final cut towards the eastern shore of the White Oak (and Silver Creek Plantation).

At the next buoy after the missing one, you make another cut up river.  Perhaps if I have time tomorrow I will run out and take some pictures from the spot of the missing buoy.   I have it marked with my GPS so if I took some pictures, it would be easy to figure out where to turn.
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This morning according the weathermen we were supposed to wake up to fog.  That has not happened.  We are seeing some hints of blue sky.

The sun is also trying to burn through the clouds.  The tides remain very high and within an inch or two of what we saw during the peak of Ida.

I just read that Route 12 is still closed so I am wondering how my friends from Virginia will get to Hatteras Island for their fishing trip.  I sent them a note suggesting that they might want to pack some extra weights as it will likely take a few days for the surf to settle down out there.

We have some company this morning so we are headed over to the Emerald Isle beaches later this morning.  Perhaps I will have some more interesting pictures to post later in the day.

This morning when I went out to get the newspaper I was greeted with a very high tide that was within an inch or two of the highest tide we saw when the remnants of Ida were on top of us.

The high tide had flooded an area around the Bluewater Cove clubhouse.  The boardwalk is almost under water, and there are some azaleas that are underwater.

Just since 9 AM we have seen the sun peak out from behind the clouds a little.  Still my skiff is only about six inches out of the water.  I could raise it another few inches, but the water is starting to go down at 9:30 AM.

Our boat ramp has plenty of water this morning  as does the Inlet headed to the White Oak.  read more »

Ida's water are being persistent here on the coast.  There are still plenty of flooded spots still around and drainage ditches remain full to the brim.

This afternoon we headed over to the Emerald Isle Post Office.  On the way back, I decided to explore Coast Guard Road where reports had indicated some flooding.

We were barely past the Pebble beach entrance when we ended up driving in axle deep water.

Just a little farther down the road, I snapped this picture of the wake of a school bus.

We turned around at the back Land's End gate.  I know there was more flooding closer to the Point, but my wife was not interested in driving around in flood waters on Friday the thirteenth.

This morning clouds are still here, and we have even had some additional rain.  When I checked our gauge this morning, another two tenths of an inch of rain had fallen.

That puts us at 11.9 inches.   With the showers we had just before 9 AM, we could easily be over the magic 12 inches.

I am amazed that we have survived what can only be called a deluge with just some minor flooding and one road, West Firetower washed out.

Having one road washed out and nothing happening to fix it makes me wonder how quickly anything would happen if we had a number of serious problems.

We will probably head over to the Island again today, perhaps Coast Guard Road has dried up enough to be passable.

At least this morning's tide high tide was a foot or so lower.  That was a welcome change.

As is often the case during a storm, my wife and I went looking for the danger spots.  First we checked out West Firetower Road which is our normal route to town.  The almost one foot of rain had washed out its shoulder, forcing closure and causing us a slight detour.

Next we headed across the Cameron-Langston Bridge to Emerald Isle.  It is great place to survey the area, and if we are having serious winds you can usually feel them.   The winds were not bad on the bridge, but we run into increasing misty rain.

I wanted to check out the surfers at Bogue Inlet Pier.  It always seems to draw a crowd.  I was really surprised when we got there.  There were plenty of surfers, but the waves were not as impressive as we often see when a big storm is well off shore.  read more »

We have been in the mountains of Virginia for a few days, but we had the pleasure of driving home during the siege of rain that hit North Carolina yesterday.

We had spent a rainy Tuesday night celebrating one of my college roommates sixtieth birthday near Pittsboro, NC.  When we left in the afternoon the rains in the Raleigh area were still very steady.  As we neared the coast, the rains slackened.

We got home just before 5 PM.  Based on my experience with storms like this, I removed the guides for my lift so I could raise our skiff another foot or so.

I checked our rain gauge, and it had four inches of rain.  Around 9 PM the rains increased in intensity.  At 11 PM before going to bed, I checked the gauge again.  It was full at 6 inches so I emptied it.

It rained heavily all night.  When I checked the gauge this morning at 6:45 AM, it had another 5.5 inches of rain in it for a total of 11.5 inches.  read more »

This is the time of the year that we get to watch the annual migration of the big boats from north to south.  Many of the boats have been holed up in cooler waters because their insurance requires them to stay there until hurricane season is gone.

Now that November is here,  the annual migration has started in earnest.  Someone told me that there were three sailboats parked in Swansboro harbor the other night.

Swansboro harbor is just overflow sailboat parking for Beaufort.  If there were three in Swansboro, there were lots in Beaufort.

Certainly it is a great time of the year to be on the water and traveling on the water.

It is a lot of fun watching the big boats head south.  I often wonder what percentage of the boats have owners on them compared to the number who are just sailing south with a crew and waiting to meet up with owners?

I love the sunsets that we get in fall and winter here on the Crystal Coast.  With cool clear air covering the area, all you have to do for a great shot is show up at sunset.

I took this shot from some steps going to the beach just off Heverly Drive in Emerald Isle. This particular camera, a Pansonic Lumix DMC ZS-1, has a 12X zoom so you can get an interesting perspective when zoomed far into the distance.

Yesterday was another great day here on the coast.  We made a stop by Winberry's Produce in Cedar Point and bought a half bushel bag of sweet potatoes for $8.  In order to make it manageable for us we handed some out both at our real estate office and at the Fairway where we stopped to enjoy lunch.

I had my regular wings feast to take advantage of their Thursday special of forty cent wings.  My wife got some of Shelby's Chicken and Pastry which is her favorite meal.
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My wife tells me that at just before six AM,  we were very foggy.  I am glad that I missed that.

A couple of hours later when I wandered out for the newspaper, there were hints of the fog still floating in the air.

There was more than a hint of coolness in the air this morning.  We were down to 51F.  I will be curious to see if the water temperature takes another dive.

It looks like we will get our first taste of the thirties this Friday night.  I might have to cover my tomato plants.  My plants have a number of green tomatoes on them.  There is one tomato that should be ready to pick today.  That will be the third tomato off of the plants that I put in the ground on August 22.

The moon was still hanging just below a branch of one of the big pine trees this morning.  It was one of those special Crystal coast mornings where you have to search for clouds.
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Today was another great day on the coast.  It has been a busy fall and the weather has been very cooperative.

I had enough chasing fish yesterday so I stayed home to work.  We got lots done.  I even did some painting to get the house in shape for some visitors next week.

I also got some writing done.  I did a post for the Crystal Coast Living blog that I write.

About 4:30 PM, I told my wife that we needed to grab a few minutes outside enjoying the weather instead of working.

She agreed, and we hopped in our skiff, dropped it into the water and began a leisurely cruise to watch the sun disappear into the horizon.

On the way back, I turned around and snapped this picture.  I think it was the best of all the ones I took.  It certainly caught the spirit of the moment.

You can view a larger version of the image at this link.

The seventh annual Gordie McAdams Speckled Trout Surf Fishing Tournament, sponsored by Emerald Isle Parks & Recreation and The Reel Outdoors will run from Oct. 24 to Dec. 5. Registration is free. Pre-registration is required and the deadline is Wed., Oct. 21 at 5pm. All trout must be caught by fishing on foot (surf, pier, inlet, sound) from Fort Macon to EI. NO BOATS.  The official weigh-in station is The Reel Outdoors. For more info.  contact Brittany Wood at 252-354-6350 or bwood@emeraldeisle-nc.org.

The Emerald Isle Holiday Parade will be held Sat., Nov. 28, beginning at 4pm. The parade begins at CVS Pharmacy on Emerald Drive. Also after the parade there will be an official Christmas tree lighting at Merchants's Park. Enjoy free refreshments as well as a carol sing-a-long as Santa Claus visits with the children. Call 252-354-2916 for details or email dschools@ec.rr.com.

The Swansboro Christmas Flotilla will be held Friday, Nov. 27,  in Historic Downtown Swansboro. It will begin at dusk. For details call Judy Hailey at 910-326-7370 or email tpevents2@earthlink.net.