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05/11/03; Hatteras, North Carolina

 

The Wright Brothers were right!

 

We pulled into our motel in Hatteras about 1600 after a very adventurous day along the Atlantic Shore. Leaving Wilmington at our normal time, we arrived at Cedar Island around 1030. That’s as far as you can drive, unless you have an amphibious car! The ferry was due to leave at 1200, so we purchased our tickets ($15 each) and got the cars in line. Then we killed time on the porch of the Visitor’s Center and walked about a bit. Eventually the ferry arrived and we were boarded. The boat ride was two hours to the village of Ocracoke on an island of the same name. On the cruise, we opened our picnic baskets and had a repast. 

 

We dashed up the reasonably good road at 50-MPH hoping to get to Nags Head in time to check in at one of our “cheap” motels. Whoa! The road ended again at the north end of the island! Keith hadn’t seen the little dotted line in the road on the map – we had to wait for another ferry! This wait was about 30 minutes and the free ride was in the order of 45 minutes. We decided that it might be prudent to seek a room when we got off the ferry at the village of Hatteras, so that is what we did. We want to visit the Wright Brothers Memorial near Kitty Hawk in the morning. It doesn’t open until 0900, so we can easily get there on our normal departure schedule. So we are now ensconced in the Sea Gull Motel – nothing fancy but recommended by AAA. Internet connection is via a toll call, so we will not be sending any report until tomorrow evening.

 

As we passed the Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejune, Keith, who was in the lead, had to call a halt and we pulled into a parking lot to investigate the source of “Clara’s” fever.  The coolant recovery tank was full (normal for the driving speed and outside temperature); however, the coolant temperature was running over 200 degrees! We had noted several occasions in the past few days when the recovery tank was overflowing slightly and surmised that the system needed extra water. We poured some into the tank and watched as the thirsty radiator drank it down. Thereafter everything was normal. With Clara’s  “closed” coolant system, it is difficult to determine the coolant level. Keith must be more perceptive in the future.

 

About the Wright Brothers -- during their early years experimenting with flying machines, they asked the US Weather Service where they could find constant winds of about 25-MPH. They were directed to Kitty Hawk in the Cape Hatteras area. Not only were the winds favorable, but the terrain was comprised of numerous high sand dunes from which they could safely launch their gliders. In this, as in other areas of their search for the solution to powered flight, they were right on!

 

Tomorrow, we anticipate seeing the place where the Wrights made history nearly 100 years ago.

 

Wind blown, but undaunted,

 

The Four

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