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Made ferry reservations for tomorrow as I guess today was booked. I will be going to Cedar Island then head south along the coast to Wilmington area.

Today I will play tourist in Ocracoke.

woke up to light wind and calm seas in sound. High tide.ess

We will see how far I get today

Made it to Hatteras then with conditions changing took the free ferry to Ocracoke.

I guess they didn’t realize that a seat kayak takes the same space as a car.

Had to take the next ferry becaused kayak wouldn’t fit on the first one.

Then I had to Portage through a restricted area to launch from the beach at Ocracoke.

I paddled the length of the island in 15-20 mph headwinds, across sandbars and beds of seagrass.

I made the campground just as it got dark. I was checking in anf explained what I was doing. I got the site for free.

Had a long talk with Jim and his wife before setting up camp.

When will I ever learn not to listen to marine reports. They are seldom accurate. T pi day was suppose to be 10 mph N winds 1-2 ft seas. Okay 20-30 mph N winds 2-3 ft seas with white caps. I was headed west which meant the wind and waves were on my right most of the time, which meant all the water on my right paddle landed on me.

I made it from Buxton to Frisco in 3 hours I should have made hatteras if the report was correct.

I pulled into Frisco Woods Campground and got a site right on the sound. Maybe Chris will move NE tolnight and conditions will improve.

Ran into a Navy veteran at the campground who heard about the trip on Pirate radio 95.3 FM. Thanks Gunner.

Decided to paddle off into the sunset hahaha

Tropical Storm Chris is still sitting off the coast of NC.

Since it was the last day the wind was going to be in my favor I launched and headed south.

I made it to Buxton and got a hotel room.

Will check weather and see how far I can make it tomorrow. I will be fighting a headwind.

I noticed as I was paddling the wind starting to change direction also the tide changed from low to high which meant I was fighting against an incoming.

I am looking forward to an exhausting day tomorrow and natural light be only 20 mile distance.

Shout out to Logan at OWG where I had lunch in Avon. Thank you for keeping me company w by en you could.

Another day at KOA. The site I was on partially flooded. Of course it was right where the tent was. I had to move the tent to higher ground and then I got an idea. I used a hairdryer I carry to heat the tent to dry the floor.

Place a shoe on end to tent the bottom then place the dryer on the edge of the footprint and under the tent bottom. Set on high and let it run til dry.

http://m.ocsentinel.com/news/kayaker-s-epic-journey-spotlights-veterans-suicide/article_df8c6e20-7a19-11e8-8f8e-b39c0e2c07b2.html?mode=jqm

I think the people who design these products should try them in every possible use you can think of.

Trying to use it as a wind block over your tent so the tent doesn’t collapse for instance.

I found the tarp to absolutely useless in any wind above 10 mph in an open space situation. The fact that it isn’t square or rectangular adds to the aggvrevation of yrying to use it.

The stakes are a soft material and bend easy. They are too short for sand so I am not sure what type of soil they were thinking of. Certainly not hard soil or rocky soil.

The only time I have found it useful is when I could tie the corners on one end to something like trees or canopy and the other end staked to the ground or tied to other trees. I used stakes from my tent as kelty stakes easily come out of the ground even if driven in all the way.

So if you looking for a light weight tarp buy someone elses.

Oh the pockets they have on the corners will not hold the lines after you used it once. The lines tangle easily into knots. The plastic tensioners don’t work because the plastic is smooth as well as the line.

It has become a great disappointment. maybe it would make a good ground cloth if i took the lines off.

Well the marine report changed from last night it now includes 33 knot gusts and possibility of 6 ft seas this afternoon. Still possibility of tstorms.

Upon careful consideration i decided to hunker down 2 days and wait for the tropical depression to move on.

I had to move from tent site to rv site. Now i am in open this should be interesting as the wind is picking up.

had to use kayak to anchor tarp.

Vets 4 Warriors

1-855-838-8255

If you know a vet who may be in crisis or needs someone to talk to who can understand what they are feeling have them call.

At KOA having a day of rest after yesterday.

Checked out the pool, found a place across the street to launch, checked out ocean. I caught up on post.

Nice to have power and hot showers.