Outer Banks
Along the Outer Banks, the cold waters of the Labrador Current, which originates around the Baffin Sea between Greenland and northeast coast of Canada, collide with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream flowing from Caribbean Sea. The hazards of severe weather, strong currents, and navigational challenges, particularly in the Diamond Shoals area off Cape Hatteras, combined to cause the loss of thousands of ships and an unknown number of human lives. More than 1,000 ships have sunk in these waters since records began in 1526. Among the better known shipwrecks was the USS Monitor, a participant in the famous Battle of Hampton Roads during the American Civil War. The Monitor foundered and sank on 31 December 1862 off Cape Hatteras. Survivors of a much earlier shipwreck created the lost town of Wash Woods, Virginia using lumber that washed ashore. However, the extreme weather eventually claimed the town as well.
The other spot called the Graveyard of the Atlantic is off the coast of North Carolina, where the Labrador Current and the Gulf Current meet. The Graveyard extends along the whole of the North Carolina coast, northward past Chicamacomico, Bodie Island, and Nags Head to Currituck Beach, and southward in gently curving arcs to the points at Cape Lookout and Cape Fear. This spot is known as Cape Point, which is the stretch of beach that divides Hatteras Island's north and south facing beaches. This dangerous spot is known for its good fishing and surfing. It is most famous spot on the east coast, but with every good thing there is always a price to pay. In this case it is the changing of the rough and foggy weather. The weather is known for many shipwrecks throughout the area. Cape Hatteras is a deadly trap for all sailors that have entered for the past centuries. This stretch of shore is home to more than 600 shipwrecks off the shifting sandbars of the Hatteras Islands. The sandbars shift due to rough waves and unpredictable currents.
The first recorded shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina was many centuries ago. This ship was reported in 1526, off the mouth of Cape Fear River. During this time was when everyone was excited about the new world, which attracted many explorers. The large numbers of explorers had to travel through the rough waters to get to the coast of North Carolina. This was the start of many shipwrecks on the Hatteras Islands and it still has not finished its destruction of ships today.The most recent ship taken was in October 29,2012.The HMS Bounty sank off Cape Hatteras when Hurricane Sandy came through.Two people were pronounced dead from the accident.
Read more about this topic: Graveyard Of The Atlantic
Famous quotes containing the words outer and/or banks:
“Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it, and a lethargy steals over all the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. She becomes all outer show and inward emptiness; dull, callous, and indifferent.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“I am an intelligent river which has reflected successively all the banks before which it has flowed by meditating only on the images offered by those changing shores.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)