Next week we will be going out on another Outer Banks kayak tour for the full moon. This tour starts out an hour before the sunsets. We get the sunset and then the moon rise. It is like two tours in one. This is a must do if you are visiting the outer banks next week. Tours will go out both Monday and Tuesday nights. We hope you can join us!

Joe

We have three new guides who have completed their guide training. Hannah, Nelson, and Megan have joined the crew. Kevin, Jackson, and Ben have returned from their winter obligations and are back leading the best Outer Banks kayak tours. James who came earlier in the spring has been crucial in assisting with this years guide training. James’ knowledge of coastal ecology and his ability to teach others has been a huge help this past spring. If you are looking to go on an Outer Banks’ kayak tour, our guides make the difference. We look forward to taking you kayaking real soon!

It was a beautiful full moon tour tonight. We got out on the water about an hour before sunset. On our way out to the bay through the maze of marsh island we saw a family of river otter playing about 50 feet from our kayaks. We were down wind, allowing us to watch them with out disturbing their fun. We must have watched them for about 10 minutes before they departed with the setting sun. Little did we know that the moon had risen behind us in all its glory. It was fabulous, the glow of the moon illuminated the waters and our night vision took over. It is amazing how well you can see with the glow of the moon on the water. The next hour was spent weaving our way through the marsh and listening to all the frogs as we made our way back to the landing. What a night!

Last tour was on Sunday afternoon. I took out a real cool family (Joe, Charlene and Kate) to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. It was very windy here on the OBX, so it was nice to have the shelter from all that wind with all the big cypress, pine and cedar. We located two large alligators in the first few minutes of kayaking (Kate spotted the first one). We also watched a cool cotton mouth snake on sandy ridge trail at the old location of limbo bridge, it was coiled up on the water waiting for a fish to swim past. It is the first snake sighting of the season believe it or not.

James and I are going out on our own tomorrow to do some additional training. He will be taking out his first solo tour on Saturday. He is ready, I’ve already learned a lot from him.

Joe

It has been kind of grey and cold here the past few days. It should be a little nicer tomorrow. We have our first tour of the year to the Maritime Forest of Kitty Hawk. That is all for now, I will report back after tomorrows tour.

Joe

We are still waiting for real spring weather to arrive here on the Outer Banks. Today we are taking out a small group to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. I hope it gets to 50 degrees today. That is about 10-15 degrees cooler then average for late March.

Yesterday, James took his girl friend out kayaking to Alligator River. They saw a big alligator on the back end of Sawyer lake. They also heard red wolves respond to their wolf howling just before sunset. James is our newest addition to the Coastal Kayak team. This was his first experience hearing the red wolves howling on the refuge.

It looks like it will remain cool the next few days with warmer temps later in the week with a little rain.

Joe

The first day of spring brought in some colder weather. The past few days were real nice with temps getting into the 70ies. We had some great tours to Pine Island and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. We have seen alligators on all three trips this year to Alligator River NWR and saw 2 black bear on thursday. Thursdays sunset trip finished with the cold front coming in just as we finished the tour. The temperature dropped 10 degrees in minutes. Next week is going to get nice and warm. Should be great kayaking weather.

Joe

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