wild ponies
Farewell to the Wild Ponies of Shackleford Banks
After two weeks anchored off Shackleford Banks aboard Grit, we felt like an extension of the uninhabited island. We knew the dark blue part of the channel we needed to aim for if we didn’t want to run Grit aground as we entered the anchorage. We had seen Back Sound in a range of states, from galloping with white horse waves to reflecting the full moon’s glow. We had watched the lieutenant stallion long enough to know that when… Continue reading
Wild Ponies of Shackleford Banks Have the Last Word
It was our last day observing the wild ponies of Shackleford Banks and my wife Julia and I went out to see what they were up to.
Someone to Stand Watch: What the Wild Ponies of Shackleford Banks Still Know
My wife Julia and I had been anchored off Shackleford Banks on our sailboat Grit for nearly a week, studying the wild ponies that call the 8-mile-long uninhabited island home.
The goal was a slow, unhurried look at the bands — to really understand their social… Continue reading
The Day Grit Went Adrift, Ge Fouled and Sideswiped off Shackleford Banks
Yesterday I wrote about how Grit fouled her anchor, went adrift and got sideswiped off Shackleford Banks. That night, after the day’s adventure settled down, Julia and I sat across from each other at Grit’s cabin table and recorded what went down.
Adrift, Fouled and Sideswiped off Shackleford Banks
Six days after dropping the anchor off Shackleford Banks, and two days after the 40-knot gale beat us up, it was time to move Grit to the Bight on the eastern end of the island. The Bight is the large anchorage next to Cape Lookout lighthouse. The eastern end of Shackleford Islands is flatter, with more windswept dunes than the more forested, higher western end we’d been anchored off for nearly a week.
