Paddling Bogue Sound
Clem on Bogue Sound, North Carolina
In our trips to Atlantic Beach we've always lamented that there are no public boat ramps into Bogue Sound. There are a couple of private spots, but no public ramps. So when we were driving up Emerald Isle in July 2012 we were happy to see a recent North Carolina Wildlife Commission boat ramp leading into Bogue Sound. The ramp is fairly new, but since we hadn't been up this far for a few years, I'm not sure how new it is. The ramp is dedicated to North Carolina's veterans. The ramp is near milepost 18.
Raking for Clams
We unloaded Clem from the mini van and put her in the water. (We had to leave Nessie home on this trip because we have so much stuff in the garage we couldn't get her out.)
We had headed up this way to find a paddling place protected from the wind. Because the wind was really whipping up the ocean side. The wind would have made paddling on many of the places we normally go at the beach a chore. We were happy to notice that the area was well protected.
Egret
Lift Off
As soon as we launched Clem, we noticed a couple of men raking for clams (I assume) in the shallow water. The area is closed to mechanical harvesting. We saw a few other people looking for clams later in the paddle.
As we paddled we came across an egret sunning on a dock. He was shy and took off as soon as he noticed us.
We headed for an island with a small beach. We figured we'd have lunch there and find pirate gold. We had lunch but someone beat us to the gold.
Island in Bogue Sound
Island Beach
Lunch on Bogue Sound