A Pirate's Life for Me!

Burning beneath the glow of a crescent moon, the infamous flaming ship of Ocracoke jumped off the page and entered my mind, providing an inner warmth and sense of adventure. Lin Taylor's illustration on the cover of Charles Harry Whedbee's addicting compilation of Outer Banks tales enraptured my young, impressionable mind. Reading the author's account of the flaming ship further cemented my love for Ocracoke and all things pirate.

I'm an OBX lifer, a person who remembers the good old days before OBX was used as the slogan for this network of islands along the Pamlico Sound. I've been vacationing on Cape Hatteras most of my life (Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras, to be exact), and a day trip to Ocracoke Island was always an annual journey.

In these early years, the island's pirate history provided a framework for enjoying Ocracoke's wonderment. Sitting in the back of our beat-up Dodge van, squished in between captain's seats and dealing with the territoriality of my four older siblings, I ventured to Ocracoke with a sepia-toned image of discovering the true whereabouts of Blackbeard's headless body. We were only going to the island for some beach fun, a visit to the lighthouse and maybe a stop at the always crowded and scrumptious Jolly Roger, but my mind raced to bands of pirates and the attraction of buried treasure.

My parents kept me busy with several books of pirate lore: Nancy Roberts' "Blackbeard and Other Pirates of the Atlantic Coast," plus Whedbee's "Blackbeard's Cup and Stories of the Outer Banks" and "Outer Banks Mysteries & Seaside Stories." I learned about Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, and his connection with Ocracoke. I fantasized about swimming at Teach's Hole (an activity I actually didn't enjoy until adulthood), wading around, grasping the soft sand for any hint of gold or a skeletal mass.

My love for the romanticized view of piracy spilled over into merchandising. I walked the aisles of the Pirate's Chest gift shop, often skipping the conch shells and T-shirts, looking for reclaimed gold coins and that iconic flag with the skeleton piercing a bleeding heart. That was Blackbeard's flag, and I loved the iconic simplicity of its fearsome message.

I ate my kid's meal on the docks of the Jolly Roger, chomping down on beer-battered onion rings and looking out into Silver Lake, squinting at the horizon and hoping to see a time-traveling vessel.

Although my yearnings to encounter Blackbeard and his legend always fell short, there was an earned happiness on my ferry ride back to Cape Hatteras. Ocracoke, in a young person's mind, is the haunt of Atlantic Ocean pirates, no matter if the swashbuckling, one-eyed, right-hooked baddies were still living or not. The culture of the island seemed to embrace its pirate identity, capitalizing on its seclusion and rule-breaking mentality. I should have realized that I wasn't looking for pirates on Ocracoke; instead, the island was letting me become a pirate for a day. This tradition continues in the 21st century for both young and old.

My fascination with the nasty nauticals is still present in 2014. I have since expanded my Outer Banks vacation to include a full week on Ocracoke. Although I'm no longer caressing the pirate objects in the Pirate's Chest or expecting to find Blackbeard's body beneath the sand, the love of these bandits and their unique lifestyle persists. Today, with more knowledge and repeat viewings of "Black Sails" on Starz, I'm able to appreciate the pirate culture of Ocracoke and still take part in the adventures.

I head to Teach's Hole Channel, walking from Highway 12 along Lighthouse Road. Heading through Springer's Point Preserve, the bird-watching paradise that features strikingly beautiful maritime forest, it's still easy to fantasize about the pirates that may be roasting a pig and dancing in the moonlight just around the bend. This sandy walk along the southwestern section of Ocracoke, usually accompanied by lizards along the way, is a metaphorical gateway. Visitors leave the bustle of Ocracoke Village and the craziness of their home lives and pass through the thick forest to a world populated only by the sounds of the surf.

Once through the maze of trees, some growing horizontally as much vertically, the first glimpses of blue can be seen. The stretch of beach, what my family calls Blackbeard's beach, features small, rippling waves and a postcard view of the ships between Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands. Even as an adult, someone who should have long ago given up such fantasies, I find myself stealing glances of the horizon. I know Blackbeard's body is not going to pop out of the water. I know that glint when I squeeze my eye is not resurfaced gold. I know the connection of pirate history with the present is loose at best. But still I look, searching the waters and the skies for the flaming ships and black flags of my youth. I hope one day I find them. Until then, I don't tell too many people about this hidden beach, just in case the gold is still out there.

Thanks to John for contributing another great story to the Current. Before this, he wrote about discovering Ocracoke and staying on the island for the first time, and about visiting Portsmouth Island.

If the lure of Ocracoke's pirate lore shivers your timbers, take note of these two events taking place in 2014:

Ocracoke Alive is reviving the musical "A Tale of Blackbeard"! It will be staged for a week of performances in May, and again every Monday night from June – August. More info here. 

And… The Blackbeard's Pirate Jamboree will happen again on Ocracoke this October 31- November 2. This three-day event is free and family friendly! More info here.