Surfing Shoals and Sharks

Of course we know there are sharks in the waters around Southport. Sharks are generally unseen though, and do not make themselves too present in most situations.

Thursday morning we figured we would make our "Southport Triangle" run. Basically, we launch from the waterfront near the Frying Pan restaurant and paddle across the channel to Battery Island, which is an ibis nesting ground and strictly off limits in season.

Ibis on Battery Island

Then we cross the Cape Fear River to Bald Head Island. We always stop there for coffee and muffins at the Sand Piper. We then head out to Jaybird Shoals for some play, before completing our "triangle" back to our launch spot.

Um, well, it would look like a triangle more, except we are in human-powered vessels at the mercy of the winds and currents. Maybe I will just say the above is our concept of a triangle. Eh, whatever.

Everything was pretty much like always. The currents are really strong and the wind always blows there. Really, there is no such thing as a calm day. Coming around Battery I saw a sea turtle! Its head was about the size of a golfball or a bit bigger. I was greatly pleased, and this will not be our only wildlife encounter of the day.

We made an easy landing on West Beach and headed for the Sand Piper. We got our coffee and muffins. Sitting on the Sand Piper's deck I said "you cannot convince me this is not heaven."

We had an easy launch right after an empty container ship went by. We wanted to get off the beach before the wake from the huge ocean-going vessel crashed ashore. Out to the shoals we went. These shoals are sand, huge sand bars that move around.

Getting to Jaybird Shoals the breaks were perfect for surfing. The water was much clearer there than it is inside the river. The white sands were clearly visible beneath our boats as we made our first few passes. Then, I saw something I have never seen Fish do before. He went from paddling to lifting his paddle up horizontally, at shoulder height, just as a wave crashed over his bow. Now we both know this is a no-no. It is bad form and can get one capsized. He hollered something I could not make out so I sped forward and heard him yell again "SHARKS!" waggling his paddle side to side. I made out two large dark shapes, one on either side of his boat, rocketing towards me. They passed me, riding in the wave that had crashed past him.

The water was so clear. I instantly I.D.ed them as bull sharks. Ah. So. Right, murky river mouth, warm sandy shores, and bull sharks. Of course. No surprise, really. Several kids lost arms right near here last year to bull shark attacks. As well, we spooked a huge bull out of the shallows inside the river mouth last year, to the day.

Oh, I was elated. I love seeing sharks. Now these, we know they will bite if they feel threatened. But for whatever reason I was a little cautioned but certainly not dissuaded from surfing. Not when there is perfect conditions, no way. Making pass after pass, I saw more and more sharks; some clearly sunbathing and others seemingly hunting. They might have been strand feeding, pressing the fish up against the sand bars. There were plenty of fish around us as well.

I caught a beautiful wave and was riding it when I realized I was turning towards a shark. Oh no. Magnet eyes, I tried to back off the wave but I crashed right into that poor unsuspecting fish. I felt like I had run over a dog. My boat went "bong!" ringing like a bell and the shark shot off into the deeper water towards the shipping channel. Ugh.

Now, Fish was also seeing more and more sharks and he, perhaps wiser than I, was beginning to become uncomfortable. He kept saying "okay, I'm good," which is shorthand for "I'm done, let's go home." But he waited for me to make more passes, eventually joining in until he saw the last shark he wanted to see for the day. He saw an 8 footer, big and beefy, where the others had all been 5 footers. This one was hearty and accompanied by a couple of 5 footers. I caught sight of her moments later and felt like, "yeah, I'm good, too."

I had a fair amount of water in my boat, spray decks are not really water tight. So I decided to land on the exposed shoals to dump my boat and drink some water. Fish was not having any of that. He stayed in his boat, rather unusual.

My Romany, Bald Head Island in the distance

Fish sitting on the shoals in his Romany

I begged for just one more ride. My pal tolerantly waited as I caught one last wave. As it was turning to foam I saw a shark coming towards me with a flash of silver sides, and black outlined fins. Ah, a blacktip, different from the bulls we had been seeing. More than one type of shark in the same area?

Okay, let's make for home. All is well. We crossed the channel to buoy 13A and saw a small pod of 5 dolphins. With squeals of delight we cried "squirrel, squirrel!" our little inside joke.

As we were pushing in against the outgoing tide and combined river current I saw a tiny sea turtle swimming past my boat. My heart swelled with joy.

Pausing at Battery for the Bald Head Ferry to go by we saw two more sea turtles. This, this was a special day. Surfing, turtles, porpoise, and sharks, a fine day.

Heaven indeed.