Hey everyone!

Just spent a week on the Outer Banks for New Year's...

We took a drive down the coast...the Isabel damage is amazing. Houses swept off piles...the decimated Hatteras Cabanas...other motels lying on their side with walls missing so you can see inside the rooms...and the drive over the breach was moving. The pavement is black as Bodie's lantern after the rebuilding.

That's right. To all my observations, the light at Bodie Island, NC is dark.

I couldn't see the large Fresnel lens glowing. We drove by the light in the dark on the way back up to Corolla, and I could see the faint outline of the tower, but no light above it. Anyone know about this?

There's also a new boardwalk at Ocracoke over the old trail...ruins the old photo chances with the fence without getting the planks in there (though some of our Master Photographers may be able to do it). And I got my first nighttime shots of Hatteras, or any light for that matter, at a loo break at the visitors center.

Also, I had a fun time mailing myself postcards from all the lighthouses on the banks. Not just shove 'em all in one mailbox..no, that would be too easy. Instead, I put the Currituck one in the mailbox in Corolla, the Bodie one was shipped out of Nags Head, Hatteras will arrive from Buxton, and Ocracoke from, well, Ocracoke. Of course, there is a chance they will all end up with a postmark from some sorting center or something, but I'll take that chance. Look for something on this in the postcard forum.

All in all, lots of fun...can't wait to go back (next time is our 10th!)

Did you sit and watch the tower, or was that just as it was going in an out of the trees? The light at Bodie flashes and is only on for 2.5 seconds followed by a 22.5 second period of darkness.

Hmmm..we were driving along the road with the trees that could be obstructions...but I didn't see anything that looked like it had the power of Bodie's lens droving over the Bonner. I looked for it. I might have seen it, but thought it was just another radio tower or something.

Hmmm....now I'm not sure...

Greg, the Bodie Island First Order Lens is flashing in all her glory. Sorry you missed it. The flash pattern is as Weasel describes it...there is a period of darkness.

One of my favorite things to do at OBX is visit Bodie after dark, and just gaze at it, watching the pattern of light to darkness.

Maybe on your next visit, you can take the opportunity to drive down the long drive in, and spend some time there. Go in and visit in the keeper's dwelling.

Ocracoke was decorated for Christmas while you were there...should have made for a beautiful photo.

Judy

Yes, It did...a nice wreath on the lantern. I'll have to dig out the photo (I decided to save time this upload by just calling the photos DCF349574 or whatever the number was...probably not a good idea!). It was really festive.

Also...I got my postcards back...and they all ended up being postmarked from Rocky Mount, NC. UGH! But it's kind of cool, becuase I have the Currituck one postmarked with the last possible postmark of 2003 (12/31) and the others with the first possible postmark of 2004 (1/2 as the post offices were closed on New Year's). I pinned them all up on my lighthouse bulliten board, which I made by painting the wooden frame of an old 22"x17" bulliten board blue, gluing lighthouse fabric to it, and gluing a pretty blue ribbon around the edges. It's really cool, especially with the fabric by the guy who does all the Americana style art. I forgot his name...it'll come to me.

If there's enough interest, I could make up directions on how to make the bulletin board.

I was also on the outer banks over new years and can definitely confirm that Bodie Island was dark at least on friday morning. I was there early trying to get some sunrise photographs.

Here is Ocracoke all dressed up:

Nice photo, Bryan!
I've been to Bodie atleast a dozen times during the past year and its been working each time. Maybe the winter schedule has changed things or, perhaps they were performing maintenance on it.

This is definitely a curiosity!

We're checking w/ the Park Service to see what was going on...I'll let you know what we find out.

Judy

Thanks Bryan for the photo...I wasn't thinking and tried to get all my photos without the wreath so that it wouldn't look funny on my site in the middle of July. The only ones I had were from a 45-degree angle...but yours are much better.

OK..so it wasn't just me that saw Bodie dark. As I saw it on 1/1, my theory is that they deactivated it starting on the new year...something that is often done with these types of situations. But Bryan saw it dark too, on the same week, so now I don't feel like I'm going crazy.

Thanks, Judy for getting on top of it...if it's out, I'm gonna scream.