These events will make for fun day trips for guests of The Winds Resort Beach Club. It is a short drive and ferry boat ride to the island from Ocean Isle and it looks to be great fun for all ages! Click here to visit The Winds’ website to learn more about the resort, its amenities and for online booking:The Winds Resort Beach Club.

See the schedule below for details or go to oldbaldy.org.
For tickets call: 910-457-7481

All Proceeds Benefit the Old Baldy Foundation Preservation Projects

For nearly 200 years, North Carolina’s oldest standing lighthouse, Old Baldy, has marked the mouth of the historic Cape Fear River. Today, thousands of visitors make the exciting journey each year to beautiful Bald Head Island to learn about the island’s rich maritime past at the Smith Island Museum of History and experience Old Baldy up close – including the climb to the top for a breathtaking view of the surrounding area’s outstanding natural beauty.

PIRATES ARE COMING AUGUST 6-8, 2010

Friday August 6th, 2010

Lighthouse Grounds Open

Lighthouse Gift Shop opens at 9am, Grounds open 1-4pm

Adults$5/Youth (3-12), Infants 2 and under Free. Visit the pirates camp, shop and climb the lighthouse.

Scalawag School

Pre-registration required, space limited

1:30pm – 2:45pm (4 – 7 year olds)

3pm – 4:15pm (8 – 12 year olds)

$20/child

Learn to walk talk and act like a pirate. Fee includes all day admission to the lighthouse grounds, a T-Shirt, eye patch, tatoos and certificate.

Island Wide Treasure Hunt

Pre-registration required, space limited

Friday 3pm – Saturday 3 pm

All ages

Registaration: 2;30pm Old Baldy Lighthouse

Cost $20/team

Test your skills in this pirate challenge designed for families. The challenge must be completed by a team of 4-6 members and the challenges span all ages from creating art to singing pirate songs, to following the clues to finding hidden treasure. The trick is you only have 24 hours to complete the challenge in order to maximize time and resources and get the most points to win.

Pirates Invade Bald Head Island

5:30pm

Free

West Beach Access #1 Turks Head Court and #2 Row Boat Row

Pirate Pub Night: Grub and Grog at the Harbour Pavillion Tent at Bald Head Island Marina: 6pm -10pm $40/Adult, $15/Youth 3-12, Infants 2 and under Free -Dine with pirates, dance to music of Rusty Cutlass direct from Disney World and bid on booty at the Auction – games for kids and cash bar for adults.

Saturday August 7st, 2010

National Lighthouse Day on the grounds of Old Baldy Lighthouse Grounds

10am -9pm $7/Adult, $5/Youth (3-12), Infants 2 and under Free.

Events Include:

• Children’s Activities
• Live Music
• Pirate Skits and Presentations
• Pirate Encampment
• Pirate Presentations
• Pirate Costume Contest 2:30pm
• Food Available 11am – 2pm and 5pm – 9pm
• Beer and Wine 5pm – 9pm
• Bring your lawn chairs for a movie on the lighthouse at 9pm

I’m A Pirate Artist

Pre-registration required, space limited

9:30am – 11am (8 – 14 year olds)

4pm – 5:30pm (7 – 12 year olds)

$15/child (fee includes drawing materials)

Michael Noles (aka Captain Red Ned Lynch) graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design, Sr. Art Director for Walt Disney Enterprises and artisits of this years pirate weekend poster will be the drawing instructor. Learn about his work, draw a pirateusing a live model and get tips from a real pirate artist.

Build and decorate your very own pirate boat, learn ship vocabulary and test your sailing skills. Fee includes boat kit, admission to the grounds all day Saturday.

Scalawag School

Pre-registration required, space limited

11:00am – 12:15am (4 – 7 year olds)

12:30pm – 1:45pm (4 – 7 year olds)

2pm – 3:15pm (8 – 12 year olds)

$20/child

Learn to walk talk and act like a pirate. Fee includes all day admission to the lighthouse grounds, a T-Shirt, eye patch, tatoos and certificate.

Sunday August8th 2010

Pirates and Pancakes
(Pre-registration required. Space limited)
10:30 AM at the Bald Head Island Club
$25/adult, $15/youth 4-12, $5/infant 3 and under.
Join the pirates as they have their last meal on Bald
Head Island at this lavish breakfast buffet. Menu:
waffles, biscuits and gravy, grits, fruit, has browns
and of course pancakes!
The Pirates Arggg Coming!!!

Garrett  has stayed as a guest at The Winds since birth!

We’d like to congratulate Garrett and advise him (and his family) to keep coming back!

October 17-18, 2009 marked the 29th anniversary of the NC Oyster Festival, which was once again hosted by the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce on Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

Awarded North Carolina Event of the Year 2007 by the North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events, the 29th Annual North Carolina Oyster Festival featured live entertainment, a road race, kids area, over 120 arts & crafts vendors and 13 food vendors, North Carolina Oyster Shucking Championships and an Oyster Stew Cook-off.

If

This, the second in a series of historically accurate and lushly illustrated pirate books, relates the incredible lives of some of history’s most infamous pirates.

Each pirate ’s story features a unique illustration of the pirate. Visit MillerPope.com to see more and purchase his books!

Stede Bonnet, “The gentleman pirate”
Stede Bonnet was the most unlikely pirate of them all. He had been an army major before becoming a wealthy sugar plantation owner and he was among the best society on the island of Barbados. For some reason he left all this and bought a ship, hired a crew and embarked on a career of piracy.

In pirate circles it was unheard of to buy a ship instead of just stealing one. He recruited about seventy destitute seamen from the taverns and grogshops of Barbados.

Bonnet was a landlubber with virtually no knowledge of the sea. He explained that he had purchased his ship for pursuing inter-island trade and for several days his ship remained at anchor. But one night, he raised sail without a word to his friends or his wife and slipped out to sea, bound for the Virginia Capes. There he captured a few vessels.

The first of these were only plundered, but the last ship named the Turbes was burned. From then on every Barbadian ship taken by him was burned, as if he wanted leave his mark.

Bonnet captured more prizes off the New England Coast and returned to the south. Meanwhile however, the crew, were slowly becoming hostile because of Bonnet’s inexperience. During this time of increasing hostilities Bonnet anchored his ship, the Revenge, in the Bay of Honduras. There he encountered the Queen Anne’s Revenge under the command of Edward Teach, nicknamed “Blackbeard”. The two pirates quickly became friends and this odd duo, consisting of a veteran and an amateur, decided to join forces.

This was a big mistake for Bonnet because when Teach became aware of Bonnet’s inexperience, he invited Bonnet aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, where Bonnet became almost a prisoner.

Teach tried to convince Bonnet that he would be more comfortable in the spacious quarters of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Teach told him that a man of his education and mannerisms, should not undergo the rigors of commanding a ship like the Revenge. Soon one of Blackbeard’s lieutenants assumed command of the Revenge. Bonnet could do little about the matter. The Revenge’s new master gained the crew’s confidence quickly stifled any threat of mutiny by imposing stern discipline.

Bonnet eventually convinced Blackbeard to allow him to assume command of the Revenge again. The two parted company soon after that.

Bonnet sailed his ship to the town of Bath and turned himself in to the Governor of North Carolina, Charles Eden, as a reformed pirate. Despite this act however Bonnet still had a yen for Piracy and resumed scouring the sea for prey until his capture at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, near a quaint little town called Southport.

A narrow road that parallels the river heading north from the town center crosses a small creek after a short distance.

Beside the creek, almost unnoticed, rests a small marker with a metal plaque bearing the following inscription:

“BONNET’S CREEK . . . Stede Bonnet, the ‘Gentleman Pirate’ used the mouth of this creek as a hide-out for his vessel, the Royal James formerly called Revenge. Here on September 26, 1718, the great Battle of the Sand Bars was fought between the pirates and the men sent to capture them under the command of Col. William Rhett aboard the Henry and Sea Nymph. After a twenty-four hour battle there were nineteen men killed, twenty-three wounded, and Bonnet, with the remains of his pirate crew, surrendered. On November 8,1718, twenty-nine pirates were hanged in Charleston, S.C.’”

A few weeks later, Gentleman Stede Bonnet holding a cluster of flowers in his manacled hands, met the same fate as his crewmembers on the gallows.

If you enjoyed this excerpt click here to read more about Miller Pope and his other books. You can purchase his books right at the website: MillerPope.com

Windy came ashore the night of June 28th and laid a nest full of 86 eggs!!!!

Gloria Hillenburg, Coordinator of the Ocean Isle Beach Turtle Patrol,  says that 50 days from that date they will begin to watch for a ‘boil over’ or mass hatching to begin and usually they hatch around the 55th day. However if the hot weather continues they could hatch as early as 49 – 50 days from being laid.

These photos are actually of Windy heading back out to sea after digging her nest in the sand, laying her eggs and then covering them up to protect them.

The photos were taken by the the Zvoch family from Michigan who were visiting Ocean Isle Beach on vacation. We’d like to thank them for sharing these incredible photos with us!

Click here to watch a video of a live sea turtle at Ocean Isle Beach

These events will make for fun day trips for guests of The Winds Resort Beach Club. It is a short drive and ferry boat ride to the island from Ocean Isle and it looks to be great fun for all ages! Click here to visit The Winds’ website to learn more about the resort, its amenities and for online booking:The Winds Resort Beach Club.

See the schedule below for details or go to oldbaldy.org.

For nearly 200 years, North Carolina’s oldest standing lighthouse, Old Baldy, has marked the mouth of the historic Cape Fear River.  Today, thousands of visitors make the exciting journey each year to beautiful Bald Head Island to learn about the island’s rich maritime past at the Smith Island Museum of History and experience Old Baldy up close – including the climb to the top for a breathtaking view of the surrounding area’s outstanding natural beauty.

Friday July 31, 2009

Gift Shop opens at 9am, Grounds open 1-4pm
$5/Youth (3-12), Infants 2 and under Free. Visit the pirates camp, shop and climb the lighthouse.

Scalawag School
Pre-registration required, space limited
1:30pm – 2:45pm  (4 – 7 year olds)
3pm – 4:15pm (8 – 12 year olds)
$20/child
Learn to walk talk and act like a pirate. Fee includes all day admission to the lighthouse grounds, a T-Shirt, eye patch, tatoos and certificate.
Island Wide Treasure Hunt
Pre-registration required, space limited
Friday 3pm – Saturday 3 pm
All ages
Registaration: 2;30pm Old Baldy Lighthouse
Cost $20/team
Test your skills in this pirate challenge designed for families. The challenge must be completed by a team of 4-6 members and the  challenges span all ages from creating art to singing pirate songs, to following the clues to finding hidden treasure. The trick is you only have 24 hours to complete the challenge in order to maximize time and resources and get the most points to win.

Pirates Invade Bald Head Island
5:30pm
Free
West Beach Access #1 Turks Head Court and #2 Row Boat Row
Pirate Pub Night: Grub and Grog at the Harbour Pavillion Tent at Bald Head Island Marina: 6pm -10pm $40/Adult, $15/Youth 3-12, Infants 2 and under Free -Dine with pirates, dance to music of Rusty Cutlass direct from Disney World and bid on booty at the Auction – games for kids and cash bar for adults.

Saturday August 1st, 2009

National Lighthouse Day on the grounds of Old Baldy Lighthouse Grounds
10am -9pm $7/Adult, $5/Youth (3-12), Infants 2 and under Free.

Events Include:

• Children’s Activities
• Pirate Skits and Presentations
• Grub Ship (hamburgers and hot dogs available for purchase 11am -2pm)
• Educational Presentations
• Direct from Disney World – Rusty Cutlass Band
• Blackbeard’s Crew Pirate Camp
• Carnival food, beer , wine and soft drinks available for purchase after 5pm

Build A Pirate Ship

Pre-registration required, space limited
10:30am – noon (7 – 12 year olds)
4pm – 5:30pm (7 – 12 year olds)
$22/child
Build and decorate your very own pirate boat, learn ship vocabulary and test your sailing skills. Fee includes boat kit, admission to the grounds all day Saturday.

Scalawag School

Pre-registration required, space limited
10:00am – 11:15am  (4 – 7 year olds)
4pm – 5:30pm (4 – 7 year olds)
2pm – 3:15pm (8 – 12 year olds)
$20/child
Learn to walk talk and act like a pirate. Fee includes all day admission to the lighthouse grounds, a T-Shirt, eye patch, tatoos and certificate.

The Winds signed up to sponsor a nest a while back and we have been on the waiting list for next nest. While we waited for notification of our nest we have had a contest running to “Name Our Turtle”.

We’ve had a big response with lots of great names suggested.  We started the voting process at the first of the week with a cut of date of 5:00pm tonight (Wed, June 30th) in hopes to have a name for our Sea Turtle before she came in.

Nature doesn’t always work around man’s schedules but this is pretty darn close with our turtle showing up last night! We will tally the votes and declare a name for our turtle this evening so get any last minute votes to us before 5pm tonight. Click here to see the list of names.

Anyway back to our for the moment nameless Sea Turtle…

Gloria Hillenburg – Coordinator of the Ocean Isle Beach Turtle Patrol says  that 50 days from now the watch for a ‘boil over’ or mass hatching will begin and usually they hatch around the 55th day. However if the hot weather continues they could hatch as early as 49 – 50 days from now.

A Sea Turtle Nest

Hatchlings

Anyone who would like to adopt a nest please get in touch with Gloria at (910)754-9513.

This year the Turtle Patrol’s BIG TURTLE DAY will be held on JULY 8TH it is a Wednesday, from 10 a.m. until 2:30 P.M.  The Turtle Patrol Sea Turtle will arrive at 11 a.m. with Jean Beasley and her fine crew bringing it down from the Sea Turtle Hospital at Topsail Beach.  We will have a silent auction and 2 Children activities.  This will give visitors a chance to come in on Sat. see the parade on Sunday enjoy the beach on Monday, come to the Turtle Presentation on Tuesday, then come to see a live turtle on Wednesday, what a great way to start a week.

You can help the turtles when you visit Ocean Isle By following a few simple guidelines:

Do Not Disturb: If you see an adult sea turtle coming on shore, stay quiet and keep your distance! Otherwise she may get scared and go back into the ocean without nesting. They are an endangered species and it is a federal offense to harass them.

Turn Off All Flashlights! Lights may scare or confuse the adult female and cause her to leave without nesting.

Lights Cause Hatchlings To Go In the Wrong Direction: Please turn off all outside lights each night. Also if there are curtains or blinds use them so your indoor lights do not lead the hatchlings away from the ocean.

Never Pick Up  A Hatchling. It is critical that they crawl on their own.
Do Not Disturb The Nest Area. Watch for the nest markers.

Stay Off Sand Dunes & Do Not Pick Sea Oats. Sand dunes provide critical habitat for sea turtles and help prevent flooding during times of extreme tides and storms. Foot traffic kills plants and severely  damages the sand dunes. The penalty for failure to adhere to this requirement is a $100 fine.

Help Us Keep Our Beaches Clean -Sea turtles may mistake a plastic bag or other forms of litter for a jellyfish (they eat them). All personal items and equipment must be removed from the beach each day- these items may trap a sea turtle.

Please Fill In All Holes On The Beach When Done Playing.-  Holes can trap sea turtles and are a safety hazard to humans.

Keep Dogs On Leashes At All Times!- No dogs shall be permitted on the beach strand between the hours of 9:00am and 6:00pm during period of Memorial Day through Labor Day regardless of whether they are leashed or not.
Fireworks can scare off nesting sea turtles and leave behind trash that may be mistaken for food by marine wildlife.- Discharge of fireworks is not permitted per North Carolina state laws.

Please Report all sightings of nesting turtles, dead trutles, unmarked nests or crawls (looks like a bulldozer came out of the water).

Call the Ocean Isle Beach Turtle Patrol at 910-754-9513 or 910-232-7232

You can send donations to: OIB Turtle Watch, PO Box 5172, Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469.  Please include your name, the name of your nest and your mailing address. Keep up wtih the Turtle Patrol at: http://www.oibturtlepatrol.com

Fox College Sports will air the national championships at 8 p.m. ET on June 26.

Here is the story from Michael Kaplan, FOXSports.com:

Mike and Ben Powell came to the NSSA Collegiate Surfing Championships in Dana Point, CA with the hope of proving to the California-dominated contest that East Coasters schools could surf too. Instead, the brotherly duo from UNC Wilmington almost took the whole thing.

After 13 hours of surfing, Cal State San Marcos and UNC Wilmington were deadlocked at 109 points apiece. Following a brief conference, it was decided that each team would send three surfers to a 15-minute, sudden death surf-off would decide the national champion.

“They knew exactly what they were doing and those guys were all for the surf-off,” San Marcos surfer Chris Smith said of UNC Wilmington. “We thought we had it and then all of a sudden you get out on the water and it’s like, wait a second, I got to go back out there. It was awesome.”

Smith, along with teammates Scott McBride and Aaron Coyle, led San Marcos to a 123-116 victory in the surf-off and its first national championship. Still, the Powell brothers didn’t go back to the Tar Heel State empty-handed. Ben finished second and Mike finished third in the men’s individual division, behind national champion Marty Weinstein of UC San Diego.

Weinstein, who was the favorite to win the national championship coming into the competition, dominated in the finals, registering high scores on wave after wave.

“Today I just wanted to make the finals,” Weinstein said. “I just wanted to get there. I just needed to get there. And then it just happened. I didn’t have any rhythm all day and then in the finals I just found my groove.”

In the women’s division, Amy Nicholl of the University of Central Florida snatched the national title from Mira Costa’s Darleen Connolly on her last wave of the finals.

“I had no idea I won it,” Nicholl said. “Everybody on the beach was screaming and I was like that’s a lucky person who they’re screaming for. I came in and they were like ‘you won’. It was pretty exciting.”

Kevin Osbourne of Saddleback took the college longboard national championship after going wave-for-wave with Point Loma’s Troy Mothershead in the final.

“It feels good,” Osbourne said. “I just went out there and surfed and tried not to think of it as a contest. Every time I get in a contest, I get the jitters or whatever so I just tried to surf and worked out.”

The day began at 6:30 a.m. with the men’s opening round heats. Dusk had set in by the time the newly crowned national champions hoisted their trophies at Salt Creek Beach.

“I’m a little tired, a little sun-burned, but we’re going to have a nice little party tonight,” Nicholl said. “It’s going to be fun.”

Fox College Sports will air the college men’s, women’s and longboard championships as well as the final surf-off at 8 p.m. ET on June 26.

Click here to visit The Winds’ website to learn more about the resort, its amenities and for online booking:The Winds Resort Beach Club

While participants had the chance of winning a $20,000+ first place prize, the King Mackerel tournament fishing wasn’t just about the money. It was about competition, camaraderie, atmosphere, experience and the chance to catch a King Mackerel large enough to make the leader board.

Family involvement is one way that the Jolly Mon strives to create added value. Junior prizes through 20th place, Lady prizes through 10th place and Senior prizes through 3rd place were awarded. In addition, this year the Jolly Mon added a new prize, the Fishing Family Award.

Beyond prizes, the Jolly Mon is famous for its Captain’s meeting dinner. Every year a feast is prepared and served at no cost to all Jolly Mon participants and their guests.

The Ocean Isle Fishing Center is sponsored this prize which awards a $100 OIFC gift card to every fishing team that weighs a King Mackerel in the tournament AND has a Junior, Lady AND Senior angler on board. The goal is to create added incentive for teams to involve the whole family as they compete together in the Yellowfin/OIFC.com Jolly Mon King Classic.

The winning final prize first place winners won with a 38.15 pound King Mackerel. Samantha Nowell was the winning Lady Angler aboard 22 foot boat “Reel Time” Captained by Samuel T Rees.

Congratulations to all the winners and all the participants in this fun tournament!

Click here to visit The Winds’ website to learn more about the resort, its amenities and for online booking:The Winds Resort Beach Club

Your free nights may be used:

9/1-9/30/09: Sun. – Thurs Nights
10/1-3/4/10: Any Nights
3/5-3/25/10: Sun. – Thurs Nights

So enjoy a Summer week vacation at The Winds Resort Beach Club and come back during our “quiet Season” for a complimentary stay on us!

The “Quiet Season” is a great time to have a romantic getaway, play a little golf, have a girls getaway or to just explore the area.

It is also the best time to bring the kids back for a trip to the Museum of Coastal Carolina, The Ingram Planetarium or Orton Plantation and Gardens or any of the other historic and cultural attractions in the area like the Battleship North Carolina Memorial in nearby Wilmington.

To be eligible you simply must stay a minimum of 7 nights during our Summer Season (6/1 -8/31/09). Your free stay must be in a unit of equal or lesser value and this offer is not available with any other discounts, coupons, packages or special offers.

For more information call our Reservations Desk at 800.334.3581

For details: thewinds.com or call: 800.334.3581