Southport Magazine

“Does that guy have sticks tied to his kayak?” I thought to myself. Yes, yes he did. I didn’t give it much more thought. Having lived on oak Island almost 30 years, strange things aren’t so strange to me any longer. Our little group, about ten people enjoying a Paddle Through History Tour with the Adventure Kayak Company and Southport Historical Society on a sunny, warm, calm Friday morning, was happily making its way on the falling tide down from Blue Water Point Marina to Sheep Island at the west end of Oak Island. If you’ve been to Oak Island’s west end you’ve probably noticed the hill with the cross on top just across the end of Montgomery Slough. That was our destination, the top of that hill. Once gathered at our bird’s eye view vantage point, the sticks made sense. They were part of a time machine. 

While Adventure Company owner Emma Thomas explained where we were and a little about our environment on this island behind an island, Southport Historical Society President Bob Surridge set to work with his sticks drawing a map in the sand of the coastline in front of us. He used his sand map to paint the picture of coastal Oak Island during the Civil War, when Confederate blockade runners hugged our shores in an effort to evade the Union blockade and deliver supplies to the Port of Wilmington. He marked the positions of three ships that ran aground and were burned, their remains still sometimes visible from Oak Island beaches. The wrecks remained beneath the waves on this morning, but it wasn’t hard to imagine how scary it must have been navigating so close to shore with breakers on one side and warships on the other. 

The present day scene in from of us was very different. The shore is full of houses. Yachts cruised down the Intracoastal waterway behind us. A family splashed in the shallows at the bottom of the hill. The beaches on the west end were beginning to fill with sunbathers. The waters between us and Oak Island were full of kayaks, stand up paddle boards and a few Jon boats. A small deer watched us from the Sheep Island woods. After all these years living on this island, its beauty can still take my breath away.

We climbed back down the “mountain” and headed back on the now rising tide to Blue water Point. As an aside, I’m amazed at Emma’s timing of this. No matter how hard I try, I always end up fighting the tide on my kayak trips. It makes sense to go with a guide, and she’s one of the best. Our group included experienced paddlers and a few who’d never kayaked before, but everyone was comfortable and reflexed enough to enjoy all the beauty around us and chat a bit on the way back. There are few better ways to spend a morning. 

This was the third of three Paddle Through History tours this spring, but if you’d like to experience our home from a fun new perspective, and maybe learn something new in the process, the tours will be returning this fall. Check out the Southport Historical Society website at www.southporthistoricalsociety.org to be the first to find out about all their great events, including the fall Paddle Through History Tours. And if you just can’t wait until the fall to try out kayaking, contact Emma at the Adventure Company at (910) 454-0607 or stop by the shop at 807-A on Howe Street in Southport. They offer tours, lessons and all manner of kayaks for purchase.