Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE COAST.

Between Cape Hatteras and Charleston, three dangerous
shoals extend seaward at right angles to the coast, namely,
Diamond Shoals, Lookout Shoals, and Frying Pan Shoals.
These shoals reach out from the shoreline to an average distance
of twenty miles, and have an average width of 1.5 miles. A
fourth shoal exists in the vicinity of Cape Romain, but of less
extent and of less dangerous character than any of those just

mentioned.
The prevailing winds on the North Carolina coast are from

the northeast around to southeast and southwest. The attend-
ant currents generally set directly on the three great shoals be-
tween Hatteras and Cape Fear, and it is in the vicinity of these
shoals that practically all the maritime disasters on the coast
of the Carolinas occur.

The treacherous currents along this stretch of coast are
largely responsible for the sweeping of vessels upon the shoals.
From Cape Lookout Bight to Frying Pan lightship, Capt. G.
L. Carden, commanding the Seminole, has usually found it
necessary to allow for at least five miles westerly set of current
on a run of eighty-nine miles. Below Frying Pan, there is
also a strong set into the bight, and this is especially noticeable
in the run from Cape Fear Bar to the entrance of Winyah
Bay.

According to Captain Carden, there is a safe rule for all
navigators to follow on this station; that is, never get inside of
ten fathoms, unless sure of one’s position. The ten-fathom
curve will carry one clear of all the great shoals from Hatteras
to Romain. The same eminent authority said to the writer:
“A stranger approaching this section of the coast .will, on find-
ing himself in thick weather inside of ten fathoms, do well to

let go an anchor at once.”

The end of Frying Pan Shoals is marked by our lightship,
Number 94, and the present position of this eraft is most ad-
vantageous to vessels making for the Cape Fear Bar. It isa
fact that Cape Fear Light is not seen from the extreme end of
Frying Pan Shoals, and it is the end of the spit which masters
of ships are so anxious to determine. A gas buoy, 12 miles
SE. by E. 4 E. off Frying Pan lightship, marks the end of
the broken ground. This gas buoy is a favorite mark for coast-

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ing vessels, and is also available for ships coming in from sea-
ward, but before shaping into the Cape Fear, safe navigation
demands that one should find the end of Frying Pan, and it is
this useful function which the present lightship serves. From
the Frying Pan lightship, two courses only are necessary, one
to clear the Knuckle Buoy, and a second course direct to the
Whistling Sea Buoy. Then from the sea buoy one has only
to run right down to the bell buoy marking the commence-
ment of the bar. Nowadays, crossing the Cape Fear Bar is a
very different matter from what it was under the ten to twelve
feet conditions of blockade-running days, when there were no

lights, nor buoys, nor any guide save the lead, the line of break-
ers, and possibly an outline of shore.

Wilmington’s approach from the sea is a magnificent thor-
oughfare, both across the two miles of bar and the twenty-seven
miles of river stretch inland. The channel across the bar is
well lighted and furnished with buoys. The prevailing winds
being from northward to northeast, the Frying Pan Shoals
and Cape Fear Spit protect the bar entrance during the major
part of bad weather, making it a better entrance than the for-
mer N ew Inlet Channel, which led past Fort Fisher.

To maintain the magnificent thoroughfare of two miles of
Cape Fear Bar, it is necessary for the engineers directing the
river and harbor improvement to keep a suction dredge con-

stantly employed upon the bar, as the currents are continually
sweeping the sandy bottom into the ship channel, thereby en-
dangering navigation, but as long as continued appropriations
are available for this important aid, the work can be done
effectively.

A project for the permanent maintenance of deep water by

— jetties, similar to those employed on Charleston Bar, has
een discussed by our local Board of Commissioners of N aviga-

tion and Pilotage, and the matter has b
United States Fore of Engineers. eee
The Frying Pan Shoals must be rounded before a vessel can
stand to the northward. The depth along the Frying Pan Spit
—— from 7 to 14 feet, and the shoals extend in an unbroken
me 10 miles south-southeast from Cape Fear. Following the
Same general direction of the primal shoal are numerous patches
Funning out for a distance of 514 miles farther. The depth
= these patches varies from 10 to 24 feet. It is just beyond
ese patches that the Frying Pan lightship is anchored, and