Mile 912 - Shiver Me Timbers!

As of April 4, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Steps: 2,176,008
Miles: 914.49

Finally the Real World Walker lets me get a word in edgewise!


Ocracoke Island, located along the Atlantic Ocean, a part of North Carolina's famed Outer Banks. The island can only be reached by ferry boat, private boat or by airplane. The island is unique in size (2,110 acres) and it's beauty is unspoiled. There are 13 miles of beaches without a single house on them.

The island was called Wokokon by the island's Native Americans. Over time the "W" dropped out and the spelling changed to "Ocrcok" and then Ocracoke.

John Lovick was granted the island on November 11, 1719. Because larger ships were unable to navigate the shallow Pamlico Sound, Ocracoke Island became a settlement for boatmen who transported goods to ports on the North Carolina mainland.


Built in 1823, the Ocracoke Lighthouse is still in active service.

Picture Source

Pirates have long been a part of the Ocracoke scene.

Edward Teach (Born around 1680 – November 22, 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy. His best known ship was called the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Picture Source

Blackbeard often fought wearing a big feathered tricorn hat, and having multiple swords, knives, and pistols at his disposal. He had short pieces of smoking hemp rope and lit matches woven into his black beard during battle to intimidate his enemies. Indeed, Blackbeard is often regarded as the premier image of the seafaring pirate.

British Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard sailed from James River on November 11, 1718, in command of thirty men from HMS Pearl, and twenty-six men from the HMS Lyme along with a couple other smaller boats in search of Blackbeard and a reward of £100.

Maynard found the pirates in the harbor at Ocracoke Island. Blackbeard's ship, the Adventure had a crew of only nineteen men. Maynard's account says, "At our first salutation, he [Blackbeard] drank Damnation to me and my Men, whom he stil'd Cowardly Puppies, saying, He would neither give nor take Quarter".

When Maynard and his ships came upon Blackbeard's Adventure, they were hit with a devastating broadside attack. Maynard ordered many of his crew into the holds and readied to be boarded. As his ship approached, Blackbeard saw the mostly empty decks, assumed it was safe to board, and did so with ten men.

Maynard's men emerged from their hiding places, and the battle began.


Actual Battle Scene With Nothing Unusual In It

Despite the best efforts of the pirates (including a desperate plan to blow up the Adventure), late in the battle, while Blackbeard was loading his pistol he finally died from blood loss. He had been shot five times and stabbed more than twenty times. Maynard then cut off Blackbeard's head and hung it from his bow.

Blackbeard Information Source

On July 30, 1759, William Howard, bought Ocracoke Island for £105. He was the first owner to make his home on the island, and is thought to be the same William Howard who served as quartermaster to Blackbeard the pirate earlier in that century. Many of his descendants continue to live on the island to this day.

Island History Source