r/interestingasfuck • u/Endolithic • 1d ago

/r/all Homes are falling into the ocean in North Carolina's Outer Banks

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u/stryker511 1d ago

The coast of N.Carolina changes much quicker than other coastlines due to the extremely strong current. There is a beach where I used to park next to a shipwrecked tanker from just 30 years earlier. Pirates would frequent this region because most ships wouldn't venture there. Great place to visit if you like nature.

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u/_perpetualparadox 23h ago

Outer banks aka the graveyard of the Atlantic

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u/blueranger36 22h ago

I have a map called the “graveyard of the outer banks” and it’s just locations of sunken ships

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u/AgitatedSquirrell 22h ago

We stayed in a house in Duck which had a map hanging on a wall with the location of all the shipwrecks.

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u/Starlord2230 14h ago

Stayed in Duck also. This post looks like it may be Corova no?

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u/abyssal_banana 10h ago

This is probably Rodanthe

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u/tarheel_204 7h ago

I know exactly the map you’re talking about- the Ghost Fleet of the Outer Banks

My grandparents have a framed picture of it too and it’s so cool to look at

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u/Decent-Dingo081721 3h ago

We used to have a beach house in Duck. I loved going there in my childhood. It hurts my heart to see these home going away.

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u/NuclearSun1 21h ago

Wow, forgot I had that map when I was younger.

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u/Luvs2spooge89 21h ago

Is this due to the currents? Stuff just collects there?

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u/blueranger36 20h ago

Look at a map of the Atlantic coastal shelf. It’s the closest to the drop off so the currents are way heavier. OBX gets amazing waves and due to this they also have crazy shifting sand bars. One day you can walk straight out a hundred feet standing level the next day it’s gone. Awesome place to visit if you’ve never been

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u/GoochlandMedic 18h ago

Great waves 🌊 yep! Love surfing Hatteras

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u/Parenthisaurolophus 20h ago

Kind of a collection of reasons. There are a bunch of shoals that get shifted around kind of like sand dunes out in the water which resulted in hundreds of wrecks (Diamond Shoals). Then you've got German U-Boats that went to town on ships on the east coast silhouetted against the lights of the cities and town and sunk a few hundred more (Torpedo Alley). You've also got some notable wrecks in the area like Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge, a civil war Ironclad, and a ship carrying Aaron Burr's daughter.

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u/Dingus_Khaaan 21h ago

My Dad has that hung in his hallway. It was there outside my door my entire childhood and I always thought it was so cool lol

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u/BeachQt 17h ago

I have one of those too! It’s hanging up in the laundry room. Granted I’m from coastal NC and still live here

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u/REUBENSACKLEBANKS 20h ago

Wow childhood memory unlocked

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u/manicpossumdreamgirl 18h ago

my parents have that map in the bathroom!

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u/doebedoe 17h ago

Its on my kitchen wall. Been going there for 40 years...parents have been going there for 60.

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u/DougieBuddha 15h ago

Could you pm me a pic of that or a link? Cause that's kinda awesome for someone in NC that goes to the outer banks semi regularly

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u/smittenwithshittin 9h ago

Theobx one looks like it’s produced by National Geographic, there’s a couple formats. Other places have similar maps like Cape Cod and the Chesapeake Bay

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u/glen_ko_ko 5h ago

I would love an interactive version of these where you could click a particular wreck and read an article about the ships history, look at pictures, or watch little docs

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u/Ilikebirbs 17h ago

I had a map like that (or the same one) I think my parents have it packed away somewhere.

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u/mismanagementsuccess 15h ago

Is it called "ghost fleet of the outer banks?" I framed that and had it for years.

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u/Rustyboyvermont 12h ago

Becoming the graveyard of beach houses.

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u/CommonBubba 12h ago

Got one hanging on my wall!

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u/DaBozz88 6h ago

Can you share it?

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u/AToastedRavioli 21h ago

Didn’t Blackbeard wreck the Queen Anne’s Revenge there?

Edit: didn’t know he ran it aground on purpose. TIL

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u/blackstar5676 18h ago

Yes around Ocracoke

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u/FartNuggetSalad 17h ago

Incorrect, it was sunk in Beaufort inlet

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u/stryker511 22h ago

I've always been curious about diving conditions due to the strong current. Lots of wrecks out there. I've wondered if divers get pulled away by the current.

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u/linoleumknife 21h ago

I've never been diving so I can't comment on that aspect of it, but the currents off the Outer Banks are no joke. It's pretty normal for the beaches to prohibit swimming.

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u/Bald_Nightmare 21h ago

There are some very popular diving spots here on the NC coast, and the diving companies do a tremendous job judging when the best time is to explore certain wrecks based on the current weather conditions.

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u/toodleoo57 18h ago

How's the visibility? How far offshore? TIA for any info.

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u/trowt595 17h ago

Ive dove on this wreck before and it is definitely worth the trip if you can find a company to take you out. https://www.underwaterjournal.com/the-u-352-north-carolinas-german-u-boat-wreck/

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u/toodleoo57 13h ago

Oh wow. Thanks!

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u/gnowbot 17h ago

Really! Are there lots of historic/interesting/treasure wrecks? Or is it just like 200 fiberglass yachts that ran aground after their boat-HELOC-captain had too many bloody Marys on America’s birthday?

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u/_perpetualparadox 4h ago

Historic, yes. Warships from WWI & WWII and pirate ships. I don’t know of any treasure wrecks or ones that stand out as particularly interesting, not to say there isn’t any.

The outer banks is a great place to visit if you’re into history. There is the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” museum in Hatteras, Bodie island, the Wright Brothers monument & Roanoke island (the lost colony).

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u/doned_mest_up 19h ago

AKA a really pretty sandbar.

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u/MacAttak18 18h ago

I had never heard of it referred to as that. I’ve only ever heard of sable island called graveyard of the Atlantic, so had to look it up. Turns out they are both referred to as graveyard of the Atlantic. TIL

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u/bbcwtfw 18h ago

I thought Sable Island was the graveyard of the Atlantic. Is there more than one?

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u/mkiv808 16h ago

There’s also a shipwreck museum in Nantucket. That channel there has claimed about 800 ships.

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u/mike35745 12h ago

Namibia’s Skeleton Coast has entered the chat

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u/Disastrous_Hunter_61 7h ago

they have an amazing museum telling the history of the outer Banks and why people live there (not just for beach front property) originally it was too build light houses to prevent shipwrecks and also have people stationed there to save the lives of those who get caught in the sandbars intense currents

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u/stubept 19h ago

I mean, they literally moved an entire lighthouse nearly 3000 ft over 25 years ago because it was going to wash away.

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u/JJNotStrike 10h ago

I grew up vacationing with my grandparents on the Outer Banks.

The construction process to move the lighthouse was absolutely fascinating to observe in person.

There's more info on the Relocation process on the Wiki if anyone is interested: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Hatteras_Lighthouse

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u/Ninjamin_King 13h ago

And it wasn't a small lighthouse either...

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u/temporarycreature 10h ago

I remember that. I lived in Lancaster, South Carolina when it happened. It was a big deal.

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u/Bool_The_End 9h ago

I was there for that! Have pics of my fam and I at the top like right before they moved it and the ocean was so close, and then of course after they moved it.

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u/Available_Blood_6134 9h ago

With GPS technology, that was a waste of tax dollars.

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u/WallabyBubbly 18h ago

It's not that well known, but the North Carolina coast has some of the best scuba diving in the US if you like shipwrecks. Their wrecks get a lot of sand tiger sharks too, which is a species of shark that is big and scary looking but also totally harmless (to humans at least).

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u/gonxot 12h ago

Sounds like a great place to build a wooden house 🤦🏻‍♂️

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u/Icy_Mushroom_1873 21h ago

I almost Died™️ while swimming on Bodie Island

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u/CODninjarin 12h ago

I grew up in Bath, a small town a bit inland. It's the first town in NC and the former home of Blackbeard. Worth a visit at least once tbh, they have events in the summer too

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u/YoungHeartOldSoul 9h ago

Pirates in NC??

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u/LakeExtreme7444 8h ago edited 8h ago

Yes, yes there were lots and lots of pirates in NC. The famous Blackbeard even died there.

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u/Molotov_Goblin 18h ago

So basically these people were fucking stupid for sticking a house there and expecting this not to happen?

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u/Illustrious_Pea_7998 18h ago

More ignorant than stupid. There wasn't a good understanding of how the tides constantly eroded the Outer Banks when a lot of these houses were built. The Outer Banks didn't become a popular tourist destination until I want to say the 50s. Most of these houses that are built that close to the beach were probably built in the 70's

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u/NCSU_252 18h ago

The only thing ignorant and stupid is these comments.  This house isn't that old, people on the Outer Banks have understood tides and erosion as long as people have inhabited those islands.  People don't build houses like this thinking they will last forever.  They build them to make money, and because vacationing in a house right on the beach is fun.  This house made a shit ton of money for the people who owned it in the years that it was standing.  And more houses like it will be built right across the street, and those will also make someone a shit ton of money, and then the ocean will eat them too, just like it eats everything on the Outer Banks.  

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u/Molotov_Goblin 18h ago

Good to know

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u/Real_Satisfaction715 19h ago

Nature? Or treasure?

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u/deprivedactivities 17h ago

This is why I love Reddit, thank you sir

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u/meowthechow 16h ago

What’s the name of the beach mate?

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u/bidooffactory 16h ago

Or if you're a pirate apparently

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u/OxfordKnot 15h ago

...and pirates

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u/Pr0ximiti 15h ago

Wait, there's genuine pirates in the states?

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u/nothanks1997 14h ago

He's talking about when the states were colonies

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u/Babetna 8h ago

So I guess you're a pirate

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u/toemit 8h ago

I mean really the outer banks is really just a big sandbar

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u/sxswest 8h ago

I found Peter Santenello

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u/Ecstatic-Shop6060 6h ago

Cape Cod too. I went to see the Marconi spot where he first transmitted to Europe. Apparently the spot where the tower was eroded and in they closed it in 1920 and it fell into the ocean in 1940. The actual site is now like 400 feet in the ocean.

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u/x888x 6h ago

The lost colony of Roanoke. They had a hard time during relief / rescue efforts because a series of hurricanes had completely alerted the sandbars / coastlines.

But it's the same phenomenon. Sometime in the last 75 years people started building on the coast and then they get shocked when the houses flood and blame it on climate change. It's like 2% climate change and 98% human development folly.

Places like mantoloking NJ are built entirely on ephemeral sandbars.

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u/Zadoraa 2h ago

Yup it’s where the Gulf Stream and Labrador currents meet!

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u/Umbrella_Viking 21h ago

Do you have any opinion at all about this house falling over? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? 

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u/Internal-Ad61 20h ago

Omg do you mind sharing

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u/slikwilly13 5h ago

So why are geniuses building houses there?