THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505180357
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
IF YOU'VE EVER dreamed of escaping to the sea or running away to join the circus, there's a place on the Outer Banks where you can do both.
A rental shop off the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway holds the key to these wishes - the key that unlocks a clownlike but seaworthy contraption called the Aqua-cycle.
Many's the time my heart has been captured by the sight of huge, orange plastic wheels propelling these metal-framed craft among the gulls and pelicans of the lonely Roanoke Sound.
You can look at it as a big tricycle that floats. Or you can look at it as a boat with 3-foot wheels. Either way, if you catch a glimpse, you can't help but look at it.
``People will drive by, and they'll stop just to see what they are,'' said James Meng of Nags Head Water Sports on the causeway. ``Those things are out all day, every day.
``Kids will just climb on them all day long, even if they're not in the water.''
This week, I gave in to the call, pulled into the Nags Head Water Sports parking lot and demanded to ride the Aqua-cycle.
My wife, Amy, and I watched as Meng wheeled the contraption to the shoreline. We boarded with no trouble, rested on the plastic two-person seat and were pushed to drift at our caprice for an hour.
It was Amy who chose to name our craft ``The African Queen,'' drawing remembrances of the romantic encounters between Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn as they explored the wilderness of that faraway continent.
Our travels were confined by buoys to a stretch of marsh along the eastern shore of the sound and the east-west line of rocks carrying the causeway on its journey to Roanoke Island.
Pedaling on the square rubber blocks was easy at first. But as the trip went on, the exercise grew more tiring. The bikes are big toys, yes, but they also provide a good workout. Steering was a little tough for 5-foot-tall Amy, who had trouble reaching the pedals and the handlebars and the seat at the same time.
Our course provided many challenges. Early on, Amy did a 360 and attempted a wheelie without success. We learned that you can paddle backward as easily, perhaps easier, than moving forward.
We listened to the slap-slap-slap of the paddles churning and crowed at our wake when we attained maximum speed. Fish jumped about, and a cloudless sky covered us as we surveyed the span of the sound.
One of our experiments included paddling up a narrow channel within the marsh, which seemed easy enough until we hit bottom. Surprisingly, the versatile Aqua-cycle can move in shallow water as well as deep, but steering becomes a real challenge.
After rolling up and down a tiny mound about 10 times, we backed out of the narrows and returned to the open sound, a bit disheartened but none the worse for our efforts.
It was in the lagoon near our launching place that we discovered the appliance graveyard. After slowing down to accommodate the no-wake sign, we maneuvered through wooden pilings into the small body of water set off by marshy vegetation.
On shore were a rusty refrigerator standing sentry on a dock, a Coke machine lying on its side in three-foot grass, an orange-and-white road construction barrel and other feasts for the eyes.
After a brief tour of the lagoon, we decided to take our act public. With the seafaring urge quelled, the circus in us sprang to life as we paddled along the causeway stretch.
The first truck to pass us bore a shirtless man who hollered, ``Hey!'' or the like, and waved. We then noticed that every passing vehicle's passengers gaped at us as though we were performing a remarkable feat. There were smiles, waves, giggles and stares. We were the clowns of the sea.
I leave you with a word to the wise - or, more appropriately, the foolish - who, like me, would put valuables in loose-fitting pockets while pedaling the bikes. The victim of my negligence was a perfectly good watch, which I can only assume slipped from my shorts and took a dive through the gap in the seat behind me.
My watch is now a part of the appliance graveyard. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
James Meng, 25, of Nags Head, pedals an Aqua-cycle from Nags Head
Water Sports out onto Roanoke Sound near the Nags Head-Manteo
Causeway.
by CNB