DATE: Sunday, June 29, 1997                 TAG: 9706260242

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 2    EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Lane DeGregory 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

FROM THE EDITOR

Indians did it. Eskimos are still doing it. And Olympic athletes have excelled in it for decades.

But it's only been in the last few years that kayaking has caught on as a recreational sport - and thousands have begun paddling in the shallow sounds and surf swells around the Outer Banks.

More than a dozen outposts from Corolla through Ocracoke offer kayaking lessons, rentals and guided excursions. Eco-tours take paddlers through silent black water swamps overhung with curtains of spiraling Spanish moss - or through bird refuges where hundreds of shore species sing their songs.

The best thing about paddling is that everyone seems to be able to do it. The boats are light - easy to carry and launch. The strokes are straightforward - a 10-minute talk is about all the instruction anyone needs to get going. And you can maneuver kayaks into almost any slim stream - or leap large waves in the plastic sit-on-top styles while surfing the sea. Kayaks also are quiet, environmentally friendly and relatively cheap to rent.

Lou Hanson, a Pilot staff writer in Hampton Roads, journeyed to the Outer Banks recently to kayak. He'd never paddled before. But he and a pal ventured off the shore with a guide - and into a virtually unseen area of the sound between the barrier island beaches and Currituck mainland.

Lou's adventures are chronicled in this week's cover story. And photographer Bill Cannon shot all of the photographs from inside a kayak. Not only did Bill learn to paddle - but he performed quite a juggling act while steering and propelling his craft, looking through his long lens and trying to keep about 15 pounds of photographic equipment dry in the front of his kayak.

Meanwhile, Molly Perkins had stars in her eyes. She spent an evening outdoors at Jockey's Ridge State Park listening to a ranger talk about astronomy, straining to see some twinklers in the cloudy, black sky. Although the title of our outdoor entertainment story is ``Fun in the Sun,'' Molly's article really takes place after dark this week. It's illuminating, educational and inspirational - made me want to learn my constellations!

Planets and stars won't be the only things brightening the skies above the Outer Banks on Friday. Six towns from Corolla through Ocracoke are hosting individual festivities and fireworks displays.

I grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and always spent Independence Day on the lawn of the Washington Monument with millions of people - watching thousands of dollars go up in smoke as the grand fireworks finale concluded about 40 minutes of awe-inspiring explosions. Nags Head's show on the beach last July 4th didn't attract an audience of more than a few thousand (if that). But it was as exciting, colorful, long, loud and wonderful as any I'd seen in the nation's capital.

All the July 4th activities are outlined in our calendar, ``This Week.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu