Summer Sundays are for clamming, friends, and Nascar racing!

This past Sunday dawned a bit cloudy with a fairly stiff northeast breeze, undeterred and hoping that the forecast for clearing by mid-day was correct, we (myself, my husband Ted, and Kim and Chris who are friends from Elizabeth City) loaded up the boat with all the essentials needed for a great clamming trip.

Necessities include, the boat bag containing snacks, sunscreen, hats, long sleeved shirts (in case we get too much sun), towels, books, and knitting (these last two items go with us in case one or several of us decide to take more of a “supervisory” role in regards to the effort needed to clam J). Also essential for the trip are the clam buckets, clam rakes, the cooler iced down with beverages, and on a Sunday in the summer, the portable radio (with an extra set of batteries just in case) so we can listen to the Nascar race. As an aside here, for those that are hooked on seeing the race on TV, the radio broadcast by MRN (motor racing network) is a fantastic way to get your “fix” with very colorful commentary and announcing. It’s a really good compromise when trying to get those diehard race fans out of the house and into the sun….besides, if something really wild happens you can always catch the recap on the speed channel or ESPN later that night. Everyone give a great big HOO-RAH! to Tony Stewart for winning the Pocono race this past week! We will speak not of Dale Jr’s finish…

Lo and behold, just as the forecast said, about noon the skies cleared up and the wind settled into a nice gentle breeze. Trust me, the weather thing tends to be against us when we have a day off and friends visiting. We launched from Teaches Lair Marina in Hatteras Village ( there is a great live webcam here http://www.teachslair.com/webcam.htm if you’ve never seen it). Unfortunately, we have to launch each time we use the boat! This is a long standing argument (excuse me, “discussion”) between my husband and myself….I want to leave the boat in the water for the summer so we can use it whenever the mood strikes (like at the end of a difficult day for a sunset cruise) while he wants it back on the trailer, so it stays cleaner? This is somewhat akin to an argument we had when we first started dating, we always hand washed the dishes, but he had a dishwasher….when I asked why he didn’t use the dishwasher the answer was because it was new???! Needless to say, I prevailed on that issue and am still holding out hope on keeping the boat in the water. But I digress.

Because of the northeast breeze the water was super clear and gorgeous. It looked tropical. We went to our current clamming “hot spot” in hopes that not too many people had found it since last week. Please don’t waste your breath asking a Hatterasman about where the go clamming, I found out very early on “out in the sound” was going to be the best answer I would get. Now Ted is a clamming machine….he can find them when they aren’t even there which is a trait I have on good authority he got from his grandfather….it makes for a good marriage in-so-far as he doesn’t like to eat them but I love them any way they are fixed! Clam chowder (Hatteras style), clams casino, clam fritters or my favorite steamed in the grill. Mmmmmm good!

When Ted jumped off the boat in about 2 feet of water in order to set the anchor, he stepped on a clam, which proved to be a very good indication that the clams were still right where we left them! We use the long aluminum rakes, which make all the difference in the world as far as how you “feel” the clam strike the tines when you are raking. It was the first time Chris had clammed and in no time at all, he had the hang of it. Limits on clams are up to 200 per boat with at least 2 people and they must measure at least 1 inch at the hinge to be legal. If you care to go on a clamming trip and don’t have your own boat, many of the local marinas have inshore charters that would be happy to oblige, just check. We reached our limit within an hour or so and then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and wading around the sandbars on the Ocracoke side of the inlet across from the ferry docks looking for shells and hermit crabs and generally having a great time. Kim and Chris were able to head north back to the “real world” with a bucket to share with their friends and family. Next time, I promise to remember to bring my camera!

Have a great week! Beth