“Spring is in the air, and it’s starting to feel like summer. That means it’s time to hit the beach. So in this week’s edition of “And the Winner is…” we want to know which of the natural treasures along our coast is the best? Which has the softest sand and the wildest waves? Which is the best strand to soak in some rays, build a sandcastle or just frolic in the sun? Let us know which is the BEST BEACH in the Cape Fear. Here’s how the votes are washing in (9 a.m. Thurs.):

Ocean Isle Beach – 57%
Carolina Beach – 11%
Sunset Beach – 9%
Wrightsville Beach – 9%

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For more information please call the Brunswick County Parks & Recreation Department at: 910.253.2538

Here are the programs, schedules and fees:

TENNIS LESSONS
Ocean Isle Beach Park

(Five minutes from The Winds)

$30/hour private rate
Semi-Private Group Rate:
$40 for 3 people
$5 /each additional person per group

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AQUAZUMBA
Mondays & Wednesdays
January 2 – April. 30, 2012
Time: 8am-9am
Outdoor pool
Free of charge to Winds Guests

This is a “pool party” workout for all ages. You’ll learn safe, effective and challenging water-based workouts that integrate the Zumba formula and philosophy into traditional aqua fitness disciplines. Outdoor Pool weather permitting.

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WATER AEROBICS
January 2 through April 30, 2012
Monday thru Thursday
9:30-10:30am
Outdoor Pool weather permitting
Free of Charge to Winds Guests.

Click here to go to Discount Coupons that you can print out and use for a 15% to 20% discount at The Winds Resort Beach Club.

Local authors Fred R David and Vern J. Bender created this book to preserve and bring to life the history, character, and charm of Ocean Isle Beach. This book illustrates and describes the exploits of Ocean Isle Beach pirates, the rise of large plantations, our Revolutionary War fighters, the salt mills, the dueling matches, the Civil War wrecks, the Prohibition years of Ocean Isle Beach liquor smuggling, the 1920’s Ocean Isle Beach dance hall, the World War II shipwrecks here, the hard work of Mr. Odell Williamson (founder of Ocean Isle Beach), and the town’s public servant individuals today.

A 130 page, hardbound, full color, 8.5 x 11 inch pictorial and narrative history of the Ocean Isle Beach area. It is professionally edited by an Internationally-acclaimed publisher. Each book personally signed by the authors. Regular Price: $34.95  SAVE $14.96
Hard Cover/Coffee Table Edition SALE PRICE: $19.99

Click here to learn more or buy!

Your favorite site SunsetNC.com has joined the facebook craze! On our facebook page you can find links to our articles, other sites and comments from some of our readers. ‘Like’ us on facebook and discover a whole new way to connect to the coastal way of life!

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From WRAL TV in Raleigh NC:

Wikipedia says:

Agave americana, commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe (although it is in a different family from the Aloe), is an agave originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has since naturalized in many regions and grows wild in Europe, South Africa, India, and Australia.

The misnamed century plant typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spreading rosette (about 4 m/13 ft wide) of gray-green leaves up to 2 m (6.6 ft) long, each with a spiny margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce to the bone. When it flowers, the spike with a cyme of big yellow flowers may reach up to 8 m (26 ft) in height. Its common name likely derives from its semelparous nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers or adventitious shoots from the base, which continue its growth.
Cultivated varieties include the “marginata” with yellow stripes along the margins of each leaf, “medio-picta alba” with a central white band, “medio-picta aurea” with a central yellow band, “striata” with multiple yellow to white stripes along the leaves, and “variegata” with white edges on the leaves.

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Your favorite site OceanIsleBeach.com has joined the facebook craze! On our facebook page you can find links to our articles, other sites and comments from some of our readers. ‘Like’ us on facebook and discover a whole new way to connect to the coastal way of life!

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Divers had planned to bring up the second-biggest artifact on what is thought to be the Queen Anne’s Revenge however they discovered it was too well-attached to some of the other items in the pile of ballast, according to the project director, Mark Wilde-Ramsing. So they pulled up another anchor instead that is the third-largest artifact and was most likely the anchor for the ship.

The anchor, which is 11 feet, 4 inches long with arms that are 7 feet, 7 inches across, was covered with a mixture of shells, sand and other debris that has been attracted by the leaching wrought iron. Its estimated to weigh approximately 2,500 to 3,000 pounds.
The size of the anchor is typical for a ship the size of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, with the two other anchors probably used in the event of an emergency, like a storm.

Archaeologists were planning to remove the second-largest anchor, which is 13 feet long with arms that are 8 feet across, from where it is located on top of the ballast pile. But found it to be too well-attached, so the divers went in from the side instead retrieving the “everyday anchor”. This means that in the future other dives may require going in from the side of the shipwreck rather than the top.

Divers are continuing to work for four days next week, then they’ll decide how best to move forward. The dive team hopes to recover all the artifacts by the end of 2013.

North Carolina state officials are hoping the anchor as well as the other artifacts will attract tourists. The shipwreck was discovered in 1996, causing world wide attention. The largest exhibit of artifacts from will be on view at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort starting June 11.

The timing of the recovery of the anchor couldn’t be better for North Carolina tourism interest in the shipwreck. The Disney film “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” starring Johnny Depp was just released earlier this month featuring both Blackbeard and the Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Check out this video of the 3,000 pound anchor from what they believe to be the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship being recovered off the North Carolina coast on by Archaeologists:

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Local authors Fred R David and Vern J. Bender created this 66 page paperback book.

$14.95 Buy it at: http://Islands-Art.com

People from age 4 to 104 will love this book, for twelve good reasons:

* It provides short stories of the last voyage of ships that sank offshore of Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island, and Baldhead Island
* It provides actual pictures of ships that sank here, such as the Sherman, the Hebe, the Raritan, the Governor, and the City of Houston
* It provides GPS #’s of many shipwrecks off southeast North Carolina
* It provides color pictures and short descriptions of exotic marine life that inhabit local shipwrecks
* It reveals where local Shark Tooth Beds are located and describes the extinct megalodon that once roamed here * It discusses the local Cypress Tree Forest on the ocean floor
* It provides numerous embedded YouTube video hotlinks to bring to life local shipwrecks and marine life
* It describes how, when, and where to catch spiny and slipper lobster here
* It gives important information for diving local shipwrecks, including depth, visibility, currents, type of artifacts, and marine life
* It describes local shipwreck history, from pirate ships to Civil War blockade runners, to World War II U-boat victims, to the recent Valour sinking * It tells the story of Frying Pan Tower and Frying Pan Lightships
* Help us preserve the history of this area by making this book available to others.

$14.95 Buy it at: http://Islands-Art.com

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