File:Coast watch (1979) (20036414674).jpg

Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_4 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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Of Bulls' Hides By Carla B. Burgess A sundog never fetched anything but a heap of bad weather. So say Lucille and Billy Tmitt of Oriental. "We came from a long line of fisher- men back in the 1700s, and they went by what the old Indians used to see," says Lucille. "A sundog, seeing two suns, means there's gonna be a sudden change — and we've seen a many of 'em." Double suns and moons have long been seen as portents of bad weather. Even more feared are the lights of St. Elmo's fire dancing in a ship's rigging. Bloody sunrises don't sit well with sailors either, apparent in the saying, "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight." Throughout histoiy, folks have set their beliefs and observations to rhyme, if not for poetic intent, then to make them easier to remember. Signs and sayings are woven tightly into the weather lore of fishermen and sailors. And for people like the Truitts. who have fished the waters of the Neuse River When the glass falls low. Prepare for a blow; When it rises high, Let your kites fly. and Pamlico Sound most of their lives, they demand as much respect and attention as the local weather forecaster. Maybe more. "A backing wind is no man's friend," says Arvin Midgett, who captains the charter boat Miss Boo out of Oregon Inlet. "I've known that saying all my life, and I've come to see the wisdom of it." Counterclockwise winds almost always mean trouble — from colder air approach- ing to menacing hurricane winds. "If it (wind) comes from the northeast, back to the north, then from the northwest, why you look for another cold front coming through," says Midgett.
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12 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1991

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