Shipwrecks of the Outer Banks: An Illustrated Guide by Kevin P. Duffus

From the Publisher

"Where are all the shipwrecks?" It is the most frequently asked question by visitors to North Carolina's Outer Banks. Once, the remains of shipwrecks covered nearly every mile of shoreline. Today, most have vanished-either salvaged, burned, buried, stolen or vandalized-but not all. Hundreds of rare and remarkable photographs have also survived. Researcher, writer and filmmaker, Kevin Duffus, has roamed the beaches and searched the faded files of archives to create this photographic companion to historian David Stick's definitive, "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

Duffus' new book is a visual record of shipwrecks and their legacy-lifesaving, salvage, rumors of wreckers, and the hundreds of forgotten shipwreck victims buried among the dunes. Duffus explains the various causes of shipwrecks and why there is a Graveyard of the Atlantic in the first place, what it was like for passengers and crews when ships crashed into the breakers along the banks, and the true stories of some of the most incredible rescues. Duffus shares the memories of the Outer Banks' last living lighthouse keeper, the descendants of lifesavers, residents who played on shipwrecks as children, and one well-known historian who used to dance on the deck of a wrecked vessel.

A "coffee-table" format, the soft cover book is 176 pages, four-color throughout and features over 250 photographs of past and present shipwrecks and wreck artifacts, along with GPS locations and directions to dozens of wreck sites. The book includes new research on historic sites altered by inlet migration and a tribute to the forgotten heroes of the islands. The book's foreword was written by David Stick, who has described the volume as thelong-awaited sequel to his nearly six decade old and still in print, "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

What People Are Saying

David Stick

In 'Shipwrecks of the Outer Banks—An Illustrated Guide,' fellow historian Kevin Duffus has now made it possible for anyone interested in shipwrecks to pinpoint the location of many of the best known wrecks in Outer Banks history by using his detailed area maps, or for those more adapted to modern technology, by following the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) coordinates he has listed for each of them. As a bonus, he has filled the book with fascinating pictures of the ships, shipwrecks, and wreck sites on Ocracoke Island, Hatteras Island, and the north banks. (David Stick, Author of "Graveyard of the Atlantic")

Kevin Duffus is a historian who is a fine storyteller and a storyteller who is a fine historian. And he is a man who has a passion for the history and heritage of the Outer Banks and the seafaring islanders who call these barrier islands home. In 'Shipwrecks of the Outer Banks—An Illustrated Guide' he shares his love of history and its many ironies and his passion for the islands with all of us who want to know more about the place in which we live or love to visit. (Irene Nolan, Editor of The Island Breeze)

Product Details