In late May/early June an unusual craft was anchored in the waters in and around Wrightsville Beach. My phone rang one Sunday night. The caller told me about the boat. We made plans for me to go out with photographer Allison Potter and meet the captain.
The story of the Mara Noka and her captain, Kiana Weltzien, is fascinating, almost too incredible to believe, but it is a true story. It’s a story with high seas drama playing out right now. As I’m writing, the 50-year-old wooden catamaran, with a crew of three women, is out in the wild North Atlantic Ocean headed for the Azores, nine volcanic islands 870 miles west of Lisbon, Portugal, 930 miles northwest of Morocco, to raise awareness of plastics in the oceans.
We are happy to also bring you the continuation of the Laura Goodwin story. Goodwin successfully swam the English Channel, making it to shore on July 11, 2022. Writer Simon Gonzalez caught up with her to bring us her thoughts post-swim.
Other great reads are two fish stories, one introducing young people to fishing and life on the water through two camps, the second a Fish Tale of marlin fishing in the Bimini Islands. This story is part fiction, as best I can tell the names and hometown location were changed to hide identities.
We also have artistic duck stamps. Plus, the incredible still lifes of Wilmington artist Virginia Wright-Frierson.
There is also an adaptive use story of an out-of-date industrial building, the calibration station at the Port of Wilmington, now the modern headquarters for a decades-old development company.
I’ve also got a short piece on the June 30 signed-into-law legislation permanently legalizing hemp production in the state, as well as the stalling out of the medical marijuana bill. I became a big believer in plant-based pain management over pharmacology after using locally produced hemp flower CBD oil to kick the doctor-prescribed opioids during my long recovery from injury throughout 2020-2021, as well as during a neighbor’s long battle with cancer.
We top it all off with Beach House Eats, which includes a recipe for homemade peach ice cream.
Bless someone with your random act of kindness today.
— Pat Bradford, Senior Editor/Publisher
Just before going to press, we heard the sad news of Thalian Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director Tony Rivenbark’s passing. We join the region in mourning his loss. Look for a tribute to Tony in our next issue.