The Frying Pan Shoals are a long, shifting area of shoal

Shoal

Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

s off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the area since the beginning of European exploration

Age of Discovery

The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...

 of the area; the area is littered with shipwrecks. The southern edge of the shoals have been marked by a lightship

Frying Pan (lightship)

Frying Pan is a lightvessel moored at Pier 66a in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It served at Frying Pan Shoals, off Cape Fear in North Carolina, for over 30 years.-Frying Pan Shoals Station:...

, a light tower and a buoy

Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...

. From May 1994 to August 2008, over 130 new shipwreck locations have been discovered in the area encompassing Frying Pan Shoals. The area is also a great fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 destination.

Recently the United States government sold the Frying Pan Shoals Light Station through a sealed bid auction. The winning bidder (Richard Neal, a private US citizen, www.FPTower.com) made his plans public to renovate and return the light station to use as a private rental property. The tower as it is known by locals is significant not only for its longevity but also since when out of sight of land, it is a commonly referenced location and as such is marked on many navigation charts with its GPS coordinates.

Most recently, the Frying Pan Tower was directly hit by Hurricane Irene with measured winds of 67 MPH and wave of 28'. An observational flight the day after the storm, August 28, 2011, showed that the tower had no observed damage from the impact. A video of the flight is available from YouTube by searching for Frying Pan Tower and Hurricane Irene.

Frying Pan Shoals Light

Frying Pan Shoals Light

Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower is a decommissioned lighthouse located approximately southeast of Southport, North Carolina.The light tower is modeled after a steel oil drilling platform, known as a “Texas Tower” on top of four...

Station is one of 15 light stations off the United States coastline most of which have been dismantled or destroyed by weather and time.

15 light station coordinates