CHEC lends a hand to replace missing Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station Wreck Pole that was washed away during a storm

The Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative (CHEC) came to the rescue of the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station (LSS) by donating and installing a new wreck pole so that the historic site’s weekly life-saving drill reenactments could return for the 2025 summer season.

Every year, a team of local volunteers routinely performs the authentic drill reenactment, which replicates a real-life training exercise of Chicamacomico LSS personnel from a century ago.

During the heyday of the life-saving stations, the crews at all island stations had a set, weekly routine that was only interrupted when a rescue was required. The routine included mundane tasks like housekeeping and chores, but it also included regular and repetitive training on the requirements for conducting a rescue in ocean waters.

Because rescues were typically required in less-than-ideal conditions, (like hurricanes, nor’easters, or during times of war), the drills helped ensure that tasks like setting up the breeches buoy and firing the line-throwing Lyle Gun were second nature for the surfmen.

This schedule of drills included the U.S. Life-Saving Service’s Beach Apparatus Drill, which is the demonstration that is currently performed to visiting summertime crowds. In fact, Chicamacomico is now the only place in the country—and likely the world, for that matter—that regularly performs the complete drills for the public.

The roughly eight-minute demonstration is a flurry of movement, with ropes flying in every direction, the firing of a Lyle gun, and a grand finale of a brave volunteer being shuttled to the ground from the top of the 30-foot-tall wreck pole.

However, after a fall 2024 storm that also resulted in an oceanfront Rodanthe home collapse, Chicamacomico LSS volunteers noticed that a key piece of equipment for the weekly show was missing.

“We lost the pole during the storm – it just washed out to sea,” said Larry Grubbs, President of the Chicamacomico Board of Directors and longtime Drill Leader of the demonstration. “The rest of the [Chicamacomico] site was fine after the storm, but the pole was just gone.”

The former wreck pole had been standing on the edge of the oceanfront for nearly 25 years, and while a replacement 30 or 40-foot-tall wooden pole might seem like it would be difficult to find, Grubbs knew exactly who to contact for help.

“I remembered that CHEC had put in the original pole years ago, so I reached out to a friend of mine on the Board of Directors to see if they could help,” he said. “Two weeks later they showed up.”

CHEC not only donated the new pole, but also sent a six-person crew and two trucks to the site on Friday morning to drill the 40-foot-tall pole roughly 10 feet into the ground.

The entire project took just an hour or two to complete, and while a platform still needs to be added at the top, the wreck pole is once again in place for the 2025 season.

“We’re going to try to add the platform and have everything ready to go so we can do a [reenactment drill] on April 17, but the season will officially start the Thursday before Memorial Day,” said Grubbs, who was grateful for both the donated pole and the quick installation from CHEC volunteers.

“I knew CHEC would come through,” he said. “We have the best electric company in the world.”