For Ocracoke news, click here.
By Richard Taylor
A shrimp trawler ran aground in Bigfoot Slough Monday morning, causing delays or cancellation of several ferry trips Monday.
The rare mishap also caused the Mattamuskett School bus to take the long way around to get to Ocracoke for middle school games that afternoon, delaying the girls and boys contests by two hours. Ocracoke won both games.
Mary Fulcher in the Ocracoke ferry office said the 7:00 a.m. Cedar Island to Ocracoke ferry turned back after finding the passageway blocked in the slough. Conversely, the 10:30 Cedar Island to Ocracoke departure did not run at all. A ferry system maintenance worker at the Ocracoke office said he had never heard of such a mishap before.
The 7 a.m. Ocracoke to Swan Quarter trip ran as scheduled, but the 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. runs to Swan Quarter were cancelled, as was the 1 p.m. departure to Cedar Island since no incoming boats could get to Ocracoke to make the turn around, said Tim Haas, Ferry Division spokesman.
By 12:30 p.m., the stranded trawler was underway again, followed by a swarm of hungry seagulls.
Haas confirmed ferries are running the normal schedule today.
