Proceeds from this year’s Working Watermen’s Festival on Saturday, Oct. 10, will go towards the purchase of a new roof for the Ocracoke Seafood Company, known locally as the Fish House.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to sunset (7 p.m.) at the Community Square dock, said Fish House Manager Susie O’Neal.
In case of rain, the event will move to the Ocracoke Community Center.
Since they became the first inhabitants of the island, Ocracokers have made their living on the water, from piloting ships through the treacherous Ocracoke Inlet, to fishing, crabbing, clamming, oyster harvesting, duck hunting and decoy carving.
The festival celebrates this heritage, all of which continues today, handed down through the generations.
But the Fish House roof leaks, O’Neal said, and this kind of event helps fill the coffers for present and future needs.
Local vendors will showcase some of this heritage, and representatives of the North Carolina Oyster Trail will give a talk at 11 a.m. in the Working Watermen’s Exhibit building on the dock.
Locally made clam chowder from the Ocracoke Community Pool Association will be available for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until it runs out.
New this year will be seafood meals created by N.C. Catch Chef Ambassadors Daphne Bennink, owner of the Back Porch Restaurant, and Luke Owens of Greenville.
They will each prepare two seafood specialties available to purchase as four dishes for $40-$45 to go or to eat in the Stockroom Street Food area.
An oyster tasting is included in the higher price for the four dishes.
O’Neal said also this year there will be a silent auction from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Watermen’s exhibit building.
The night before, on Oct. 9, the Fish House will hold an informal fishermen’s party, with seamed shrimp, clams and oysters.
“For $20 come hang out; see the Fish House,” she said.
Additionally, the Oyster Roast will be held this year between Christmas and New Year’s Day, from 2 to 4 p.m. possibly on Dec. 31, O’Neal said.
