According to statistics, half of all U.S. home fire deaths occur at night between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am, when people are most likely sleeping.
Having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire in half. Three out of every five U.S. home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarm or no working smoke alarms.
These facts underscore the importance of having working smoke alarms in all bedrooms. The Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department this month is focusing on the theme of “Hear the beep where you sleep. Every bedroom needs a working smoke alarm.”
Smoke alarms can make a difference between life and death, but they need to be installed in all required locations, and they need to be working.
From Aug. 20 to Sept. 15, the OVFD responded to the following: medical responder – 13, helicopter landings for medical evacuations – 8, residential fire – 1, vehicle accident – 1, vehicle fire – 1.
T-shirt sales provide income for the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department. Helping out are longtime volunteers Albert O’Neal, fire chief, Dick Jacoby, president of the OFPA, and Janey Jacoby, treasurer of the OFPA. Photo by P. Vankevich
Hatteras – Due to a mechanical issue on the M/V Hatteras, the North Carolina Ferry Division’s Hatteras-Ocracoke route will be on an alternate schedule until a replacement boat can be sent to the area.
The new schedule, effective immediately, will be as follows:
The schedule will remain in effect until the M/V Kinnakeet, currently under mandatory dry dock time at the state shipyard in Manns Harbor, can be sent to Hatteras the week of Nov. 2.
The state dredge in Hatteras Inlet. Photo courtesy of NC DOT.
By CATHERINE KOZAK
With navigation through Hatteras Inlet close to impossible since recent storms, the inlet’s troubles occupied most of the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting of the Dare County Oregon Inlet and Waterways Commission.
Surveyors were working in the inlet yesterday to provide the information needed to clear an area of the old ferry channel between the Ocracoke ferry terminal and the inlet gorge.
“The state has authorized the ferry division to put our dredge out there and to use our spoil site,” Jed Dixon, deputy director of the state Ferry Division and a commission member, told the panel.
Dixon said that the spoil area off Ocracoke was at capacity, but that sand needed for upcoming dune repair work by the state Department of Transportation on a storm-damaged section of Highway 12 would make room for more disposal.
Dare County Manager Bobby Outten said in a later telephone interview that the county will pay the state $3,750 in matching costs for the survey work. The remaining 75 percent of the cost will be paid out of the state inlet management fund.
“The reason we’re doing that is because it can be done quickly,” he said of the planned project, known as the “northern route.”
Last month, the commission wanted to dredge in another natural channel that would be further away from the inlet, pegged the “southern route.” But that plan has gotten bogged down in the review process. So the “northern route” is essentially Plan B.
“The reason we’re doing that is because it can be done quickly,” Outten said. “They both accomplish the same thing”–that is, provide passage from the ferry channel to the gorge. Based on anecdotal information from mariners, he said, it is believed that the shoaled area is small.
Both areas had earlier been identified as options, but the southern route was deemed safer because it was more protected. That project, however, required a new permit for the Army Corps of Engineers to change from a pipeline dredge to a sidecaster dredge. When the proposal went out for review, concerns were raised about the impact on submerged aquatic vegetation.
In addition to delay for additional review, Outten said, an agreement between the county, the state and the Corps has not been finalized. The agreement, which would allow the county to provide funds for dredging projects, is a precursor to the Corps doing the dredge project.
But there are already state permits in place that would allow the Ferry Division to do dredging in the northern route, and between last month’s and this month’s commission meetings, the county asked the division–which in essence is acting as a contractor–to pursue the survey and dredge work on the northern route.
Survey results are expected by Friday, Oct. 23, and then the Ferry Division very quickly will be able to determine the extent of dredging required and the cost.
Outten said that the county Board of Commissioners has not taken a vote on funding the dredging, since the survey is needed to provide details of the project.
“There’s nothing to decide until we get the information,” he said.
Still, that project is only a short term solution to the shoaling in Hatteras Inlet, and the commission agreed to look further into the possibility of getting the former short ferry channel reopened. The current long channel takes much more time and money for the charter fleet and the ferries.
The Corps has continued to do quarterly surveys in the short channel, which became impassable several years ago, to keep an eye on any changes. Another survey is scheduled this month; the last one in July was not encouraging.
“It was in pretty rough shape–pretty bleak,” Steve Shriver, team leader of the Corps’ survey section, said in a telephone interview. “It could’ve gotten worse; it could’ve gotten better. We just don’t know until we get out there and do the survey.”
Hatteras charter boat captains have been struggling to get out of the inlet since summer storms left as little as two feet of water between Buoys 13 to 15 in the channel. But the solution–dredging–has been complicated by confounding state and federal jurisdiction in areas of the inlet, frustrating local captains as well as everyone on the commission.
“There’s been a lot going on,” said member Allen Burrus, who represents Hatteras on the Board of Commissioners, “and there’s been nothing going on.”
Dixon said that it would make sense for the Corps to have the authority to dredge where it sees dredging is needed. That is what the agency does in Oregon Inlet. At Hatteras, however, each time new shoals crop up that need attention, the Corps can respond only if the project is allowed under the existing permit. If not, a lengthy application process has to be done.
“The authorization needs to change,” he said.
Rom Whitaker, a charter captain from Hatteras, told the commission that it’s been 14 months since the commission was made aware of Hatteras Inlet’s increasing shoaling problem. Fishermen worry every day about breaking a shaft on their boats.
“And we still have a problem,” he said. “You wake up with a knot in your stomach. You fish with a knot in your stomach.
“We’ve got the money,” he said. “We’ve got the equipment. All we need is a piece of paper.”
In an emotional plea, Ernie Foster, another Hatteras charter captain, and a commission member, emphasized that there is no more time to waste.
“If we have normal tides and nothing is done for the winter, none of us will be able to get out,” he said. “None of us.”
To read the story originally published in the Island Free Press, click here.
The Neuse pulls into the ‘south dock,’ which is at the north end of Ocracoke.
Updated/corrected: Oct. 23; 2:32 p.m.
By Connie Leinbach
If the state General Assembly cannot get replacement ferry costs from a different funding stream in the state budget than is the current formula, a toll on the Hatteras Ferry to Ocracoke may be in the future, is the word from the Albemarle Regional Planning Organization (ARPO).
Lloyd Griffin, a county commissioner in Pasquotank County and who is chair of this transportation planning group, said in an interview Thursday that the planning group on Wednesday talked about ferries in a three-hour meeting and decided to again give the General Assembly another chance when they convene in April for the “short session.”
He confirmed that the agenda, while it had not contained a resolution to toll the Hatteras ferry as of yesterday, was amended during the meeting when the members voted 6 to 2 to add the resolution to it.
However, Griffin said no vote was taken on the resolution to toll the Hatteras Ferry.
“We did not vote on the motion but had a consensus to give Legislators the opportunity to correct it,” Griffin said. “In January, we will talk more.”
The resolution will be on the Jan. 21 meeting agenda as old business, said Angela Welsh, planning director/RPO coordinator of the Albemarle Commission.
Griffin said that the Legislative calendar will be set in March, at which time people will know if the Legislators will take up this issue in the short session.
“If it’s not on the calendar, then we will talk about it,” Griffin said. “They’ve had two years to do this and there are questions about the real merits of the Legislature being able to do this,”
Griffin reiterated that the Albemarle RPO has $32 million in its state allotment for all transportation needs for the 10 counties in its purview.
“A big chunk of that goes to the ferry system,” he said. “We would be taking the money (for ferry replacement) from other counties to support tourism so people could ride for free.”
Wally Overman, a Dare County commissioner who made the motion Monday night to support tolling the Hatteras Ferry, said he took the action based on the presentation made that night by Jed Dixon, deputy Ferry Division director.
“We felt on the basis from the information given at the meeting that it made economic sense for the region,” Overman said about their vote. “Additionally, it was our understanding that Hyde County themselves could set the commuter rate at whatever they wanted and this would include both the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes.”
He said they had heard that the subject had been on the ARPO agenda, then off again.
“We wanted to provide direction to our representatives (on the RPO) that if the vote came up, Dare was in favor of it,” he said.
The Ferry Division is struggling for money, said Robert Woodard, chair of the Dare County Board of Commissioners.
“This is a small amount to keep the ferry system going,” Woodard told the Island Free Press. “We felt it was fair.”
Dare County’s agenda included “discussion of ferry tolling” as an item. Both the agenda and a video recording of the meeting are available online. The ferry discussion begins about 94 minutes into the video. For access, click here.
Ferry Division Information Officer Tim Hass had said Tuesday that Dare County had asked for the presentation.
Prior to these meetings, Hyde County Manager Bill Rich had alerted the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association on Oct. 14 that tolling the free Hatteras car ferry (in concert with a possible tolled passenger ferry) was again under consideration by the Ferry Division. He also suggested that before a toll is imposed by the state that Ocracoke might agree to a commuter pass of, say $75, that would include all three island ferries.
At a meeting Monday (Oct. 19) to talk about ferries (which State Rep. Paul Tine and Goodwin attended), Ed Goodwin, Ferry Division director, reiterated the need for revenue to pay for replacing aging ferries, two of which are 52 years old. He said that Legislators have said they’d work on getting ferry replacement funds out of the RPO pot of money, but that hasn’t happened yet. He did not mention that the Dare County commissioners would discuss ferry tolling later that night.
Since Gov. Pat McCrory’s election, the state has revamped how it doles out transportation money and put decisions to enact tolls into the hands of local folks who are part of the ARPO, which includes 10 counties in eastern North Carolina.
A complicated funding procedure McCrory devised and called the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) divided the state into 10 regions, all of whom were given $32 million with which to fund bridges, trains, airports, roads, bike and pedestrian projects and ferry replacement on a competitive basis. Some of the regions overlap, further complicating the funding process.
Prior to STI, ferry replacements were done by an appropriation from the Legislature.
Since a new car ferry costs $12 to $15 million—which would be half of the RPO allotment—that would take away from other much-needed projects. Even taking out $5 million a year to build up a ferry replacement fund is at question.
Tine (U-Kitty Hawk) had said at the Oct. 19 meeting that he and other legislators will work on getting ferry replacement funding out of the RPOs’ pots of money when the lawmakers reconvene in the spring.
“The House version of the budget had replacement money for ferries taken out of STI,” Tine had said, but the final budget, a compromise between both houses and which was recently passed, put it back in.
“The money is there (in the state budget for ferry replacement),” Tine said. “The problem is getting the Senate to agree. We need to remove it out of the Division (RPO), or at least put it into the regional pot of money.”
A copy of the proposed resolution is below. This has not passed.
North Carolina has changed its primary election date by moving it up in the calendar year. Next year’s statewide primary election will be Tuesday, March 15 instead of in May.
With the change in the election date, many other important dates have changed as well. The candidate filing period will begin at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 1 and run until noon, Dec. 21.
The close of filing will be at noon Monday, Dec. 21. Anyone planning to run for an elected seat in the 2016 election will need to file during this time period.
Absentee voting by mail will begin on Monday, Jan. 25.
One-Stop Voting will be held from Thursday, March 3, to Saturday, March 12. The hours of operation will be approved by NC State Board of Elections in late January.
As the current law states, voters will be required to present a photo ID to vote in any election starting in 2016.
During odd-numbered years, North Carolina cities, villages and towns hold “municipal elections.” Municipal elections are held toelect the governing officials (mayor, city council, town council, etc.) of cities, villages and towns.
Not all municipalities have an election in any given odd-numbered year. Ocracoke will not have one this year. Sometimes, the contests for a municipality are held every four years. Also, a few cities or towns elect their officials during even-numbered years.
In a municipal election, only residents of the municipality are qualified to vote in the election. These voters must have resided in the municipality for at least 30 days prior to the date of the election. Municipal election methods and dates vary based on the municipal charter for the municipality.
Voter registration is the first step to become an active voter. Becoming a registered voter is simple. There are several convenient ways to become a registered voter in Hyde County.
For online voter registration applications visithttp://www.ncsbe.gov/ncsbe/Voter-Information/VR-Form. Hard copies can be obtained from the Elections Office during business hours or any public library. You can also register to vote while at the DMV. To request an application by mail you can call our office at (252) 926-4194, send a fax to (252) 926-3707, or email a request toViola Williams.
Requirements for voter registration:
• A U.S. Citizen • A Resident of North Carolina and this county for 30 days before the election • At least 18 years of age on or before the next general election • Not registered and not voting in any other county or state • If convicted of a felony, your rights of citizenship must have been restored
Raleigh – The N.C. Department of Transportation wants to know what citizens think are top-priority transportation projects for northeastern North Carolina. NCDOT’s Division One, which includes Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties, will hold an open-house style meeting this week to hear from residents about their ideas and gather feedback on proposed projects for the region.
A 30-day public comment period will end Nov. 2 to determine which transportation projects should be submitted to compete with other improvements for funding in the next State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which is NCDOT’s 10-year transportation plan, which is updated every two years.
The list of proposed new projects for Division One can be viewed here. Residents can also submit proposals for projects, which can be as large-scale as an interstate improvement or as small as a new turn lane or intersection improvement. Proposals can be for any mode of transportation including public transit, bicycle/pedestrian, ferry, aviation and rail.
“The ability to get to work, school, medical appointments and recreation centers is all dependent on our transportation network,” said Division One Engineer Jerry Jennings. “As we develop transportation projects for this region, it is vital that we get feedback and ideas from the public to make sure that we are doing what is best for the future of northeastern North Carolina.”
Each of NCDOT’s 14 transportation divisions will hold its own open house to gather input from residents before submitting its transportation priorities for funding. Maintenance projects such as patching potholes and resurfacing undergo a separate scoring and priority ranking process. They are not a subject of these meetings.
Can’t Make it to the Meeting? Here’s How to Provide Your Input
Written comments related to Division One projects can be submitted during the public comment period to NCDOT Division One Planning Engineer Gretchen Byrum via email at gabyrum@ncdot.gov; by mail at 113 Airport Drive, Suite 100, Edenton, N.C. 27932; or by phone at (252) 482-1879. All comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 2.
NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who want to participate in this meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact Jamille Robbins at jarobbins@ncdot.gov or call 919-707-6085 as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.
Left to right, Ed Goodwin, Ferry Div. director, Bill Rich, Hyde County manager and state Rep. Paul Tine (U-Kitty Hawk). Photo by P. Vankevich
By Connie Leinbach
While NC Ferry Division officials were on Ocracoke yesterday assuring islanders that they would go along with islanders’ not wanting a toll on the Hatteras Ferry, the Dare County commissioners, after a presentation by the Ferry Division, voted 6 to 1 to approve tolling the Hatteras Ferry.
Ed Goodwin, Ferry Division director, along with Rep. Paul Tine, (U-Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Washington), joined Hyde County Manager Bill Rich in discussing the ferry issues yesterday with more than 30 islanders in the Ocracoke Community Center.
The most pressing issue is whether or not the local transportation planning organization—the Albemarle Regional Planning Organization (ARPO)—should vote to approve tolling the Hatteras Ferry to create revenue to pay for much-need ferry boat replacement.
Tim Hass, Ferry Division spokesman, said today that Dare County asked the ferry division to “lay out the ferry tolling issue as it stands.”
After Dixon’s presentation, Wally Overman, vice-chair of the board, called for a vote to support tolling the Hatteras Ferry, said Allen Burrus, the Dare County commissioner representing Hatteras, when contacted today.
“Hatteras and Ocracoke got screwed last night,” he said, adding that he was taken by surprise by the vote and voted against it.
This vote does not mean there will be a toll on the Hatteras Ferry. Dare is one of 10 counties in the ARPO, and a majority of them must approve any action.
As of today, this item is not on the ARPO agenda for tomorrow’s meeting in Manteo, said Angela M. Welsh, planning director/RPO coordinator of the Albemarle Commission, but that could change. The ARPO members could vote to add it to the agenda, she said.
As for Dare County’s vote, Rich said it doesn’t matter if Dare made that resolution because all the other counties in the RPO won’t vote for it.
“I can’t believe they did that,” Rich said. “I thought Dare was with us. That’s not in concert with what’s going on. The RPO members said that if Hyde doesn’t want a toll on the Hatteras Ferry they won’t go along with it.”
He noted that Hyde went along with not agreeing to a proposed sales tax redistribution plan that would have hurt Dare.
Tine said today that he was unaware of the action and was disappointed in Dare’s vote.
“I think there are still some legislative options we’re pursuing,” he said about finding money for ferry replacement.
At the ferry meeting yesterday, Rich reiterated that there would be no vote on tolling the Hatteras Ferry at tomorrow’s meeting of the ARPO, one of 10 state organizations that oversee transportation needs within their regions.
Yesterday’s meeting followed that of the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association Wednesday night where the group learned from Rich that the Ferry Division would ask the RPO to toll the Hatteras ferry to pay for replacement ferries.
Following two days of phone calls among various officials, Goodwin on Friday pulled the plug on that request.
Right now the cost of replacing car ferries (at about $15 million a pop) is included in the $32 million pot of money the state gives to each RPO to finance all transportation needs in the respective districts. This new method, created by Gov. Pat McCrory in 2013, is called the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI). Prior to that, ferry replacement was funded through appropriations by the General Assembly.
Tine said that he and other legislators in the short legislative session that begins in April will work on getting ferry replacement funding out of the RPOs’ pots of money.
State Rep. Paul Tine. Photo by P. Vankevich
“The House version of the budget had replacement money for ferries taken out of STI,” Tine said, but the final budget, a compromise between both houses and which was recently passed, put it back in.
“The money is there (in the state budget for ferry replacement),” Tine said. “The problem is getting the Senate to agree. We need to remove it out of the Division (RPO), or at least put it into the regional pot of money.”
Tine said Senate Republican leadership said they would work with him, and he urged islanders to “be nice” when they contact their representatives. He also said most Legislators are not interested as in the opinions of non-constituents.
Islanders attend the meeting Oct. 19 on tolling the Hatteras Ferry. Photo by C. Leinbach
This summer, Tine was appointed to serve as vice-chair of the Budget Conference Committee, which was convened when the two houses’ budget proposals did not agree. He also is chair of the House Appropriations Committee Transportation.
Last week, Tine announced he would not seek reelection in 2016, but he will fill out his term.
“We’ll give it one more shot,” Tine said about getting ferry replacement costs out of the RPO’s funding bucket. “You’re not going to have a transportation representative from this district (after he leaves). If we can’t (get ferry replacement out of the RPO funding pot) in the short session, you’ll have to look at something down the road.”
“It’s been promised to be fixed for several years,” Goodwin said about getting ferry replacement out of the RPO pot.
Ed Goodwin, NC Ferry director. Photo by P. Vankevich
“We’re hauling 30 percent fewer from Hatteras because of the longer route,” he continued, adding that the average age of the 22 boats in the fleet is 26 years old and there are two over 52 years and one over 47 years.
“I look at the ferry lines and don’t see cars that old,” he said. “Older boats cost more to maintain. What can I do to run this more efficiently with what I have? It’s a sinking ship. Where is the money?”
He said islanders want more visitors.
“Tolls are the only avenue by which we can restore it,” he said.
“I’m trying to change the system,” Tine added. “He’s (Goodwin) trying to work within the system.”
A retired special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigation Services (NCIS), Goodwin said that in his opinion, it’s best to provide solutions to problems before the government does it for you.
Others in the audience gave a different view.
“We need to say no to tolls until we absolutely have to,” said Justin LeBlanc, vice-president of the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association. “Don’t move the goal post.”
Darlene Styron, owner of the Sweet Tooth, said 85 percent of her customers are day-visitors. Since ridership is already down 30 percent because of the long route she said she can’t imagine that a toll would not further decrease day visitors.
Once you open the door to a toll, no matter how small, there’s always the possibility of raising it, she said.
So, if there was a toll on the Hatteras ferry would the proposed addition of (tolled) passenger ferries be needed? she asked.
Goodwin said the study by Volkert should be done at the end of November at which time discussion can continue on whether to choose one or the other, or a combination of both.
“If you don’t like it, we can leave it,” he said. “It’s not up to me.”
As for garnering more revenue through sponsorships and concessions, Goodwin said the division received one response from an international marketing company interested in helping locate sponsors, and that he has received sponsorship interest from NASCAR and some sports teams.
As far as residents making residents exempt from a toll, Tine said that because the Ferry Division receives federal money, discrimination is not allowed.
“We’d have to charge everyone,” he said.
Rich said Ocracoke needs to get the best deal possible, such as a grant, to cover the cost of commuter passes for island residents.
“We’re still trying to figure out how not to toll,” Tine said, “but have a plan B ready.”
Goodwin said setting a toll is up to the Board of Transportation.
Island businesses will have the ears of Visit NC tourism professionals during an open seminar from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 22) in the Berkley Manor.
The state’s official tourism agency will bring its Tourism Resource Assistance Center (TRAC), which is designed to help tourism-related businesses engage more fully with programs offered by Visit North Carolina and its partners. Any size business is welcome.
At the TRAC session, representatives from the Division of Tourism, departments of Commerce, Cultural Resources, NC GreenTravel and other agencies will be on hand to discuss services they can provide businesses including strategic planning, assistance with identifying funding sources, and as liaisons with other local, state and federal agencies.
There is no charge to attend, and no reservation is required.
This is a floating event with booths set up for all of the different services offered by Visit NC and their partners. Folks can come and go at their leisure and have one-on-one time to talk with the Visit NC team. There is no charge to attend.
After the session, the TRAC team will get a tour of the island, and that evening a pot-luck meal is planned for the visitors.
A similar session will be held the day before (Oct. 21) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hyde County Government Center in Swan Quarter. Locals interested in helping with this event should contact Sundae Horn at 252-921-0283.
The TRAC visit is made possible by the Economic Development Partnership for NC (EDPNC), Hyde County Office of Planning & Economic Development, Ocracoke Civic & Business Association, Dare to Hyde Adventures and Ocracoke Island Realty.
This collage, ‘Red Flower with Owl,’ by Debbie Wells, will be among the works for sale starting Oct. 21 in Down Creek Gallery.
Debbie Wells will showcase her newest artwork Wednesday (Oct. 21) in Down Creek Gallery’s “Expose Yourself to Art” series of artists’ receptions. All receptions are open to the public from 5 to 8 p.m. and include hors d’oeuvres and live music.
She will show a series of collaged images using “old, discarded paintings as the ground, and depicting imaginary plant forms as they might evolve in nature.”
These works were constructed from vintage botanical imagery, photographs and drawings of insects and birds.
Her themes on this new body of work focused on “transformation, death, rebirth, and feminine symbols, such as eggs.”
Wells is a long-time resident artist whose work has been featured at the Secret Garden Gallery and has shown locally at various venues for many years.
She began creating in the early 1990s, first painting transparent watercolors and attending several watercolor workshops.
Largely self-taught, Wells has shown extensively throughout the state with the North Carolina Watercolor Society on whose board of directors she also served for three years.
Wells began to incorporate collaged into her paintings in 2000, and also began working in wood. She carves each piece which she then finishes with paint and collage elements.
In 2010, she became part of a group of local Ocracoke artists called the “Ocracoke Five.” They exhibited in Asheville, as well as a World War II bunker site on the island, and in 2011, at the Ocracoke “Convenience Site.”
The gallery is at 260 Irvin Garrish Highway. Musical guest Rob King will perform.
Parents Tomas and Sylvaine with children Elsa and Theo. Photo by P. Vankevich
To read an article in French about their journey, click here. Pour lire un article en français au sujet de leur voyage, cliquez ici.
By Peter Vankevich
Tomas and Sylvaine of Lyons, France, and their two children stopped in Ocracoke for a few days on the way to fulfilling a lifelong dream of bicycling around the United States and Canada.
Sylvaine, who is a social worker, and Tomas, who works in cyber security, are taking an 11-month sabbatical from their jobs. They requested that their last name not be revealed
Lean and fit, the couple and their two children, Theo, 9, and Elsa, 7, began traveling mostly back roads in June across North America usually doing about 30 to 40 miles a day on two special bicycles not widely available in the United States.
Their trip began in Vancouver after a flight from Paris.
Crossing the Canadian provinces, the group descended into Montana and pedaled throughout the state. Then they took a train to Minneapolis and continued around Lake Superior eventually reaching New York. They followed the Erie Canal then came down the coast.
One of the family’s German-made bicycles, Pino Tour by Hase Bikes.
The bikes, called Pino Tour, are manufactured in Germany by the Hase Bike Company which builds specialized cycles. They are a hybrid with traditional and recombinant features that have front seats for the children. The adults pedal upright while the children in the front recline and can also pedal.
The bikes were shipped from Paris to Vancouver as-is, Sylvaine explained. “They don’t collapse,” She said.
And they ride in all kinds of weather.
“We have rain gear,” Sylvaine said adding that a drizzle doesn’t daunt them, but if it’s a driving rain, they’ll stop and find cover.
The family met Dolores and John Gilbert Oct. 10 on the ferry to the island when the campground on Ocracoke was closed due to the recent heavy rains. The Gilberts invited them to “camp” under their house in Oyster Creek and use the showers until the campground reopened.
Spending some time in Ocracoke’s “suburb,” Oyster Creek. Photo by P. Vankevich
“The kids were laughing and smiling in the pouring rain with all of their rain and camping gear in tow,” Dolores said about meeting the group on the ferry. “Amazing!”
“But then we brought them inside,” John said, laughing.
One of the ways to bike tour with as little travel luggage as possible they said is by participating in a program known as Warm Showers. Warmshowers.orgis an on-line hosting organization. Founded in 2005, cycle tourists can enjoy a warm welcome from their fellow cyclists which could be a couch, a place to pitch a tent, or even a guest room.
Hosts can provide accommodation in the four corners of the world and is particularly popular in Europe. There are more than 5000 participating members. In North Carolina, there are only a few participants throughout the state. The family has used it on their journey when it has been available.
The childrens’ schooling is not being neglected.
“Home schooling is not as popular in France like in the United States,” Sylvaine said. “We worked with their school and set up a curriculum for the children to ensure they covered the requited courses of mathematics, history, citizenship, French, geography and English.”
The next leg of their journey will be to Memphis and then follow the Mississippi River to New Orleans. From there, they will head to Florida and the Everglades and then return to Europe either by air or possibly a cargo ship.
“When we leave the U.S., we will go to Spain to cycle up the coast back home,” said Sylvaine.
“I find the Outer Banks, with Hatteras and especially Ocracoke, to be the best part of the East Coast,” said Tomas. “It is the most natural area. So many areas we’ve seen are so developed.”
The children have been fascinated with the wildlife they have seen, particularly the bears in Montana and their first alligator in the Alligator Wildlife Refuge, outside of Manteo.
“The alligator was huge,” said Tomas. “I would guess about 12 feet long.”
“The people we have met, including on Ocracoke, have been so friendly and fascinated by our trip,” he said before the family pedaled off to the Lifeguard Beach.
One islander they enjoyed meeting was Daphne Bennink who gave them the opportunity revert to their native language, French.
