The Swan Quarter ferry, viewed from a helicopter, chugs to Ocracoke. Photo by C. Leinbach
Editor’s note July 10, 2016: a correction regarding the amount of funding for maintenance has been corrected.
A toll on the Hatteras/Ocracoke ferry has been a possibility for the last several years.
This free ride since the 1960s has been a major benefit for the Ocracoke community and, apparently, a major sticking point to some outside our small area.
We won’t enumerate the many good reasons why this route should remain free. We don’t begrudge folks crossing multi-million dollar toll-free bridges or snow removal in the mountains.
The good news is that the legislature in June successfully kept the Hatteras Ferry free and did something equally impressive: They approved an annual $4 million for ferry replacement and $6 million this year for maintenance.
We hope this ends calls for a toll on the Hatteras ferry since finding money to fund new vessels was the reason for the continued jockeying to enact a toll.
We hope the folks at the NC Ferry Division are as pleased with this as we are.
This news can’t come soon enough, and we hope the Ferry Division will move with alacrity to purchase a new vessel between Hatteras and Ocracoke and fix the old ones since, of late, more and more vessels have experienced maintenance issues, delaying both the traveling public and islanders.
The legislature also approved money to match a federal grant for a trial run with passenger ferry service for Ocracoke.
Back in October, Paul Tine, our House representative (U-Kitty Hawk), had said in a community meeting about, yet again, another attempt to get a toll on our lifeline approved, “Let us try to fix this in the short session.”
And we say, “Bravo!” to Tine, John Torbett (R-Gaston) and Phil Shepard (R-Onslow) for accomplishing this impressive feat of bipartisan statesmanship.
In the last few years, principally Tine, Torbett and also Hyde County Manager Bill Rich worked tirelessly to convince their colleagues in the House and the Senate to view the ferries as part of the highway system.
These players deserve our thanks–for all of this hard work and also for bringing a cadre of representatives to mainland Hyde in January where they could see the rural nature of the county and the ferry docks for themselves.
If there is a bit of sadness to this political year it is that Paul Tine decided not to run for a third term in office. He has been an effective advocate for Ocracoke and eastern North Carolina.
This election year, our region is one of the few in the state that have both the state House and Senate seats at play.
So many areas have safe seats (owing to redistricting) –the incumbents are either unopposed or are not in danger of losing.
The November election is around the corner, and it is vital that islanders become familiar with the four candidates seeking to represent Ocracoke in Raleigh.
The Ocracoke Observer has provided coverage on issues and candidates will continue to do so. This information is available on our website, ocracokeobserver.com.
Lastly, several sources familiar with the General Assembly have said the legislators do read and consider letters and emails.
The efforts of those islanders who did contact them recently to support Tine and Torbett’s efforts with the ferry system did indeed have an impact. It shows that voicing your opinion does matter.
We urge you to thank those in office and continue to share your views with them and the candidates.
While we hope the ferry toll issue is gone for good, we recommend vigilance.
Professional fireworks returned to Ocracoke July 3 to the acclaim of islanders and visitors. Melinda Sutton captured this shot during the Sunday evening show.
By Connie Leinbach and Peter Vankevich
The Ocracoke community and visitors were overwhelmingly impressed with the fireworks show Sunday night that was part of July 4 holiday events.
“They were awesome,” was the comment most frequently heard on peoples’ lips following the show and two days later.
“They were perfect,” said Judy Eifert, co-owner of Dajio Restaurant.
Trudy Austin, a Variety Store cashier and member of the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board who granted the funds to make it happen, said Monday that she had heard nothing but great comments from visitors.
“It was a fun night,” added Variety Store owner Tommy Hutcherson, who provided deejay services and music for an hour prior to the 9:15 p.m. launch. “I got a lot of positive feedback. I think everyone appreciated and loved it.”
However, at least one islander, who had watched them up close, commented that they were rather scary because of the proximity.
The display, put on by Pyrotecnico of Columbia, S.C., featured 18 minutes of a variety of rockets, which ended with a huge finale of smoke and fire that had the crowd roaring. An extended applause and hooting followed the last spark.
David Hallac, Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent, views the Ocracoke fireworks. Photo courtesy of NPS.
About a half hour later, islanders were treated to a few more bursts of flaming color as the fireworks crew shot off 33 rockets that did not ignite during the main show, according to Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Company officials.
“I’m so proud of Ocracoke,” said Mickey Baker, co-owner of Mermaid’s Folly. “We got over the trauma.”
She was referring to the accident on July 4, 2009, when the fireworks truck while being unpacked detonated in an explosion that was heard and felt all over the island, and in which four of the fireworks company workers were killed.
Since then, the community had no fireworks until in the last few years it began to explore the idea once again.
Last year, the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board agreed to grant the money needed to put on a show, and while it was not on the actual holiday, which was a Monday, the day before (Sunday) was close enough.
“The community is very happy,” said islander Kenny Ballance, who was the chief NPS ranger on Ocracoke in 2009 and helped with the emergency response. “They did an excellent job. A lot of people from up the beach came down for it.”
Some came especially for the fireworks.
Andrea St.-Cyr, center, and her husband Eric of Cornelius, NC, came to the island especially to see the fireworks. Islander Art Mines is at left. Photo by C. Leinbach
Andrea and Eric St.-Cyr of Cornelius, NC, dashed back to Ocracoke two weeks after they’d just been here just to see the professional fireworks Saturday night.
Shortly after they arrived, the couple placed their two beach chairs on the NPS dock sidewalk facing the end of the NPS parking lot where the fireworks were to be launched.
“Ours were the first chairs here,” Andrea said.
David E. Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, who was instrumental in finding a launch site, attended along with Boone Vandzura, CHNS chief ranger and many other NPS staffers.
“What a joyful crowd,” he said as hundreds of spectators found places to sit or stand in the grassy area near the ferry landing. “It was our pleasure to be a partner in the celebration of Independence day on Ocracoke Island. What a show” he noted as the evening’s activities concluded.
Islander Mitzi Krall noted that while the island has had a long sabbatical from fireworks, it’s nice to have them back.
“Fireworks are an integral part of the Fourth of July celebration,” she said.
Darlene Styron, owner of the Sweet Tooth, and who with Teresa O’Neal and Sundae Horn spearheaded getting the fireworks, said Tuesday she’d never seen so many people coming down the road from the village toward the Hatteras ferry as she did Sunday night after the fireworks.
Planning a fireworks show involves a lot of behind-the-scenes coordination, she said, and acknowledged the help from the following agencies: Hyde County, Hyde County EMS and Sheriff’s departments, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent, the Dare County fire marshal, the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Dept., the NC Ferry Division, the U.S. Coast Guard and the NC Dept. of Marine Fisheries.
Boy Scout Troop 290 members raise the flag as Mariah Temple, Alyssa Bryann and Maren Donlon sing the National Anthem. Photo by P. Vankevich
The Fourth of July began with the traditional flag raising at the school. Boy Scout Troop #290 raised the flag and Mariah Temple, Alyssa Bryann and Maren Donlon sang the National Anthem. When Hurricane Arthur struck the island two years ago, the flag raising ceremony was the only event that was not canceled.
Eril and Paul Lammers and their “I reveal” pregnant mermaid. Photo by P. Vankevich
The sand sculpture contest took place Monday at Lifeguard Beach. Eril and Paul Lammers, from Ann Arbor, Mich., came up with the name “I Reveal” since Eril is expecting.
“I wanted to find a fun way of telling my four children,” she said. “So we sculpted a pregnant mermaid so the kids would learn that day.”
The lighthouse was open for visitors and about 500 people made a visit.
Early Monday afternoon, Skydive OBX of Manteo put on two sky diving demonstrations at the Ocracoke Community Park ball field.
A skydiver lands Monday afternoon on the infield of the Ocracoke Community Park ball field.
The two instructors with the company, Sven Jseppi and Pete Schwartz, leapt from about 6,000 feet, said Heather McLay, wife of Jseppi and a member of the company.
After a few minutes of floating and a few circles, the two men landed on the infield as if they were on fire.
“These guys come in hot,” she said before the demonstration. The two often take part in competitions in maneuvering their canopies for distance, speed and accuracy, she said, and they often will land at a speed of 70 mph.
Under threatening skies on Monday, the parade began at 4 p.m., and attracted participants on foot, horses, bicycles, golf carts, cars, trucks and floats.
Lacking a marching band to lead the way, law enforcement vehicles and OVFD fire trucks heralded the entourage with blaring sirens and horns.
There was some musical accompaniment this year, however, with a lone bagpiper.
Islander Jakie Spencer was the grand marshal and waved to all from a decorated golf cart driven by Woody Billings.
The skies opened up a bit after the parade and ended before Donald Davis’s storytelling performance at 6 p.m., but by the time of the final event–a community beach fire at the lifeguard beach–the evening was dry and balmy.
A community beach fire at the lifeguard beach capped the holiday weekend.
Horn, who organized the two-day event for the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association, announced the competition winners Monday evening before the beach fire was lighted.
Winners of the parade categories are as follows: Walk & Roll: Charlotte Edwards and her horses, first place; the Alcorn Family “Grateful Dead,” second place; Ed Barber “Iron Eagle,” third place.
Wheels: The Ocracoke Garden Center, first place; “Krewe Da Beach,” second place; Ocracats, third place.
Floats: The Nutcracker, first place; Ocracoke Coffee, second place; NC Ferry Division, third place
Winner of the Community Prize, given to a nonprofit, was the Ocracoke Library Summer Reading Program.
Ride the Wind Surf Shop won best of show with its Olympics theme, and second place went to the “Old Airmen.”
On behalf of her other parade mates, Lisa Krizner of West Orange, NJ, accepted the prize for her group’s winning Ocracats parade entry.
Krizner said their three-family group decided earlier this spring to get into the parade, dress up as cats and support the island’s nonprofit Ocracats group, which helps care for and control the island’s feral cat colonies.
She donated their $25 prize to Ocracats.
A parade entry, Ocracats, by visitors, received the third-place prize in the “Wheels” category.
“It’s very moving that when we all work so hard for Ocracats to have a visitor group step up and offer this kind of recognition,” said Ruth Fordon, Ocracats president.
The annual sand sculpture contest also was held Monday morning. Winners were chosen by popular vote.
The Best in Show award went to Kate Highsmith of Concord, NC, the first individual to win best-of-show, with her rendition of sea turtles hatching.
A frequent vacationer to the island, this was her first time doing the sand sculpture contest.
“When I was 10, I saw turtles hatch,” she said. “That was so amazing. That speaks to me about this place.”
Don Johnson of Scottdale, Pa., has been vacationing on Ocracoke over July 4 with his family for 39 years and competing in the sand sculpture contest. While their group won third place in the Groups 13 and Over category, Johnson said the activity is less about competition and more about family togetherness and camaraderie in a community they’ve come to love.
“This is home,” he said.
Other winners in the sand sculpture categories are as follows.
“Ocra-croc” by the Johnson family of Scottdale, Pa., won third place in the Group 13 and over category. Photo by P. Vankevich
Individual 12 and under: Petros Burleson, first place, “Squid”; Catherine Todd, second place, “Sponge Bob & Friends.”
Individual 13 and over: Giovanni Capriotti, first place, “Shark”; Adrianna Davis, second place, “Mermaid”; Barb Oelschlegel, third place, “medieval castle.”
A sand sculpture depicting turtles hatching, by Kate Highsmith of Concord, NC, won Best of Show. Photo by C. Leinbach
Group 12 and under: Team Mini Awesome, first place, “Little Mermaid”; Short, Yellow & Sandy, second place, “Sponge Bob”; Hunter and Ally Capriotti, third place, “lighthouse.”
Group 13 and over: Helmetheads, first place, “Ocra-croak”; Emma, Tim and Sam Dzialo, second place, “Octopus”; Don Johnson Crew, third place, “Ocra-croc.”
A number of islanders noted that they liked that events were spread over two days instead of packed into one.
Mandy Harmon, interpretive park ranger, greets visitors at the lighthouse. Photo by P. VankevichThe Ride the Wind Surf Shop float featuring the summer Olympics won first place. Photo by C. LeinbachJakie Spencer is the July 4 parade grand marshal with Woody Billings driving. Photo by C. Leinbach
Mariah Temple, Alyssa Bryann and Maren Donlon sing the National Anthem. Julian Bennink in background. Photo by P. Vankevich
Mary Schulz, Elizabeth Aiken and Jackson Staelin with their rendition of Blackbeard in their sand sculpture “Teach’s Hole.” The beard was made of seaweed and the hat from seashells. Photo by P. Vankevich
Ocracoke School Class of 2016 are, rear from left, Dalton Kalna, Kevin Perez and Cecilia Carter. Front from left, Caroline Temple, Deana Seitz, Arianna Contreras, Jordan Novak, Evin Caswell, Aldo Resendiz, Josie Winstead and Brandon O’Neal. Photo courtesy of Ocracoke School.
By Connie Leinbach
Ocracoke School’s eleven-member Class of 2016 received more than $418,000 in financial aid and scholarships, the most money ever awarded to local students.
“This class will be known for achieving academically, artistically and for having several athletic historical firsts,” said Walter Padgett, school principal, during graduation ceremonies June 12 in the school gym.
One of those athletic firsts was the boys’ basketball team winning a berth in the state tournament, though it lost in the first round.
“I am so proud of this group,” said Mary McKnight, school counselor. “They achieved a lot of this without any of my help.”
She said the total is approximate because sometimes the school doesn’t receive checks until August and the amounts can change.
Deana Seitz received the largest institutional scholarship of approximately $160,000, or full tuition for four years at Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vt.
She also was awarded $1,000 from the Ocracoke Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament, $2,000 from the NC Beach Buggy Association and $500 from Ocracoke Island Realty.
Evin Caswell received a total of $118,700, with the highest amount of $115,200 from two Susquehanna University scholarships where he will attend and continue his basketball career.
He also received the following: Ocracoke School PTA, $500; Ocracoke Alumni Association, $500; an athletic scholarship in memory of Anna and Edward Fryer, $1,500; and Ocracoke School Athletic Booster Club, $1,000.
Cecilia Carter, class valedictorian, who will study computer science at UNC Chapel Hill, received the largest institutional scholarship—the George and Frances London Scholarship for $30,000 over four years.
Carter also received the Hyde County Children Center Scholarship of $1,000.
Josie Winstead, class salutatorian, who will attend UNC Chapel Hill, received the Golden Leaf Scholarship of $3,000 for all four years of college; $10,000 from the State Employees Credit Union; $1,000 from Tideland EMC and $1,000 from the Ocracoke Athletic Booster Club.
Dalton Kalna, who will attend Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colo., received the Presidential Merit Scholarship of $40,000, or $10,000 per year.
He also received the Ellen Holiday scholarship of $1,500 from Wells Fargo Bank; $500 from the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association; and $250 from Ocracoke Community Radio WOVV 90.1 FM.
Caroline Temple received a grant of $29,840 or the first year from Warren Wilson College, where she will attend, $1,000 from the Ocracoke Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament and $1,350 in memory of Charlotte Castro.
Arianna Trejo Contreras, the first person in her family to attend college, received the Greg and Eden Honeycutt Scholarship of $3,000, the Beveridge and Mayo Scholarship of $500 and the Ocracoke Assembly of God Founders Scholarship of $500.
She will attend Pitt Community College in Greenville majoring in biology with the first goal of becoming a pediatric physician’s assistant.
Kevin Perez received a $1,500 athletic scholarship in memory of Anna and Edward Fryer of and $500 from both the PTA and Ocracoke Island Realty. He will study filmmaking at Southern Maine Community College, Portland, Maine.
Graduates Brandon Ellis O’Neal and Aldo Serrano Resendiz did not receive scholarships since they are not immediately pursuing higher education.
Jordan Novak will be the school’s first fifth year/super senior/early college student and will receive her diploma at the end of 2017.
Local musician Marcy Brenner gave the commencement address and spoke personally about each graduate.
“Our lighthouse is a metaphor, for all of us will be here for you to come back,” she said. “When you go out into the world, you bring the lighthouse with you to shine your light. We’re your safe harbor. Know that always.”
The class honored Karen Lovejoy with its Community Service Award.
Karen Lovejoy, right, received the Community Service award, bestowed each year by the graduating class. With her is Kay Riddick. Photo: C. Leinbach
McKnight said the school is always accepting new scholarship gifts.
“Next year, the school will have 16 graduates, many who will be pursuing college,” she said.
Some scholarships are already in place that people can donate to anonymously, or they can give one in the name of their business.
The Outer Banks Community Foundation also can help set up an endowment.
For details, contact McKnight at mmcknight@hyde.k12.nc.us.
Vendor applications are now being accepted for the annual Swan Quarter Arts and Crafts Show Saturday, Sept. 24, in Swan Quarter.
This year’s show will be held outdoors on the grassy square between the Hyde County Services Building and the MATTIE Arts Center.
The Arts and Crafts Show is part of the new “Fall Festival in Hyde,” and includes a full day of live music, the fourth year anniversary celebration of the MATTIE Arts Center, the monthly Farmers Market, the annual Swan Quarter Community Yard Sales and the Swan Quarter Volunteer Fire Department’s monthly lunch/dinner fundraiser.
Applications from artists and crafters will be juried according to best in media, originality and quality, and should be submitted by Aug. 4.
Requests for applications or inquiries should be made to info@mattieartscenter.org, or by calling 252-926-ARTS (2787).
This event is sponsored by the NC Arts Council through a grant administered by Arts of the Pamlico.
Square dancing in Community Square on July 3 is part of the Independence Day holiday on Ocracoke.
Monday, July 4
Ocracoke continues its July 4 celebration with a flag-raising ceremony, the sand sculpture contest, the community parade and a beach bonfire. See schedule below.
Jolly Roger: The Shrimp Whistles, 6:30 p.m.
Ocracoke Bar & Grille: Kate McNally, 7 p.m.
Gaffer’s: Psylo Joe, 9 p.m.
Tuesday, July 5
Tuesday, July 5: Summer Reading Program presents Judo, 4 p.m.
Maker’s Market, Ocracoke wares, fresh produce. Wahab House lawn, 161 Irvin Garrish Hwy. 3 to 8 p.m.
Hyde County commissioners’ meeting. 6 p.m. Tele-broadcast in Ocracoke School Commons room. 6 p.m.
HT SS Ocracoke at pier Ocracoke Hotel 1899. Courtesy of Village Craftsmen
News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Monday, April 17, 1916 · Page 7
Ocracoke Expects a Boom
Washington, April 16. – The summer colony at Ocracoke, across Pamlico Sound from the mainland, will be larger this year than in many years, it is believed.
Ocracoke is experiencing a boom of a kind, and the quaint old island village is preparing to be the host to two or three hundred persons.
Before a great storm threatened to sweep the island out of its existence a dozen or fifteen summers ago, it rivaled in popularity Morehead City and Wrightsville Beach and it surpasses in historical interest any other place in North Carolina.
It is possible to get to the village by boat only. Ocracoke has never dreamed of a railroad.
1806 chart with illustration of Shell Castle light.
Editor’s note: the misspellings inside the quotes are from the original sources.
By David Mickey
Drive up the beach from Ocracoke Village and just before reaching the Pony Pens, you will cross a short bridge over Try Yard Creek.
This small tidal creek on Pamlico Sound bears an unusual name reflecting a distant period of Ocracoke’s history, a time when people on the North Carolina banks sought whales and dolphins for oil.
Three hundred fifty years ago, whale oil was the preferred fuel for lighting the homes of the well-to-do in London. In 1668, Peter Colleton, a proprietor of the colony, wrote from London to Peter Carteret in Carolina that “Oyle & Whalebone is at present a great Commodity here & and I conceive London is a better markett than Barbados.” Carteret responded by shipping “one hundred nynty five Barrells of Whale Oyle for London.”
Closer to home, the lighthouse at Shell Castle Rock (Shell Castle Island) used dolphin oil to guide shipping through Ocracoke Inlet. Shell Castle Light is shown on the 1806 chart by Price and Cole. Partners John Blount and John Wallace operated a porpoise (dolphin) industry on Shell Castle Rock with Wallace reporting in 1800 that “Our porpouse fishing I am told is doing very well.” Capturing dolphins for oil would continue sporadically at Hatteras and other sites through the 19th and into the early 20th centuries.
Sketch “Trying out” oil from Bulletin of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture (April, 1894)
Oil was recovered from whales by “trying out,” a process that required large kettles where blubber and fat removed from the animals was boiled to release the oil.
On North Carolina shores, whalers set their try pots on the beach while New England whaling ships carried out the same activity offshore on board ships. When done on shore, the site is known as a “try yard.”
In 1894, H. H. Brimley, working for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, wrote a detailed account of trying out the blubber from a large whale killed off Shackleford Banks.
“The try kettles are large iron pots of about 50 gallons capacity, and in this case they had two in use set in brick-work over one fire.” Brimley adds, “On the leeward side of the kettles, the steam from the boiling oil, combined with burning crackling (residue from straining the oil), makes the smell one to be remembered.”
There are actually two Try Yard Creeks on the North Carolina coast. One is east of Harker’s Island on Core Banks and the other on Ocracoke Island.
In his presentation at the recent Whaling Symposium at the Maritime Museum in Beaufort, Benjamin Wunderly displayed a map of whaling activities on the coast. The two main areas are clustered around Cape Lookout to Beaufort and Cape Hatteras to Portsmouth.
As oil from the ground replaced oil from whales, shore whaling gradually declined. Whaling on Shackleford Banks ended a century ago in 1917, their equipment now displayed in Beaufort’s Maritime Museum and skeletons of their prey hanging in the NC Museum of Natural History. The porpoise industry on Shell Castle Rock and the island itself has disappeared into Pamlico Sound.
The right whales pursued by the shore whalers a century ago are now a protected and endangered species numbering only around 500. Dolphins swim freely along the beach without fear of porpoise seins.
Where try pots once boiled, there is an empty beach. Only the bridge over Ocracoke’s Try Yard Creek remains as a clue to an earlier time on Ocracoke.
For a more detailed description of whaling in North Carolina, see Philip Howard’s blog post on the Village Craftsmen’s Ocracoke August 21, 2015, Newsletter “Whales and Porpoise Fishing on the Outer Banks.” Click here.
Operations occurring between 1660 and 1920.
David Mickey is a life-long resident of North Carolina. He first visited Ocracoke in the early 1950’s. After retiring from his work as a community organizer, he moved to Ocracoke with his partner Sue Dayton. Currently he spends his time on the beach, helping out at Roxy’s Antiques and writing an occasional article of local interest for the Ocracoke Observer.
For the first time in several years, Ocracoke Island will have a show of professional fireworks launched at the end of the National Park Service boat launch dock in the village at 9:15 p.m. Sunday, July 3.
It is part of a two-day Independence Day celebration on both Sunday and Monday, July 4.
This will be the first time any fireworks have been launched since a fatal accidentaround 8 a.m. July 4, 2009.
At that time, four employees of the professional company were killed when their truck carrying the explosives detonated during unloading.
The community reeled after that horrific and sad event. In the last few years, however, some members of the community again requested that the community sponsor a fireworks show. While the community was divided about taking this risk again as well as spending money that will virtually go up in smoke, the ayes won out last year when the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board agreed to fund the holiday show to the tune of $20,000 for an 18-minute aerial display.
This time, Pyrotecnico of Columbia, S.C., is creating and launching the display made possible by the cooperation of David E. Hallac, Cape Hatteras National Seashore superintendent, who helped the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association find a suitable launching site, also the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, the NC Ferry Division, the Hyde County Sheriff’s Dept., the Coast Guard and the state Dept. of Marine Fisheries.
“I’m really happy we could work together as a team to find an appropriate location to celebrate Independence Day,” Hallac said, noting that both he and his Chief Ranger “Boone” Vandzura will attend for the weekend.
The Ocracoke Civic and Business Association is the event coordinator and Hyde County is the sponsor.
Islanders tour the visiting passenger ferry on Ocracoke in May 2015. Photo by P. Vankevich
Raleigh – Summer congestion on the North Carolina Ferry Division’s Hatteras route could be significantly relieved by two passenger-only ferries, according to the results of a study done for the state and released today at the Board of Transportation’s Multi-Modal committee meeting in Raleigh.
The study by infrastructure engineering company Volkert recommends two 100-passenger ferries making eight round-trips a day between Hatteras and Ocracoke Village.
It also recommends a $15 round-trip toll, as well as a transit loop run by Hyde County to take visitors from the terminal through Ocracoke Village and to various island attractions such as the lighthouse and the National Park Service’s Pony Pens.
“We want to thank Volkert for the time and effort they put into this study,” said Ferry Division Director Ed Goodwin. “It is a very thorough and comprehensive document that lays out the opportunities and challenges we face at Hatteras in the summer travel season. It gives us many things to consider as we move forward.”
The study involved a year-long look at ferry service between Ocracoke and Hatteras, and included several meetings with local residents, as well as passenger surveys during the peak of the summer. The study also included a trial run by the Provincetown III, a ferry that spends its summers taking passengers between Boston and Provincetown, Mass.
The study examined four other alternatives to relieve the Hatteras congestion problem, including a year-round dredging program to return to the original “short route,” an increased number of departures on the current route, encouraging walk-on passengers on the current route and a passenger ferry to the Division’s South Dock Terminal.
The study concluded that the passenger ferry to Ocracoke Village would be the safest, most efficient option, and that 25 percent of current ferry riders would take the passenger ferry service and be willing to pay a $15 round-trip toll. The study notes that infrastructure improvements, including passenger terminals, parking areas, and pedestrian transit on Ocracoke are needed before any such service can begin.
A full copy of the Passenger Ferry Feasibility Study is on theNCDOT website.
For Ocracoke news, click here.
