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January 20, 2015
Text and photos by Stacey L. Sutton
While in recent decades it is has been revealed that German U-boats patrolled the coast of North Carolina during World War II, little known is that they also were here during World War I.
Michael Lowery, a guest lecturer with the National Park Service, revealed this aspect of Outer Banks history during a presentation Jan. 12 in the Ocracoke Community Center.
Lowery, who received his bachelor’s degree from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and his master’s degree in economics from North Carolina State, has been actively researching U-boat histories for the last 15 years.
“In August of 1918, Germany was using the U-boats for commerce warfare and thus targeting merchant vessels versus military warships,” Lowery said.
“One of them, the U-140 sank a total of seven merchant ships off the coast of the Outer Banks most of which didn’t even realize there were enemy vessels nearby let alone that they were being targeted by one.”
According to Lowery, the reason the U-boats were here was because the British had set up a blockade in the North Sea and the Germans set up a counter blockade which filtered down along the United States coast.
U-boat is a shortened version of the German word unterseeboot, which means submarine.
Lowery, who works for the John Locke Foundation as a policy analyst, is preparing to publish a book on his research into U-boat history.
“I need a database to keep me occupied and 7,500 sunken ships (all over the world) is a big database,” he laughed. “As I was researching World War II, I found out that World War I stuff is much less researched. To me that’s more of a challenge, and thus, more interesting.”
While research of World War I may be more of a challenge, Lowery lamented that it can also be much more frustrating, “knowing that some of the mysteries will never be solved.”
Since Lowery studies all U-boat history, he gave the packed Community Center a general overview of U-boat statistics as well as details of local U-boat activity.
As for how long these vessels could stay under water, Lowery said a U-boat could stay down for one to two days, but often didn’t bother submerging. Because their profiles were so small to begin with, other vessels oftentimes didn’t see them even if they weren’t submerged. The submersible vessels would dive to avoid detection from aircraft, but in the entirety of the war, only one U-boat was ever sunk by enemy aircraft. U-boats also could go two months without refueling.
Lowery’s excitement for his subject was evident as he discussed the findings of new wrecks, sharing examples of a U-boat divers recently discovered in the English Channel.
Another frustrating aspect of Lowery’s pastime is that divers who happen upon the shallow coastal wrecks oftentimes won’t share their finds with the historical community.
“Some divers will dive on a wreck for several months, conduct their own research and then publish a book on their find,” he explained. “Then I have to reverse-engineer the diver’s book for the specific information I need.”
Military wrecks are not subject to the laws of salvage, he said. So divers are not allowed to take pieces from the wrecks and sell them. However, neither are divers required by law to report military wrecks to a governing agency.
“Luckily,” Lowery said, “at this point, historians are about 98 per cent finished in figuring out the eventualities of all of the military vessels from World War I and World War II, but it’s the last few pieces that fascinate me.”
Lowery’s presentation was part of the NPS “Know Your Parks” series. According to Jennifer Pierce, the district interpreter for Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the goal of this series is to encourage community education and interest in the various national parks, of which the Outer Banks are a part, and to foster a feeling of ownership.
The slower winter months are a perfect time to hold these evening presentations which highlight different characteristics and histories of our local parks. Past series presentations included such topics as North Carolina’s coastal dolphins, the Wright brothers and algae blooms to name a few. “We are always looking for new ideas for topics,” said Pierce.
The date and topic for the next presentation have not yet been set. For more information on upcoming events go to: http://www.nps.gov/caha/index.htm, or to suggest topics for upcoming presentations, call (252) 473-2111.
January 19, 2015
By Peter Vankevich
In the “Battle for the Paddle” basketball rivalry, the Ocracoke Dolphins swept the Hatteras Hurricanes Friday (Jan. 16) in Buxton with the boys playing one of their best games of the season winning 67-49. Evin Caswell had a season-high game with 34 points. The girls won, 49-32.
Two of Ocracoke’s traditional rivals, Mattamuskeet and Hatteras, are not having good seasons as both the girls’ and boys’ teams are winless.
Returning to home court on Saturday, the girls beat the visiting Camden County Bruins, 62-38.
This game was not without drama.
Early in the first quarter, the Dolphins leading scorer, Sydney Austin, went down with an injury. After a few anxious minutes, she was helped off the court and did not return. Later, it was reported that Sydney, in a hard fall, struck her chin. While she was checked for a possible concussion, which was negative, Coach Adam Burleson decided not to have her return.
This led to how would the team respond with their best player out? The results proved this is a solid team as they showed their depth by outplaying the Bruins. The big star was Bricia Moreno who, after this game, may have gotten a new nickname, “Three-cia,” as she made seven three-point baskets. The entire team made 10 three-pointers–Lucy O’Neal with two and Karla Perez with one.
Burleson was pleased with how the team (12-2) responded without Sydney, playing.
“We played really well today, and this was a confidence builder to play so well without Syd,” he said. “But now we are focused on the next three important upcoming conference games.”
The Ocracoke boys (4-10) lost to a much larger and experienced Bruins team (11-1).
They had trouble stopping scoring in the low post. Coach Dave Allewalt, after the game, said he was pleased with the team’s play.
“We are 4-5 in the conference and are not giving up,” he said. “The team continues to get better with each game.”
The Dolphins on Tuesday host the Columbia Wildcats in the “tank,” which is the nickname for the Dolphins court in the gym, with the girls starting at 4 p.m. and boys following.
The teams go on the road for weekend playing the Perquimans Pirates (Hertford County) Friday (Jan.23); girls starting at 5:30 p.m., boys to follow.
On Saturday afternoon the teams will take on the Gates County Red Barons, girls starting at 1 p.m., boys to follow.
The games will be broadcast on WOVV, 90.1 FM on the island and online at wovvo.org.
Rhodes Ignatious Styron, 70, died Jan. 2 in his residence on Ocracoke. Born Dec. 14, 1944, “Iggy,” as he was known, worked at many restaurants and motels on the island throughout his life. He was active in the Ocracoke Assembly of God Church.
He was a son of the late Floyd and Rita Styron, Sr., also of Ocracoke, and was predeceased by a brother, Floyd Thomas Styron and an aunt, Irma Styron Foster.
He is survived by a nephew, Christopher Styron of Key West, Fla., a niece, Darlene Styron, wife of Ernest Doshier, Ocracoke; a great-nephew, Floyd Alan Doshier, Ocracoke; a cousin, Virginia Austin, Ocracoke.
In addition to many cousins off the island, he leaves behind many close friends on the island. He was good at cooking and baking desserts for restaurants and took pride in that skill. He also would sit at the Community Store to people watch and would talk to a lot of visitors.
A memorial celebration will be held at 1 p.m. April 17 in the Ocracoke Assembly of God Church, Lighthouse Road. Burial will be at the Ocracoke Community Cemetery.
The family wishes to express their thanks to the Ocracoke Health Center staff and Dare County Hospice for all they did during Iggy’s illness. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ocracoke Assembly of God Church, who is assisting the family with arrangements; 252-928-9001.
By Peter Vankevich
One day in mid-October, Ocracoke village was suddenly filled with artists from early morning until well into the afternoon.
They were a group of seven artist friends from North Carolina and Virginia who love plein air painting and chose to come to Ocracoke for inspiration. Plein air is French for “in the full air,” or, outdoor.
One of those artists is Suzanne Morris, who lives on the oceanfront in the historic district at Nags Head and has had her works published in several national art magazines, including, recently, in “American Art Collector.”
Suzanne particularly loves painting on Ocracoke.
“It is an artist’s dream with wonderful light effects, varied subject matter and easy access to painting locations,” she said about the island.
She loves painting outdoors from life and is fascinated how light and shadows impact an image.
“There is so much information in the field,” she explains. “A painter is forced to simplify and organize a design in order to tell the story. Light moves very quickly outdoors. So one must ‘lay it down and leave it’.”
There is no time to overwork a piece, she continued about painting outdoors.
“All of a painter’s senses are used to infuse the work with a feeling of the place–the smells, the sounds, the wind, even the people a painter encounters become part of a plein air painting,” she said. “Mother Nature creates color harmonies that would be impossible to make up in the studio. A plein air painting is truly a painter’s impression of the subject.”
While she is predominately self -taught, Suzanne has studied with some of the best painters in the country, including Kevin MacPherson, Scott Christensen and Charles Sovek.
Suzanne belongs to and has exhibited her award-winning paintings with several national painting organizations.
She likes to use the the alla prima technique, which is form of oil painting in which layers of wet paint are applied to previous layers of wet paint.
She is a signature member of The American Society of Marine Artists, an artist member of the California Art Club, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and Plein Air Painters of Colorado. She is an associate member of Women Artists of the West, Oil Painters of America, the American Impressionist Society and Women Painters of the Southeast.
Last fall, she served as show chair for the American Impressionist Society’s 14th National Exhibition at M Gallery in Charleston, SC.
Suzanne and her fellow artists plan on returning to Ocracoke.
Jan. 16, 2015*
By Peter Vankevich
What can Ocracoke’s small businesses and creators do to extend a seasonal work cycle that consists of eight months of the year? This was the topic of the new group Open Source Ocracoke’s second brainstorming session held Jan. 10 at Kim and Roger Meacham’s home on Cabana Drive.
“We all would like to have a life-changing year,” Kim said in opening the meeting to a group of about 20 islanders.
There is interest in creating a support system for small businesses with pooled energy and resources to solve the issue of “separateness,” she said, and to generate business for a more stable local economy.
While there are many reasons why living on Ocracoke is so enriching, “there exists ‘island discontent,’ which is the insecurity of working here from the many idle months where businesses shut down, and the island’s isolation,” she said. “We want to reevaluate the brick and mortar seasonal financial model of the Island.”
One solution would be to pool resources and expertise into a co-op and learn how to market local products globally. Her business, Milk Street Soaps, is now selling its products throughout the country, Meacham said.
The group plans to set up a promotional Ocracoke website that provides information about the island-specific community shopping that would include links to the individual business websites.
Workshops and setting up focus groups that share their research are in the planning stages.
One example would be how to effectively use established commercial websites such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Shopify that can help market island goods.
Other topics explored include workshops or focus groups on trademarking, manufacturing, bookkeeping and how to create and manage a web site without having to rely on others.
Taking advantage of the popular social media, a Facebook page, Ocracoke Open Source, has been set up that will consolidate information, events and discuss questions between meetings. It will also serve as a vehicle to get quick feedback or answers from the group. Blogging and its video equivalent, vlogging, are other social media options that are being considered.
Marissa Gross, owner of Down Creek Gallery, said she has a lot of experience in shipping goods and product photograhy. She will put on a workshop for both at 1 p.m. Feb. 21 at Down Creek Gallery.
“There is immense power in a group of trusted, hardworking, intelligent people,” Meacham said. “We are all friends and are all dynamic in our own individual ways. We can pool our energies in a non-competitive, roll our sleeves up, grass-rooted way inside a Community to help create and support financial vigor.”
The next meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in the Meacham residence. If you plan on attending, RSVP on Facebook
*This article was updated on Jan. 18, 2015.
January 2015
By Beck Tench
After a long drive and ferry ride. After packing the cars. After taking down the Christmas tree. After time with friends and family. After Christmas concerts. After finding a whole Scotch Bonnet. After star gazing and dodging cats (and their poop) on walks with Rusty. After dolphins and rainbows. After raw wind and storms. After warm days long past their due. After being chased by a dog and circled by a hawk. After making and experiencing one of the best decisions ever, we are home.
About a month ago, I was sitting on the couch writing morning pages when I heard an abrupt and familiar whackthump. A bird had flown into the window. I winced and got up to assess and I saw it lying on the ground, upright, panting, and otherwise not moving.
I knew the bird wouldn’t last a minute in its current state. Ocracoke is home to dozens if not hundreds of the fattest and most fearless feral cats–Ocracats–I’ve ever seen. And our area of the island happened to home a large percentage of them. I thought of something Frances once told me–to always make way for life–and I put on a coat and went outside to stand watch.
I sat about 10 feet from the bird and waited. I tried not to scare it. I had no desire to rush it. I simply sat and watched it for what felt like a long time. Eventually, it did fly and with a start. One second it sat immobile and the very next it was gone and I never saw it again.
As I sat watching that bird, I didn’t know if it would ever fly again. So much of my Ocracoke experience was like that. It was unknown until it was known. And even though each and every moment of those three months is known at this point, there’s still much unknown about it. What will come of the relationships we’ve begun? Will we keep our new routines and perspectives? Who will we be as a result of this experience?
One last story.
Leslie Lanier owns a bookshop (the bookshop) on the island. It’s called Books To Be Red. We went there frequently because we love it and she’s awesome and it’s something to do. We always chatted and were friendly and it was the sort of thing we could do anywhere but usually don’t.
A week or so ago, we stopped by Leslie’s store to buy toy walkie-talkies. Jen and I were driving separate cars home and we thought it’d be nice to use them instead of our phones. Leslie showed us the set she had but once we told her our plans, she didn’t recommend them. She didn’t trust that the toy ones would have the range we needed to communicate.
Later that day, I got an email from her. She wrote that her son had a pair of real walkie-talkies that we were welcome to use and could ship them back once we got home. We stopped by the store the next day and picked them up.
On the morning we were set to leave, Leslie texted at 7:32 am. She was on the 7:30 ferry with her son Andrew, a freshman at UNC, who she was driving back to school after winter break. Just as the ferry launched, he realized that he forgot his dorm key. Even though they were only two minutes from the island, they were essentially seven hours away from his keys (the three hour ferry to mainland, the wait for the next one, and the three hour ferry back).
Leslie wanted to know if we might grab the key and meet them in the Triangle later that day. It was effortless to say yes and so right to be able to reciprocate her frequent kindness to us. We met them at REI a few hours later, dorm key and walkie-talkies in hand.
These stories remind me of something I learned time and again in Ocracoke – to give from a place that has. The morning I watched the bird, I wasn’t sacrificing to stand watch. I suppose Ocracoke didn’t sacrifice much by being so very much Ocracoke in our time there. But it was exactly what we needed.
In the words of Rilke, “In the course of my work this last long winter, I have experienced a truth more completely than ever before: that life’s bestowal of riches already surpasses any subsequent impoverishment. What, then, remains to be feared? Only that we might forget this! But around and within us how much it helps to remember!”
Or in my own words, dated the morning of 12/30/14, “I am deeply grateful to this place. And to my past self for finding and trusting a way here. This time, while I am sad to experience the end of it, was enough. I am grateful for this perspective and for the truth behind it. I have the eyes to see how my life is wonderful.”
Ocracoke showed me that we have. And when we give from that place, we have even more.
Jen Headley, a child of the landlocked midwest now living in the Triangle area of North Carolina, never knew she’d be called to the ocean. Ocracoke in all its facets captured her heart, though, and she now thinks listening to that call was one of the best decisions of her life.
Beck Tench is a writer, illustrator and speaker who took respite on the island this fall with her partner, Jen, and their dog, Rusty.
December 2015
By Stacey L. Sutton
Jason’s Restaurant opened its doors Sunday and served 110 take-out lunches to help Ocracoke High School raise money for this year’s prom and Washington, D.C., trip. A total of nine high school students, ranging from sophomores to seniors, spent several hours of their Sunday cooking, taking orders and dishing roast pork lunches into to-go containers while Leslie Cole ran a bake sale table of home-baked treats donated by parents and non-parents from the community.
The event raised almost $900.
“I’m very happy with our success,” said Leslie Cole of the fundraiser. Cole, the social studies teacher and assistant principle, is the faculty adviser for the prom as well as the Washington,D.C., field trip.
“A major, big thanks to Jason Wells for his culinary talents and for his gracious generosity in allowing us to hold this fundraiser in his restaurant even though he’s closed [for the winter],” Cole said.
Although the right-of-passage dance isn’t until April, the students began preparing in November.
“We started brain-storming about how we wanted prom to be,” said senior Samantha Styron, “and we wanted this year to be classy, almost a roaring 20s theme with our colors being gold and white.”
Seventeen-year-old senior Katie O’Neal was one of four seniors running the front counter.
“We want to raise enough money this year to have a live band,” O’Neal said. “We’ve always just had a DJ, and we just want to mix it up a little this year.”
While prom is traditionally reserved for only juniors and seniors, Ocracoke prom is a little different; the school is so small that all high school students are encouraged to attend.
“Otherwise we’d have a whole gym decorated for all of twenty people,” laughed senior Abigail Morris. “That would be really boring.”
In addition to their school work, sports, music lessons and household chores, students of Ocracoke High School have been working on raising funds almost every week for the past two months by making cakes to raffle off at home basketball games.
“We sell the tickets during the girls’ game and then pick the winner during half-time of the boys’ game,” O’Neal said. The students have also been selling raffle tickets for a donated Ocracoke-themed comforter and have conducted 50-50 raffles.
Fundraising is expected to continue even after enough funds have been raised for prom in order to raise money for the bi-annual four-day long trip to Washington, D.C. Currently, juniors and seniors are taken on a tour of the nation’s capital by Cole, three chaperones and a bus driver. According to Cole, the organizer and faculty chaperone of the trip, the goal of the trip is to immerse the students in the rich history and culture of Washington.
“We go to the Smithsonian, the Holocaust Museum, Arlington Cemetery, the monuments of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as those of all the president’s, and we might take in a hockey game while we’re there. Also, the students learn how to use the metro which is an important skill in getting around any major city,” said Cole.
For anyone wanting to contribute to the students’ efforts by participating in the half-time cake raffle, a current basketball game schedule can be found at http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/ocracoke-dolphins-(ocracoke,nc)/basketball/home.htm. To purchase tickets for a chance to win a warm 5-foot by 6 1/2-foot quilt, either contact a high school student or call the high school administrative office at 252-928-3251. The winner of the comforter raffle will be drawn at the high school during Senior Night Tuesday, Feb.10.
“The blanket was generously donated by Ocracoke Island Realty and it’s a great representation of the island,” said Cole. “Ticket prices are $5 each or three for $10.”
As for Sunday’s fundraiser, when asked how she felt about spending part of her Sunday working, Katie O’Neal was actually happy for the reprieve.
“All of us seniors have been working really hard on our senior projects , which are due in less than a week,” she said. “So we haven’t really gotten to see each other in a while. It was a nice break. Plus, Jason made pizza for everyone. So we got to eat pizza too.”
January 13, 2015
A foul shooting streak of nine straight points ended making a significant difference in the boys’ victory, 50-39 over the visiting Mattamuskeet Lakers yesterday.
The streak started in the second period when Mac Kalna went to the foul line due to a technical foul. He made all four shots.
Dalton Kalna, Evin Caswell and Liam Caswell made the next five.
Evin Caswell led all scorers with 16 points. Matteus Gilbert had a strong second half finishing with 14 points. The Dolphins (3-9) led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter and never trailed thereafter.
The Lady Dolphins cruised to their ninth victory (9-3). The game was never in doubt as the girls jumped to a 16-0 first-quarter lead and the entire team had lots of playing time. Sydney Austin was the game’s high scorer with 27 points. Bricia Moreno was also in double figures with 13 points.
The Mattamuskeet Lakers are not having a good basketball season as neither team has yet to win (0-6).
Josie Winstead left the game with a possible sprained ankle, joining Kaylee Gaskins on the injured list. Coach Adam Burleson was doubtful that Kaylee would play the two upcoming important games this weekend and wasn’t sure about Josie’s ability to play.
This Friday, the teams travel to Buxton to take on the Cape Hatteras Hurricanes; girls start at 4 p.m. and boys follow right after.
Saturday afternoon, the Dolphins host the Camden County Bruins, Lady Dolphins tip off at 1 p.m. and the boys’ game follows right after.
The games will be broadcast on WOVV, 90.1 FM on the island and online at wovv.org.
By Peter Vankevich
As part of the feasibility study to see if a passenger ferry option should be added to the Hatteras-Ocracoke car ferry runs, a trial is on track for this spring, Ed Goodwin, the NC Ferry Division director, announced Monday at a public meeting in the Community Center.
“I attend monthly meetings in Raleigh and this is the fastest moving transportation initiative in the state,” Goodwin said. “Everyone I have spoken to has been supportive. Hopefully, the feasibility study we are doing will confirm this.” That the Hyde County Board of Commissioners has signed a letter supporting this idea is very important, he added.
For Goodwin, it has been frustrating to see visitors get out of line due to the sometimes two-and-a-half hour wait to board a ferry during peak season.
Jed Dixon, deputy ferry director, provided a visual presentation on how this service will operate. He showed photos of the receding shoreline of the Hatteras spit over the last 10 years, which is causing the shoaling.
He pointed out that dredging responsibilities are divided between the state and the federal side managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. By far, most of the area that needs most dredging is in the area covered by Army Corps, which currently does not have the funds to continue. North Carolina cannot do all of the dredging which is why this initiative is being considered.
An example of the type of boat the Ferry Division has in mind they would lease would hold 149 passengers and is about 90 feet long and 40 feet wide. The crew needed is three, a captain and two deck hands, as opposed to six crew members needed for a car ferry. Once in the sound, it could travel up to 28 knots, and the travel time into the village would take one and a half hours or less.
The benefits Dixon outlined for this addition would include shorter wait time for car ferries, a direct passenger route into Ocracoke village, the ability to plan travel times by making reservations departure times, relieving vehicle traffic on Ocracoke and increasing visitors to Ocracoke
According to Goodwin, the cost of a passenger ferry is about $5 million as opposed to $10 to $20 million for a new car ferry. One possibility is to start with a lease that includes an option to buy. Another option would include private investors who would lease the boat(s) to the state.
Additional infrastructure needs include new docking and an embarking ramp that includes wheelchair accessibility.
At the public comment period, Vince O’Neal, owner of the Pony Island Restaurant, who was among about 40 islanders in the audience, thought this was a good idea but implored them to not lose focus on reopening the
short route. He pointed out that the dredged sand could be used to restore the receding Hatteras shoreline to slow down the shoaling. He remembered when trolleys were used in the village many years ago and they caused congestion with their frequent stops. He said they should also consider dropping off the passengers at the north end terminal and shuttle them into the village.
Goodwin said the feasibility study was reecently awarded to Volkert, a company that specializes in transportation and infrastructure engineering services to federal, state and municipal government and private industry clients. The final report will be issued in December but the company will keep the ferry division informed of its findings throughout the year.
Tommy Hutcherson, owner of the Variety Store, pointed out that we need to be thinking about major storms and alternatives for Ocracoke residents to get on and off island when access through Hatteras Island to Nags Head is blocked.
Islander Fred Westervelt asked about using airboats. Goodwin pointed out that there are larger hovercrafts but they are more expensive and have much higher maintenance costs.
Hyde County Manager Bill Rich suggested that passenger ferries may be the only alternative to getting more visitors here since the $3.5 million spent on dredging the short route for three months during the 2013 winter did not fix it.
“If the short run was going to work, we would not be having this conversation,” he said. “We cannot rely on the federal government to continue dredging. We have to secure our future. If we start by leasing these boats, this will be the feasibility study itself.”
Rich complimented the Ferry Division for being pro-active.
The stakeholders named for this feasibility study are the NC Ferry Division, the NC DOT Strategic Planning Group, Hyde/Dare County managers, Ocracoke working group, Hyde County Transit, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard.
