The only way you can get to Ocracoke is by boat, and when
you live in a 29-foot long house on wheels, the only boat you can use is a
ferry. Our next stop on our exploration
of the North Carolina coast was Ocracoke.
The other ferry arriving, shows the size and structure of these ferries.
Our departure point on Hatteras Island had been under gale
force winds for days. Ferry service had
been interrupted the day before our departure (Yikes!). The ferries leave every hour from Hatteras to
Ocracoke. We arrived 55 minutes before
the ferry was scheduled to leave, and got in line behind a pick-up truck
pulling a travel trailer. There are two
waiting lanes, “Priority” for delivery trucks and residents of the island, and the
other for people like us who were just visiting.
We take up a lot of space
The ferry has two lanes of parking on each side of the
central bridge tower. They loaded cars
in front of us at the front of the ferry, then loaded the trailer and us on one
side, and a huge dump truck on the other side of the bridge tower. Because all three vehicles were also wide, we took up part of
the second lane, so no cars could be loaded beside us. They jig-sawed the cars (some sideways) behind
us to get everyone else on.
The crossing from Hatteras to Ocracoke takes a little more
than an hour. The distance between the
islands does not look that great on the map, but the ferry had to go out into
Pamlico Sound to avoid shallow shoals.
Sunset over Ocracoke from Jerniman's Campground
We last visited Ocracoke in April 2018 (see blog post here). At the time, we were impressed by the many
quaint, somewhat dilapidated, old homes that were rented to visitors to the
island. They made the island feel unique
and like a moment out of time. Hurricane
Dorian roared through in September 2019 and flattened the island. Those sweet, old homes were washed away. Now they have new houses on stilts. Construction is still going on, and there are
quite a few empty lots that have been outfitted with trailers, presumably to
house the many construction workers. We
forget how long it takes to recover from these ferocious weather events. If you are not part of the disaster, your
attention turns to the next one on the news, and then the one after. In the meantime, these islands and other
victims struggle to put themselves back together again.
Ocracoke Lighthouse
Ocracoke opens up for visitors starting in mid to late March,
and is fully open in April. While we
were there, Jerniman’s campground (and adjoining gas station) were open, as well
as Jason’s restaurant on one side (delicious food, by the way) and the grocery
store on the other. Every other business
was closed. It was fun driving through
this sleeping village.
Our first stop in town was the Ocracoke lighthouse. That was open! The last time we were there, it was closed,
but this winter for several hours, three days a week, a volunteer is on hand to
tell the story of this beautiful structure.
The brick walls are 7 feet thick at the base, and 5 feet thick at the
top. It is still a working lighthouse,
with an automated "welcoming" light managed by the Coast Guard, and the tower owned and
managed by the National Park Service as part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. We learned that at some point long ago, the
Coast Guard coated the outside of the brick lighthouse with a white concrete
like substance. Bricks need to “breathe”
and the concrete had blocked the transfer of air and humidity. The bricks are literally molding on the
inside. There are even fungus growing on
the window ledges. The Park Service has
plans to remove the concrete and whitewash the structure, starting this year.
The lighthouse is molding
Near the lighthouse is the Springer’s Point Nature Preserve. This 122 acre preserve protects maritime forest,
salt marsh and wet grasslands on what is the highest point of land on
Ocracoke. The path is quite lovely, and
takes you to a vista of the Sound side of the island overlooking Teach’s Hole,
where Blackbeard the pirate was killed in 1718.
Along the path there are beauty spots where you can sit on benches and
enjoy the tranquil scene. There is a
city owned parking lot near the lighthouse and the nature preserve. There is no parking at the preserve.
Springer's Point
Our second day on the island, we took Schooner to walk on
the Ocracoke beach. It was an overcast
and sometimes rainy day. This was
another dramatic, wide beach, which we had to ourselves. We could get spoiled not having to share these gorgeous beaches
Beach at Ocracoke
To continue our trip South, we departed Ocracoke by ferry,
headed toward Cedar Island and the area known as the Crystal Coast. The strong winds persisted, and the motor
home and tow car were covered in salt spray by the time we arrived. The Cedar
Island ferry ride takes 2.5 hours. We
made lunch and relaxed as we watched the seas go by and the gulls following the
ferry. The ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke
is free, the ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island has a fee, depending upon the
length of your vehicle(s).
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| Goodbye Ocracoke! - Through our window |
Here is a video of the motorhome loading on the Cedar Island Ferry.
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