NC: Outer Banks - Ocracoke

Thursday 5/3/2018

Depart: Oriental Free Dock 8:00

Arrive: Ocracoke National Park System Public Dock 12:45 - 1:30

Distance: 41 nm

Having gone to bed at 9:00 last night, I was up and raring to go at 7:00. Since we had a bit of a journey to get to our next destination on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Clark wanted to get an early start. We pulled away from the dock in Oriental at 8:00. Once again we traveled calm and pretty boring waters. I left Clark on the upper helm and stayed below to do some chores and read my Kindle.

As we got close to Ocracoke, the winds picked up as did the waves and we had a bit of an exciting ride to the park. I was happy to see the sign that said we were coming to the end of our day's travel.

Knowing that dock space is limited, we wondered if we would find a spot to tie up. Fortunately, we beat others there and had our choice of spots. We could dock stern in with a starboard tie (our preferred option) with the wind blowing us hard off the dock, or we could dock on the opposite side of the dock with the wind blowing us hard into the dock.

We opted for our preferred tie-up method. As we made our approach, a man came to help grab our lines. He later told us that he just happened to be walking around the area waiting for the ferry to arrive. I appreciated his help to get a line to the dock. Unfortunately, instead of tying the line off to a cleat and leaving it tied, he kept taking it off to “better position” it. Had he left it tied, Clark could have used it for leverage to help bring the boat in. Given he kept loosening the line, we had a devil of a time getting the boat close to the dock.

Finally, we had three lines tied to the dock. At that point, since both ferries had followed us into town, we thanked him for his help, and he left to catch his ferry ride. Given Clark is part gazelle, he jumped to the dock. Looking at the two-foot gap between the boat and the dock, I had doubts that I would ever be able to get off to explore the area.

To add to the “fun”, Clark decided that we needed to “walk” the boat down the dock to take up less dock space. Of course, this is the polite thing to do, but as Clark said, “It is a three-person job” and we now only had two of us. We strategically added a fourth line to become the new bow line and then worked the other lines to shift the boat slowly down the dock. When we finally got to a reasonable spot, we worked the lines to pull the boat in closer.

This whole docking procedure took about 45 minutes. I asked Clark, “What do we put down as our arrival time? When we arrived or when we finally tied our last line in place?” He said, “I’m not sure” and noted in our log book the span of 12:45 to 1:30 as our arrival time. With the boat finally secure at a distance close enough that I could step off, we put our bikes ashore and jumped on them for a tour of the area.

Clark decided we should head through town to the Ocracoke Lighthouse (E on Map above) then head out to see the beach (Route 12 by the ocean on Map) and finally swing through the “Back Road” area (Section D on Map)  to return to the boat (A on Map). 

Before even leaving the docks, we found lots of historical information to absorb. Ocracoke played a role in the Civil War, the War of 1812, World War II, and the end of Blackbeard's reign of terror.

Civil War Fort - Fort Ocracoke

Pirate Blackbeard Killed near here

Strategic Role in War of 1812

WW II Monument ...
Advanced Amphibious Training Base
December 1943 - January 1946
(Seen on road to Beach)

For one of our early stops, we found an ice cream shop near the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Exhibit.

Ice Cream Shoppe

Working Watermen's Exhibit

Sign at Working Watermen's Exhibit

 The dock out to the Working Watermen’s Exhibit looked weathered and scary old. I felt no enthusiasm for visiting the building; however, Clark would not take no for an answer, so of course, we visited the site. The building was constructed around 1930 and operated at that time by Captain Will Willis. He built on a pier extending out into the harbor to facilitate the receipt of goods brought in by freight boats as well as mail for the town until a pier was built at the post office.

It took a little exploring and one wrong turn, but we found the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Reading the free publication provided by “Outer Banks This Week”, I learned the following tidbits. Construction of the lighthouse completed in 1823. At that time, it cost just over $11,000 to build. It is now the oldest structure on the island, the oldest operating lighthouse in North Carolina, and the second oldest lighthouse on the east coast. The 800 candle-power light is visible 14 miles at sea.

The lighthouse is owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. It is not open to the public. We could step inside for a peak but were not allowed to climb the stairs inside. The building next door to the lighthouse used to be the light keeper's home, but is now a private residence.

Ocracoke Lighthouse & Grounds

Lighthouse and Keeper's Home

Looking way up inside the lighthouse

After leaving the lighthouse, we headed for the beach access near the airport. Clark rode his bike on the sandy “road”, but I walked mine in. We found a bike rack where I stayed and waited while Clark walked down to the beach to check it out. I did not feel like filling my sneakers with sand.

Sandy path out to the beach

Clark had heard it is a very pretty beach. Surprisingly, he found cars parked up and down the beach for miles with people fishing near each one. To drive on the beach, a person needs to have an "off-road" permit.

Vehicles up-and-down the beach at Ocracoke

Fishing in the Ocean at Ocracoke

The Pony Pen is located beyond the airport / beach. Unfortunately, it is a long distance down the road. We turned around to head back into town.

One thing I noticed as we biked around was the number of arts / craft stores in town. Many houses have signs out front inviting folks to come see their homemade wares. I told Clark that if we stayed here more than one day, I would like to take a craft and gift-store tour of town to see what they sell. Sadly, we leave here tomorrow. Perhaps we will come back another time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride on the very flat island. With strong winds, I wondered if it would be hard going, but I did not have any difficulties. In fact, the cool / cold breeze felt wonderful in combination with the bright sunshine beating down. We concluded our ride shortly after 4:00. Clark had left his phone number at the office so that when the person in charge, Bob, returned he could call to let us know we could check in.

Bob called when we were on our way back, so we stopped in to register before returning to the boat. With our National Park Passes, we got a big discount on the dock fee for our night stay. Including electric, our bill for the night came to only $32.

I looked at menus online for the local restaurants. Although I studied them all very hard, I could not find one that had anything that grabbed me. I gave up and thawed out chicken for dinner. This, of course, made Clark very happy.

Sunset tonight was amazing. I have never seen so many colors together. I could see pink, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and probably more mixed in. Spectacular!

Ferry Dock at Sunset

Nature Trail at Sunset

Sunset at Ocracoke, NC

I would definitely come here again this time of year. I imagine that in the summer it turns into a zoo. According to Bob, the person with whom we registered, a third ferry is put into service during the summer months to handle the added traffic.