jim rosenthal
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2005
- Messages
- 11,050
- Hatteras Model
- 36' CONVERTIBLE-Series I (1969 -1977)
I have been down in the Outer Banks since late last week- came down here to goof off, do some necessary work on my house, hang out, and sleep late. So today I treated myself to a boat ride, two of them, actually.
For a long time, there has been (free) ferry service from Hatteras village, at the tip of this particular island, over to Ocracoke Island. Like Hatteras Island, Ocracoke is mostly National Seashore, which means a road (12) beaches, marshes, and not much else. At the southern tip of Ocracoke is Ocracoke Village, which is this cool little place with some restaurants in inns, the Coast Guard station (I think) and a beautiful little cemetery which is actually English soil, deeded to the Crown, holding the bodies of Englishmen (sailors) who died in the war off the Carolina Coast.
Recently (8 days ago) the NC Ferry Authority began running a passenger ferry to Ocracoke. The old ferry, which still runs on the half hour, takes you and your car or truck to the northern tip of Ocracoke. The new ferry just carries passengers, inc bicycles etc, and takes you all the way to Ocracoke Village- where everything is walking distance, basically. The new ferry is a high-speed power catamaran, which runs at 28 knots. (Borrowed from Massachusetts, hence its name: “Martha’s Vineyard”, or phonetically ‘Matha’s Vinyed”). The ride on the passenger ferry is a lot of fun- lots of wind, smooth as glass- really a treat, if you like big powerboats.
The price for this excursion? ONE US DOLLAR each way. One dollar.
This is kind of a trial to see if the ferry is popular enough to put on as a regular feature of the ferry service. As the woman at the ticket counter told me, “The price might go up a little, if they make it permanent.”
Well, okay, then. It could hardly go down, now, could it?
For a long time, there has been (free) ferry service from Hatteras village, at the tip of this particular island, over to Ocracoke Island. Like Hatteras Island, Ocracoke is mostly National Seashore, which means a road (12) beaches, marshes, and not much else. At the southern tip of Ocracoke is Ocracoke Village, which is this cool little place with some restaurants in inns, the Coast Guard station (I think) and a beautiful little cemetery which is actually English soil, deeded to the Crown, holding the bodies of Englishmen (sailors) who died in the war off the Carolina Coast.
Recently (8 days ago) the NC Ferry Authority began running a passenger ferry to Ocracoke. The old ferry, which still runs on the half hour, takes you and your car or truck to the northern tip of Ocracoke. The new ferry just carries passengers, inc bicycles etc, and takes you all the way to Ocracoke Village- where everything is walking distance, basically. The new ferry is a high-speed power catamaran, which runs at 28 knots. (Borrowed from Massachusetts, hence its name: “Martha’s Vineyard”, or phonetically ‘Matha’s Vinyed”). The ride on the passenger ferry is a lot of fun- lots of wind, smooth as glass- really a treat, if you like big powerboats.
The price for this excursion? ONE US DOLLAR each way. One dollar.
This is kind of a trial to see if the ferry is popular enough to put on as a regular feature of the ferry service. As the woman at the ticket counter told me, “The price might go up a little, if they make it permanent.”
Well, okay, then. It could hardly go down, now, could it?
