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Flash
Back 30 Years: Here's
a photo (right) taken in 1973 of the Ferry "Herbert
Bonner" when it was new (built in 1970) making the Hatteras
- Ocracoke run.
 Hatteras
- Ocracoke Free Ferry
The Hatteras - Ocracoke
ferry connects the southern end of Hatteras to the northern
end of Ocracoke. It is a very busy route, and the lifeblood
of tourist traffic to and from Ocracoke. The crossing takes
about 40 minutes, and remains close to shore along the ferry
channel.
The
"Ocracoke" and the "Thomas A. Baum" at Hatteras ferry
dock. |
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The
"Croatoan" at Hatteras ferry dock. |
Though
the lines may be long at the Hatteras ferry dock, it seems they
manage to cram a lot of vehicles onto the ferrys. They also
run multiple ferrys on the same schedule to accommodate the
traffic. Traffic is heavy leaving Hatteras early in the day
going to Ocracoke. In the evening, the day-tripper traffic is
heavy leaving Ocracoke headed back to Hatteras. Often you will
see an empty ferry leaving one dock or the other to fill the
need on one end of the line, instead of waiting for a load where
it is. This keeps traffic flowing as smoothly as possible. On
the day these photos were taken the "Cape Point",
the "Frisco", the "Chicamacomico", and the "W. Stanford
White" were making the Hatteras-Ocracoke run.
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| The
Chicamacomico passes fisherman on the south tip of Hatteras
Island. |
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| The
ferry "Cape Point". |
The
ferry channel runs close to the islands, giving passengers a
good view from the ferrys, and fisherman a good view of the
ferrys as they cruise by hour after hour. One of the little
known sights visible from the ferry is the "breech" that occurred
during Hurricane Isabel in September of 2003,. It caused no
loss of access or damage to roads, since the highway does not
extend that
far south on Hatteras Island.
The
breech on the south end of Hatteras. |
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| The
Hatteras Class ferry "Cape Point" on the Hatteras-Ocracoke
run. |
When
Isabel cut the new inlet between Frisco and Hatteras village
it was widely publicized, mostly because it cut off the village
(and the ferry docks) from the rest of the island. But there
was an unpublicized spot south of the ferry docks on Hatteras
where the ocean cut across in a second place, though not deep
enough to make a new inlet channel. Such a place is known as
a "breech". In the close-up image from the breech photo, the
white crest of waves on the ocean beach are visible from the
ferry in the sound, indicating just how low the land is here,
even after it was filled back in to prevent further erosion.
Binoculars are very useful for such sightseeing, so be sure
to bring them along. (Learn more about this in the section
about the "Dynamic
Landscape" of the Outer Banks.)
  Ferry
passengers on the Hatteras-Ocracoke run get to see the southernmost
tip of Hatteras Island as they approach Hatteras Inlet. Surf
fishermen and their families enjoy the sand and sun on this
constantly changing sandbar, surrounded by crashing ocean waves
to the east, and the quieter waters of Pamlico Sound to the
west. Again, binoculars are helpful here.
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| The
Hatteras Class ferry "Frisco". |
Left
is a wide view of Hatteras
Inlet, with the southern tip of Hatteras Island on the left
of the image, and the northern tip of Ocracoke Island on the
right of the image. This is approximately the view from the
ferry without binoculars. The ferry usually develops a slight
rocking motion as it crosses the inlet and rides the small waves
generated by the ocean swells. |
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Three
photos of the "Chicamacomico", a Hatteras Class ferry. |
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The
remains of the 1883 Ocracoke Life-Saving Station.
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Another
sight of interest is the remains
of the 1883 Ocracoke Life-Saving Station at the very northern
tip of Ocracoke, just north of the ferry dock. All that is left
is a collection
of pilings in the shallows at the edge of Hatteras Inlet,
just at the tip of the island. Seeing them more closely can
be accomplished by foot, walking along the beach from the ferry
dock area on Ocracoke. Such an exploration should only be undertaken
at low tide. It might also be an opportunity to do some shell
hunting as well. |
The Hatteras
Class ferry "Roanoke".
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At
the ferry dock on Ocracoke was tied the "Roanoke",
shown here at left, one of the newest Hatteras Class ferrys
in the fleet. The Ocracoke location seems small compared to
the wide paved expanse of the Hatteras loading area. But looks
are deceiving, as it has three loading ramps just like Hatteras,
and obviously handles the same amount of traffic.
Many of the ferrys in the North Carolina
ferry service fleet are included in the extensive photo gallery
on the next page. |
The River
Class ferry
"W. Stanford White".
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