Cruising to Ocracoke

June 22, 2013

This morning we headed to Ocracoke. We left out of Shallowbag Bay and headed for Roanoke Sound and then over to Old House Channel.  

Bridge over Roanoke Sound

  We passed several islands, one must have been a bird sanctuary.  I snapped some pictures, but they were pretty far away, so I did not post the picture. I have been using my i-phone to snap the videos and pictures and editing them as well. It works most of the time, but not for evening or distance, unfortunately.

 The water had a very light chop and was not bad at all.   We just had to watch out for the sports fisherman who came barreling by us on our port side with no warning.  Once we got out in the Palmico Sound, the water became a little rougher.  There were a few showers, but not another boat in sight.  As we approached the inlet into Ocracoke and Silver Lake, we began monitoring the Ferry traffic to understand the channel.  The Waterwide Guide and Active Captain warn that the Channel – Big Foot Slough Channel - is deep, but shoals often. They advise to watch the markers, because they may be different than the charts.  We also were watching the Ferry traffic because we heard you don’t want to be in the Channel if a Ferry needs to pass.  So after we felt we had an opening between the Ferry traffic, we entered the channel and  watched the markers carefully.  We made the sharp turn to port after passing south of the junction red over green marker.

Turn into Silver Lake

Silver Lake is very protected. We were staying at Anchorage Marina which is right next to the Ferry harbor. The dockmaster, Mike Leombruno, and his crew quickly got us tied up in a slip. This marina handles fishing charter boats every day, so they are very efficient.

Silver Lake at Anchorage Marina

Ferry

That night we bought fresh seafood (flounder and tuna) from a local store a short walk away and cooked it with some pasta.  Then we sat on the top deck of Rainshadow and enjoyed the evening.  The area is a hopping place. The ferry dock was busy loading and unloading the cars a few times a day, the charter fishing boats were unloading the catch, measuring, weighing and cleaning. At the same time, the restaurant on the dock was serving food and live entertainment. And the small street by the dock was being shared by cars, bikes and golf carts.  All existing in quiet, laid back harmony.

Bella waiting for the right moment