Road Trip to Ocracoke Island on the Ferry for Caching & Sightseeing 9/22/2008

Monday morning we left early to drive to Hatteras Village to cacth the ferry to Ocracoke Island (OI) for a day of caching and sightseeing. We caught the 10:00 ferry, The Roanoke, and took the 40 minute ride to the northern most point of the island. Then it was a 13 mile drive into Ocracoke itself. Our first cache was actually on the ferry ride across to OI. We had to find the name of the ferry we were on and take a picture of our GPS in front of the university emblem on the tower of the ferry and then take a number off a marker buoy at the posted coords. We got off the ferry and drove into Ocracoke and our first cache at Howard's Pub & Raw Bar which was located in a split rail fence.
The next cache was called "Two Trucks" located in the middle of the village on a tree near where the very first vehicle accident occurred in Ocracoke. On August 23, 1925 the “Victoria S” wrecked on Ocracoke beach supposedly run aground for the insurance money. Early in the morning of August 23, 1925 Homer was awakened from his bunk at the station. The announcement, “Ship Ashore!” rang out loud and clear. The Coast Guard rushed to the rescue. The four-masted schooner, Victoria S, was hard aground in the breakers directly across the Plains from Ocracoke village. Using the beach apparatus and breeches buoy the life savers quickly and efficiently pulled all seven sailors to safety on shore. Shortly thereafter the Victoria S broke apart in the pounding surf. Her cargo of rough cut pine lumber spilled out of the wreck and tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean. For days large quantities of lumber washed up along several miles of beach. The owners of the cargo were contacted and they immediately dispatched an agent to Ocracoke to coordinate salvage operations. The agent quickly assessed the situation. There were only two gasoline powered vehicles on Ocracoke Island in 1925. Captain Bill Gaskill, who owned the Pamlico Inn on the sound shore, had a flat bed truck. Mr. Albert Styron, who operated a general store near the lighthouse, also owned a truck. Both men were hired to drive out to the beach and collect as much of the lumber as possible. A steamer was requisitioned, and brought down Pamlico Sound. It tied up to a dock on the northwest shore of Ocracoke village.
For several days Captain Bill and Mr. Albert drove back and forth, from the beach to the sound, and back again, carrying load after load of lumber. At that time the main thoroughfare through Ocracoke village was a one lane, soft sand road that included what today is known as Howard Street.
In front of Stacy and Elizabeth Howard’s home the road made a sharp bend, and there the loose sand was especially deep. To negotiate the curve without getting stuck, the drivers of the model T trucks, equipped with narrow rubber tires, needed to accelerate as they approached, and maintain their speed as they rounded the blind bend.
Captain Bill had just loaded his truck at the beach. Piled with lumber, his vehicle was traveling west. Mr. Albert had just unloaded his truck at the steamer, and was returning to the beach, heading east. Both drivers approached the curve in front of Stacy and Elizabeth’s house at the same time. Both gunned their engines and rounded the bend simultaneously.
And that’s how it happened that Ocracoke experienced its first automobile accident, in early September of 1925, a head on collision, with only two vehicles on the island! This where we found our cache located in the tree at the intersection where the 2 trucks collided.
Our last cache was a virtual cache located on Old British Cemetery Road at the British Cemetery. We had to identify the flag in the cemetery and find out who cares for it year round. In the early part of World War II, German U-boats operated at will off the coast of North Carolina. Operation Drum-beat , or "Paukenschlag" took a heavy toll on Allied shipping. The HMS Bedfordshire was one of 24 British trawlers that ran anti-submarine patrols off the US coast in WWII. The HMS Bedfordshire was stationed out of Morehead City, NC. While on patrol the night of May 11, 1942, she was torpedoed and sunk by the U-558 about 40 miles east of Cape Lookout. All 37 crewmen aboard were lost. Four bodies were recovered on May 14 1942, two from the surf on Ocracoke, and two more found at sea. These men rest in a British Cemetery on Ocracoke Island.
We did our last cache and we were off to do some sightseeing around the island. Following is the interesting history of OI. Enroute to Roanoke Island, Sir Walter Raleigh's 1585 colony in their flagship, "Tiger" ran aground on a sand bar in Ocracoke Inlet and was forced to land on the island for repairs. The name Ocracoke is undoubtedly Indian in origin. It was shown on the earliest maps as "Woccocon". In 1715, the name had become Ococcock and soon after shown on maps as Ocracoke.
Established as a port in 1715, Ocracoke grew in importance until 1787, when 697 vessels reached North Carolina through Ocracoke Inlet. Ships had to be brought over the bar.
Around 1715 the Colonial Assembly set aside over 20 acres of land for the use of pilots. These pilots were greatly hampered in their work by pirates, who made peaceful commerce almost impossible along the North Carolina Coast.
The most notorious was a Captain Drummond, who used the name Edward Teach or Thatch, but those aware of his past knew him as the infamous pirate Blackbeard. He was a tall man with a bushy black beard that inspired his name. Blackbeard roamed from the Caribbean to the Virginia Capes robbing ships. In November 1718, Blackbeard was finally captured near Ocracoke by Lt. Robert Maynard of the British Navy. Commanding a sloop sent by the Governor of Virginia, he killed the pirate in a bloody duel and captured 15 crewman. Blackbeard's death marked the end of large scale piracy on the Atlantic Coast.
Ocracoke was not recognized as a town until 1753, when 20 or 30 families lived there. It was a favorite place for sports fishermen and hunters who delighted in its isolation. During the revolution, the hazardous waters of the Outer Banks prevented British warships from guarding the inlets. Many supplies for Washington's army were shipped to Ocracoke for "lightening", or transfer to light craft which could ply the shallow waters of the sounds.
The first lighthouse was built in 1798 on Shell Castle rock, abreast of the inlet. It was destroyed by lightning in 1818. The present lighthouse, one of the oldest still in use on the Atlantic Coast, was built in 1823. by Noah Porter for $11,359.35. At seventy-five feet, it is the shortest lighthouse on the North Carolina coast and can only be seen for 14 miles.
During the Civil War, the fourth-order lens was destroyed but the new lens installed in 1864 remains working today. The Ocracoke Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse still in operation on the Eastern Coast of the United States. It has survived numerous storms over the years. While the lighthouse is not open for climbing,you can walk up along the fence, close to the light.
For many years wild ponies, numbering up to a thousand, roamed the Island. Their origin is unknown to us. Many legends exist about how the Banker Ponies came to Ocracoke Island. One story credits Spanish explorers De Soto or Cortz as having brought them as they searched for gold on their way to Mississippi and Mexico. Another story suggests that the ship "Black Squall" was carrying a circus troup and animals when it went through the area during a storm. All circus workers and all but two horses survived. Historians say the most probable story is that the ponies arrived with Sir Walter Raleigh and were left on Roanoke Island at the time of the mysterious Lost Colony disappearance.
As the Outer Banks became more accessible, many ponies were sold. Cape Hatteras National Seashore was established in 1953 and only 12 ponies were in existence at that time. A pen for the ponies was esblished where they are now kept on a range about 7 miles north of the village.
In the center of the town of Ocracoke is a beautiful little harbor, originally called "Cockle Creek" known now as "Silver Lake". Many sandy lanes and streets remain throughout the village. The National Park Service has preserved over 5,000 acres on the Island, including 16 miles of beach, for the enjoyment of visitors.
We drove around town and saw many interesting sites such as the Old Ocracoke Church, now used as a rental proprerty, the Deepwater Theater Ocracoke Island's first and only purpose-built entertainment & performance venue, several other small family cemeteries like Howard Cemetery, several historic markers, a 60' Atlantic Right Whale skull washed ashore in 1988, the Ocracoke Lighthouse which is the second oldest operating lighthouse in the Nation, and many of the quaint island shops, restaurants and B & B's. After finishing our sightseeing we stopped and had lunch at a sandwich shop and then drove back and caught the ferry back to Hatteras. We drove back to the coach and I did our cache logs and by that time it was time for dinner. After dinner we watched some TV and listened to the wind start to pick up as there is a noreaster headed right for us beginning Wednesday morning. Well time to say until tomorrow, if we don't get blown away first, and we love you all. Mom & Dad