Sequel Comes to Town

Wednesday July 1st our friends Dave and Janet brought their boat Sequel from their home port in New Bern, NC to Ocracoke.  We know they were excited to have some vacation time.  So we wanted to show them a good time.

Beach Day for everyone (even Pengi)

Dave's dog Cajsa loves to play fetch with anything, even sea shells.

The water was nice and warm.  I had fun taking pictures of the waves.  Here are a few of my creative shots.  

All 4 of us made a trek to Portsmouth Island on the 3rd.  Dave and Janet had some good finds with 28 Scotch Bonnets.  Keith and I did pretty well also.  Shell hunting at Portsmouth never gets old.  

Dave and Janet in the front of the dinghy on the way back from Portsmouth.

Dave clearly smug as the Scotch Bonnet champion today.😎

View of the sound side of Ocracoke from the dinghy (lighthouse visible)

Since it is the 4th of July holiday, the island is filling up with vacationers.  The high speed ferry also started running just this week.  This ferry carries passengers only, no cars, from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke.  Although the NCDOT is having a ferry specifically built for the Hatteras to Ocracoke run, it will not be completed until the fall.  In order to get the ferry running for the summer, NCDOT leased a ferry from Seatreak.  This company runs passenger ferries in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.  The Martha's Vineyard Express was renamed the Ocracoke Express for this summer.  The cost is $5.00 one way and $10.00 round trip.  The ride time is 1 hour.

This is the south end of Ocracoke.  The village is located here and the large basin (Silver Lake) is where the marina and ferry docks are located.  This is also where we are docked with Southern Style.

The high speed ferry has been somewhat controversial.  Some of the islanders want the ferry and some do not.  It certainly will make Ocracoke much busier and with that there are always pros and cons.

High speed passenger ferry coming into Ocracoke

The 4th of July was very hot and humid here.  We did manage to make a scud run over to Portsmouth.  Dave, Janet, and I searched for treasures and Keith fished the inlet.  Keith caught a nice sized speckled trout but let it go.  The shellers found a few more Scotch Bonnets.  In the evening we were all invited to Russ and Michele's for a cook out.  

These were just some of the appetizers

There were also oysters, clams, tuna, and chicken on the menu.  We were stuffed by the end of the meal.  After dinner 4 of the guys had a jam session.  Great concerts like this just can't happen often enough.

Happy 4th of July everyone.  Although our country may not be perfect, let us remember that despite our shortcomings; America is one of the best places to be a citizen.  We should always strive for improvement, but never sell ourselves short for our accomplishments.  In this time of slogans, cliques, and causes we should have one cause only and that is "The Golden Rule":  Treat others as you would like others to treat you.  I think this would cover pretty much all situations; political, religious, racial, etc.  

Sunset over Ocracoke Lighthouse

God Bless America