Post by Jody on Nov 8, 2010 9:39:48 GMT -8
Over the weekend, I took a couple of days off of work and headed out to North Carolina's Outer Banks for a weekend getaway, which also afforded me the opportunity to take a couple of trips on the NC DOT ferry system.
After making my way down Cape Hatteras and spending the night, I got my day started with a little photography, then headed down to visit the Graveyard of the Pacific museum and catch the ferry across to Ocracoke Island. The museum is closed on Sundays, so I ended up down on the beach watching the ferry traffic returning to Hatteras Island. The channels in and out of the island are quite narrow and winding, and the route to and from all three island ferry terminals I rode into or out of was a circuitous one as a result.
After watching the River Class boat W Stanford White departing, we got in the queue for the next departure. NC DOT has a small boat yard on the Hatteras Island side, with storage slips for about five small boats. During my visit, there was only one boat - Hatteras-class single ender M/V Chicamacomico - tied up. After we boarded the River class M/V Croatoan, another Hatteras class boat, the M/V Cape Point, arrived, unloaded, then backed out of the slip, turned, and headed into the yard. It appeared that the Cape Point was running in extra, overflow service during peak hours, as it wasn't a scheduled run that it was on. It came in about 15 minutes behind the Croatoan from Ocracoke Island.
Though they are fairly small - Cape Point has a capacity of 30 vehicles and 149 passengers - the Hatteras ferries are extremely fleet on their feet. I watched the Cape Point complete her back and turn maneuver with a speed that would make the crew of a lumbering WSF vessel green with envy. Prior to leaving, the Stanford White did a similar maneuver with similar agility.
Further south on Ocracoke Island, we boarded the Sound-class boat M/V Pamlico for the 2.5 hour trip across Pamlico Sound to Cedar Island for the return trip home. I was hoping to catch the boat to Swan Quarter, but the second and last boat of the day had already departed at 1:00. The trip was a pleasant one, and we finished by finding another Sound class, the M/V Carteret tied up at Cedar Island.
All in all, NC DOT has a fairly impressive ferry system if not low-budget. But to those of us who are used to (or perhaps spoiled by) WSF's drill, the organization seemed a little laid back. Loading and unloading times were very slow, hindered in part by the single lane slips at every dock. As well, the crews didn't seem to be in too big of a hurry to get things done.
The vessels were small, and are probably quite crowded in the summer months. On the return trip to Hatteras Island, the boat that dropped us off on Ocracoke left cars waiting for the next trip. Despite a relatively light sea on our trip across Pamlico Sound, the boat adopted such a spiraling motion across the waves that we virtually corkscrewed our way across. After two and a half hours of that, I was glad to reach land.
As well, the vessel frequency was quite surprising. I know it's off-season, but to have the last vessel for a trip leave at 1:00 in the afternoon still came as a surprise. I had of course mis-read the schedule, and expected a 5:00 departure, which was actually from the mainland headed toward the island.
As I said earlier, the boats are small. The Sound class boats carry 50 cars, the River class carry 40, and the Hatteras class 30. I can't imagine a workable solution for the size issue, though. The channels are so tight getting into and out of Hatteras at least, that I would guess it would be a near-impossibility even to get a Sound class boat in, let alone something larger. There was one channel marker that we actually had to stop for in the Croatoan while the W Stanford White stopped, turned in place, and motored through. The markers weren't more than 20-30 feet wider than the vessel, and were obviously in a pretty tight turn. Add the currents in, and it appeared to be a fairly challenging crossing, even in a small vessel.
Here's a bunch of photos from the trip. I'll space them into several e-mails to keep this message from getting too long.
Jody
Finally found a ferry in Colorado by fleeing east...
We'll start with a photo of the Hatteras-class M/V Chicamacomico in one of the tie up slips on Hatteras Island.
Next, the M Stanford White leaving the tiny little basin at Hatteras Island. In addition to the tie-up slips, there are four loading slips.
And the tiny little cabin on the Croatoan. Most of the River class boats have the small little 1/3 of the deck-sized cabin.
And last up for this group, the M/V Croatoan approaching the very tight channel markers mentioned earlier in this message, while the M/V W Stanford White passes after navigating the same.
Enjoy!
After making my way down Cape Hatteras and spending the night, I got my day started with a little photography, then headed down to visit the Graveyard of the Pacific museum and catch the ferry across to Ocracoke Island. The museum is closed on Sundays, so I ended up down on the beach watching the ferry traffic returning to Hatteras Island. The channels in and out of the island are quite narrow and winding, and the route to and from all three island ferry terminals I rode into or out of was a circuitous one as a result.
After watching the River Class boat W Stanford White departing, we got in the queue for the next departure. NC DOT has a small boat yard on the Hatteras Island side, with storage slips for about five small boats. During my visit, there was only one boat - Hatteras-class single ender M/V Chicamacomico - tied up. After we boarded the River class M/V Croatoan, another Hatteras class boat, the M/V Cape Point, arrived, unloaded, then backed out of the slip, turned, and headed into the yard. It appeared that the Cape Point was running in extra, overflow service during peak hours, as it wasn't a scheduled run that it was on. It came in about 15 minutes behind the Croatoan from Ocracoke Island.
Though they are fairly small - Cape Point has a capacity of 30 vehicles and 149 passengers - the Hatteras ferries are extremely fleet on their feet. I watched the Cape Point complete her back and turn maneuver with a speed that would make the crew of a lumbering WSF vessel green with envy. Prior to leaving, the Stanford White did a similar maneuver with similar agility.
Further south on Ocracoke Island, we boarded the Sound-class boat M/V Pamlico for the 2.5 hour trip across Pamlico Sound to Cedar Island for the return trip home. I was hoping to catch the boat to Swan Quarter, but the second and last boat of the day had already departed at 1:00. The trip was a pleasant one, and we finished by finding another Sound class, the M/V Carteret tied up at Cedar Island.
All in all, NC DOT has a fairly impressive ferry system if not low-budget. But to those of us who are used to (or perhaps spoiled by) WSF's drill, the organization seemed a little laid back. Loading and unloading times were very slow, hindered in part by the single lane slips at every dock. As well, the crews didn't seem to be in too big of a hurry to get things done.
The vessels were small, and are probably quite crowded in the summer months. On the return trip to Hatteras Island, the boat that dropped us off on Ocracoke left cars waiting for the next trip. Despite a relatively light sea on our trip across Pamlico Sound, the boat adopted such a spiraling motion across the waves that we virtually corkscrewed our way across. After two and a half hours of that, I was glad to reach land.
As well, the vessel frequency was quite surprising. I know it's off-season, but to have the last vessel for a trip leave at 1:00 in the afternoon still came as a surprise. I had of course mis-read the schedule, and expected a 5:00 departure, which was actually from the mainland headed toward the island.
As I said earlier, the boats are small. The Sound class boats carry 50 cars, the River class carry 40, and the Hatteras class 30. I can't imagine a workable solution for the size issue, though. The channels are so tight getting into and out of Hatteras at least, that I would guess it would be a near-impossibility even to get a Sound class boat in, let alone something larger. There was one channel marker that we actually had to stop for in the Croatoan while the W Stanford White stopped, turned in place, and motored through. The markers weren't more than 20-30 feet wider than the vessel, and were obviously in a pretty tight turn. Add the currents in, and it appeared to be a fairly challenging crossing, even in a small vessel.
Here's a bunch of photos from the trip. I'll space them into several e-mails to keep this message from getting too long.
Jody
Finally found a ferry in Colorado by fleeing east...
We'll start with a photo of the Hatteras-class M/V Chicamacomico in one of the tie up slips on Hatteras Island.
Next, the M Stanford White leaving the tiny little basin at Hatteras Island. In addition to the tie-up slips, there are four loading slips.
And the tiny little cabin on the Croatoan. Most of the River class boats have the small little 1/3 of the deck-sized cabin.
And last up for this group, the M/V Croatoan approaching the very tight channel markers mentioned earlier in this message, while the M/V W Stanford White passes after navigating the same.
Enjoy!
