I thought you spelled it “okracoke,” as in cherry coke,” caffeinated but slightly more viscous and less fruity, she said.

Names and spelling change less frequently than shoals and shorelines.  Local Indians called the place “wokokkon” and who knows what Verrazano and Raleigh called it.  And Blackbeard . . . people originally called him  Captain Drummond before he took on a string of noms de corsair.

I photographed this 1970 National Geographic map where it was posted aboard ferry Carteret, since it shows my birthplace (Belhaven) and its proximity to both inlets at Ocracoke and Hatteras.  My father had imagined buying farmland inland from Swan Quarter;  now I’m thinking it’s a place for me to retire, whenever that becomes possible.

The yellow pickup on the foredeck carries a supply of wheel chocks.  Intermodal shipping with trucks on decks:  bowsprite should love this.

The 24-vessel ferry system also hosts an ongoing water monitoring effort called Ferry Mon.  In a separate strand of multitasking, ferry crews keep a lookout for marine life in distress.

Midpoint in the trip between Cedar Island and Ocracoke we crossed southbound

ferry Pamlico.

Note the two-floor passenger cabin.  Carteret was launched from Halter Equitable, the same yard that launched the sixth boro’s tug Aegean Sea and ferries Barberi and Newhouse.

Chincoteague has its ponies, and Ocracoke has its “bankers.”

We traveled from the north end of Ocracole to Hatteras aboard Croatoan.  Note the Fedex truck.

As we crossed Hatteras Inlet, we saw three small fishing boats inbound

hurrying to the dock with a catch.

Long and narrow with lots of  sheer, the boats resemble

New England lobster boats, although these “banks” boat have less beam, sharp chines, and smaller houses.

Can anyone identify the fish?

Midpoint in the trip between Ocracoke and Hatteras we were tailed by small fishing boats and

crossed southbound ferry Frisco, Patti-built like the tug Duty.  I’d love to see a foto of Frisco hauled.

Let’s call it quits here.  More “road fotos” tomorrow.

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp.

Meanwhile, unrelated, how long do you imagine a powerboat would take between Hatteras and NYC?  Your guess?  Now watch this youtube on the consumption of 600 gallons of fuel.

Unrelated:  What happened to the vessel recently removed from the James River ghost fleet?  Read about it here.

And finally, here from Robert of Oil-Electric is an article about last summer’s whales … and an elephant, ladybug, and rails.