Thunder, lightening and pouring rain roared through Ocracoke this morning.  Thankfully,  with a short ride today, we’d already planned a slightly later start.  At eight o’clock, though the sky was still dark, the rain had stopped and we were off.  Still too early for vacationers to be up, we had the road to ourselves; enjoying the quiet and watching the storm as it went out to sea.  It was a splendid ride as the on-shore breeze moved us along with little effort.  This area north of Ocracoke is but a spit of sand with a road.  A sand dune, from large to non-existent, is all that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Pamlico Sound;can’t imagine what it is like when a storm comes through.

We arrive at the ferry dock 30 minutes early, but just in time to duck undercover before another rain squall hits.  It was still raining when we boarded the ferry.  We had front row seats as we stood on the metal deck of the ferry, watching the lightening around us…..what is wrong with this picture?

Though the distance between the two points of land is approximately two miles, it is almost a 10 mile, hour ride.  It is necessary for the ferry to make a large U around the constantly shifting and shallow shoals of the Hatteras Inlet.

It was still raining when we disembarked from the ferry, but we made a quick stop with friends that were still in Hatteras for the long weekend.  It was great to see Chris and Sonya and their darling cottage, but we did not stay long.

As we pulled away, all that was left of the storm was a wonderful tailwind, cool temperatures and a nice glimpseof Hatteras Village. We sailed up the road, trying to figure a way to go longer and take advantage of the wind, still enjoying the “strange” sights.A tasty lunch break an hour later gave us time to find another motel further up the road.  What we had not taken into consideration is our turn in the road; we now had the wind directly on our shoulder and not back.  So we bit off an additional twenty miles without a wind assist…..Oops!

There were long stretches of unspoiled land,clusters of homes in the different communities and an abandoned or storm damaged amusement park.

Though the day was a bit disjointed with the ferry and original short day turning into 54 miles, our new accommodations were nice and dinner was a short walk away.  Another good day!