With the haul going (mostly) to plan, we had spare time before our planned arrival on November 1st to our marina. With the extra time, we took a side trip to Okracoke.
Okracoke is one of the barrier islands that separate the Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. There are inlets between some of the islands, allowing ships to pass into the sound for commerce with the mainland. These inlets are prone to being changed by storms and hurricanes, sometimes opening new routes or closing completely. When vessels had to traverse the inlets, they needed seamen with local knowledge of the shoals to successfully navigate to the mainland. These pilots formed some of the first European settlements on the barrier islands. The channels are now marked and maintained, making it much easier to transit, but we still had to be careful on our way here. There were areas only a couple of feet deep right next to the channel.
As those communities on the islands grew, they needed to eat, which led to a longstanding history of commercial fishing, oystering and shrimping. Additionally, the shallow waters, tricky shoals and passing commerce made the barrier islands an attractive haven for pirates. Okracoke is the spot where Blackbeard finally met his end in a battle with the Royal Navy.
Like many islands in this area, there were also encounters here between US Navy & British ships and German U-boats. The island is home to a British cemetery honoring the dead seamen from the HMS Bedfordshire, which was sunk on May 11, 1942 by a German torpedo.
We enjoyed exploring the island on foot and with the aid of our electric scooters! They were easier than we anticipated to transport in our dinghy, and they nicely extended our range for exploring. All-in-all, we’ve enjoyed Okracoke and certainly hope to be back one day.
