Ocracoke Inlet News

Shoaling shifts NCDOT’s propulsion needs, prompting a sea change. Thrustmaster waterjets step in to carry the day. In Swansboro, N.C., boatbuilder U.S. Workboats (formerly Armstrong Marine) is assembling the linchpin of the North Carolina Department of Transport’s (NCDOT) business plan for its future Outer Banks ferry services. Separately, in both Hatteras and Ocracoke, crews are preparing to break ground on new parking additions and visitor facilities. The Ocracoke Express passenger ferry project – made necessary by the shifting and unpredictable shoaling on North Carolina’s Outer Banks – will, starting this summer, change forever the way tourists and visitors get to and from these national treasures.

The Coast Guard rescued a man Friday from a grounded sailboat near Ocracoke Inlet. Sector North Carolina watchstanders were notified at 7:21 p.m. Friday that the 30-foot sailing vessel Lydamay was aground and taking on water near Ocracoke Inlet. A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew launched from Station Hatteras Inlet and arrived on scene but were unable to reach the man due to shallow water. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched from Air Station Elizabeth City, arrived on scene at 9:02 p.m. and hoisted the man. The man was transferred to Red Cross personnel waiting at the Elizabeth City boat ramp. The sailboat has been removed.

The Coast Guard responded to a ferry that ran aground Saturday approximately one mile south of Ocracoke, North Carolina. The captain of the Silver Lake, a 220-foot passenger and vehicle ferry, contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders via mobile phone at approximately 5 p.m., reporting they drifted into shallow water and became stuck. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders dispatched a crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet to assist. The Station Hatteras Inlet crew removed 14 passengers from the ferry and took them to the Ocracoke South Ferry Terminal. The crew of the Silver Lake plans to attempt to re-float the ferry Sunday with the assistance of the crew aboard the tugboat Royal Engineer.

The Coast Guard, with the assistance of the Navy, saved four lives and responded to a total of five sailboats in distress off the Atlantic Coast Thursday and Friday. Coast Guard assets and personnel involved in Thursday and Friday's search, rescue and vessel assists were crews aboard two HC-130 Hercules airplanes and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Block Island, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C., a 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet, N.C., and the command center personnel of the 5th Coast Guard District and Sector North Carolina.

The Coast Guard has begun the job of repairing numerous navigational aid discrepancies throughout the Outer Banks after damages resulting from Tropical Storm Gustav. U.S. Coast Guard small boat stations throughout the Outer Banks performed preliminary surveys Wednesday and discovered nine navigational aids with discrepancies in Ocracoke Inlet and two discrepancies in Hatteras Inlet. Coast Guard Aids To Navigation Team Cape Hatteras has worked to repair some of the discrepancies.