Representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation will announce Monday that the “alternate” route has become the “official” route for the Hatteras-Ocracoke Ferry.
The Coast Guard made the announcement this morning in a release to the media that billed the event as a “media availability.”
The event will be on Monday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village.
Rumors about the event have been circulating among folks on Hatteras and Ocracoke for a week or so but reached a fever pitch in the past few days, and especially this morning, as people scrambled to find out what they could about the meeting.
They were getting fairly desperate for information, any information, on whether there was really a meeting, where and when it will be, what the subject of discussion will be.
Now, you may be wondering why there is all of this excitement and angst about the establishment of a ferry channel.
The answer to that question is that how ferries and other boats — the Hatteras charter and commercial fleets and private vessels– travel across and through Hatteras Inlet is a huge economic issue.
Historically, the boats have used a route, designated as Rollinson Channel, from Hatteras village to the end of the Hatteras spit. There, boats could take a turn and go through Hatteras Inlet out into the ocean or continue on to the north Ocracoke ferry docks in a state-maintained channel.
That route meant a quick 40-minute run for the ferries and a quick shot to the inlet for watermen heading out to the ocean for commercial or recreational fishing, both of which are big industries on the islands.
In recent years, Rollinson Channel has become increasingly difficult to keep open because of shifting sands and shoaling along the route. The shoaling increased after Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Despite continued and expensive dredging by the Army Corps, which is responsible for keeping federal channels open, the old channel has continued to fill with sand.
The situation has been exacerbated by the rapid erosion of the south end of Hatteras Island, which has resulted in a much wider Hatteras Inlet. As the very end — or spit — of Hatteras continues to erode, the sand is washed into the channel.
At times over the past two years, Rollinson Channel has been completely impassable, and boats began using Barney Slough, which is a natural channel that doesn’t need dredging. The Coast Guard then established it as an “alternate” channel for navigation in February 2013.
Since then, the ferries have alternated between the two channels, using the old channel when they can and the new channel when they have to. However, the Ferry Division has not run through the old channel since December 2013.
Commercial and recreational fishermen have used Barney Slough when they’ve had to, but these smaller boats have mostly managed to find their way through the old channel, even though it is ridiculously narrow in places.
At issue is how much farther boats have to travel and how much longer it takes them when they are using Barney Slough, which goes out into the Pamlico Sound and then cuts back toward north Ocracoke and Hatteras Inlet. For example, the ferry trip on this new route is at least an hour — 20 minutes longer than the old route.
Longer trips result in higher fuel costs for watermen and for NCDOT’s Ferry Division. Ed Goodwin, division director, said at a meeting on Ocracoke in May that the alternate route was costing the division an extra $500,000 a month in fuel.
The Ferry Division is running six boats instead of four on the route, but there is no doubt that the longer trips are translating into longer waits for visitors making day trips to Ocracoke during the peak summer season.
Longer waits may already be taking a toll on visitors willing to make the trip. According to Tim Hass, ferry division spokesman, 37,572 vehicles and 112,204 passengers made the trip in July, down 24 percent over last July.
Ocracoke businesses depend on day-trippers, as they are called. Rudy Austin, president of the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association, said this week that some Ocracoke businesses are reporting half the customers they normally expect in the summer.
Longer trips also affect the islanders who have to travel north for doctor?s appointments and other errands and the vendors who supply goods and services.
A Coast Guard spokesman said today that “nothing is going to change” with the announcement on Monday. The Coast Guard will continue to maintain and mark the old channel.
?We have to be realistic,? Hass, the ferry division spokesman, said this week. ?Hatteras Inlet is closing up and we have to play with the cards we?ve been dealt.?
However, watermen who have to use the old channel, Hatteras village businesses that depend on the fishing industry, and Ocracoke businesses that depend on the ferry to deliver goods, services, and customers are very anxious about the future.
Will the ferry ever return to the shorter route? Will fishermen continue to have the shorter trip through the old channel to get to the ocean? Will the Coast Guard really continue to mark it with aides to navigation?
Will the Army Corps continue to dredge the channel? And, even more importantly, will there be any funds for dredging?
The lives and livelihoods of many islanders literally depend on the answers to those questions.
So that explains why there was so much interest this week, and especially today, in Monday’s meeting.
There will be officials there from the state and federal agencies involved in the issue, and elected officials, such as the state’s U.S. senators and representatives who control the federal purse strings have also been invited.
Many on Hatteras and Ocracoke are very unhappy that the public was not invited — especially those who have the most at stake.
Chief Petty Officer Nick Cangemi, Coast Guard spokesman, said today that the agencies hope that the members of the media who attend will get the word out to the public.
However, he did acknowledge that the event is in a public building. The museum is open to the public on Monday.
So, while the Coast Guard is not encouraging a large crowd, they apparently will not try to keep anyone out.
Once again, the meeting is on Monday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village.
(Reporter Connie Leinbach on Ocracoke also contributed to this blog.)
