"I happened to look up and thought, 'Hmmm, that's odd. We're going to hit that boat.' and then we did," said eyewitness and Ocracoke resident Mandi Cochran, who was one of the few passengers aboard when the incident occurred. 

Mandi admits she wasn't paying attention and it was shear luck that she looked up just before the collision. 

"There was no warning," she said, adding that the ferry didn't sound a horn or make an announcement to the other boat. She also couldn't see any running lights on the fishing boat.

"We hit so hard that the cover to our sun roof opened an inch and a half from the impact," she said. Luckily, the few cars on the ferry were parked mid-vessel, about halfway between bow and stern. No one was walking around on deck at the time. The impact felt much like running aground (most Ocracoke residents have experienced that THUD), but louder, with a "huge CRACK sound."

Mandi explained that as soon as the crash happened, the smaller boat bounced off the ferry's bow. The general alarm sounded and the Captain made an announcement about the accident and checked that all onboard were okay. The ferry crew turned out all hands on deck, donned lifejackets, and starting assessing the damage. 

"The fishing boat was hit above the water line and had a huge hole in their hull, but no one was hurt," Mandi said. "I think there were four or five people on the fishing boat." 

The fishing boat stayed upright in the channel while both vessels awaited the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard cleared the ferry to head back to port at Hatteras about an hour after the incident. 

During the long wait, Mandi posted a photo on Facebook, as one does, with the caption "This isn't a great pic but the ferry just ran into a boat. 2016 isn't over yet."

In 500 B.C., Athenian historian Thucydides wrote (so they say): "A collision at sea can ruin your whole day." Mandi feels his pain. 

"It happened at 8:30pm, we'd been up the beach all day, all we wanted to do was get home," Mandi said about herself and friends Jenny Mason and Mona Aly. When they returned to Hatteras at 10:00, they were immediately loaded onto another ferry and delivered to Ocracoke. That crew checked on them when they docked on Ocracoke to make sure everyone was okay and awake enough for the drive. At last they made it back to ring in the New Year safely at home. 

It was a ferry ride to remember. "We keep saying, "Well, there's a first time for everything!'" Mandi said. 

Here's the official word put out by the NCDOT: 

Sport Fishing Boat Collides With Ferry In Hatteras Inlet 

No injuries reported; USCG investigating incident. 

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, the sport fishing vessel Reel Deal collided with the North Carolina ferry M/V Stanford White in the Barney Slough area of Hatteras Inlet as the ferry was on a scheduled run between Hatteras and Ocracoke. 

The captain of the M/V White immediately ordered the crew to check on ferry passengers and to render assistance to the Reel Deal. No injuries on either vessel were reported, and the ferry was not damaged.

The M/V White then returned to Hatteras under its own power, while the Reel Deal was towed to a marina in Buxton. The U.S. Coast Guard was contacted immediately and is conducting an investigation.