An Ocracoke 501 c-3, Ocracoke Alive, had two such days in 2012 and 2018 with the skipjack Wilma Lee. Since selling the 78-year-old wooden sailing vessel, however, the organization has waxed nostalgic and started pining (no pun intended) away for an even greater nautical project. So they dispatched the skipjack’s former skipper, Rob Temple, to scour the coast for another tall ship. It didn’t take him long to discover the 1885 ironclad full-rigged ship Wavertree at New York City’s South Street Seaport.

A deal was quickly concluded and Capt. Rob plans to deliver the ship to Ocracoke before the end of the 2019 sailing season. The Current interviewed O.A. president Desiree Ricker who told us, “Having a large wooden sailing vessel like the Wilma Lee presented us with some challenges but none that we couldn’t master. Now that she’s gone we feel that an iron ship with no mechanical propulsion will give us an even greater challenge, especially since she draws twenty feet!”

The chairman of O.A.’s Wilma Lee committee, Tom Pahl, who is also Ocracoke's county commissioner, is psyched about the new purchase. His favorite part of owning the skipjack was being hoisted up the 64’ mast in a bosun’s chair for routine maintenance.

The Wavertree’s main mast is 120’ higher than that, prompting President Ricker to observe, “Yeah, Tom doesn’t know the pointy end from the flat end of a boat but he loves going up masts. If climbing masts makes him happy he’s going to be a laughing fool now!” 

Capt. Rob acknowledged that a few issues will have to be addressed. Some minor dredging may be required to accommodate the 20’ draft of the vessel. It’s 325’ length is also a bit excessive for the Community Store Dock so O.A. is seeking grant funding to acquire the entire Silver Lake waterfront from the Community Store dock to the NPS docks.

When contacted by the Current for a comment Capt. Rob simply responded, “What could possibly go wrong?”