A Sticky Situation: Post Hurricane Shoaling at Hatteras Inlet
since hurricane Irene visited us last August will, no doubt, have noticed some changes. First off, none of the newer double-ended ferries have been running. They can't. Extensive shoaling during and after Irene has made the channel impassable for their 6' loaded draft. And even the smaller ferries at 4.5' have their share of difficulties. The ferry crews often run with reduced loads and even then there are frequent conditions of wind and tide that require a suspension of operations.
I recently crossed the inlet on an unseasonably warm day with “normal” conditions. Captain William Merrill of Avon kindly allowed me up onto the bridge to take some pictures and ask some questions. He has worked on the ferries for the past 26 years, serving as captain for the past five.
As we talked, Able Seaman Tex Gallop sat at the controls and cautiously guided us through a veritable labyrinth of shoals, often slowing to idle speed as the depth gauge in front of him ominously flashed the depth in feet beneath our keel: “2” then “1” then “--.” It seems fitting, doesn't it, that instead of reading “0” the instrument goes “--” like the flat-lining heart monitor of a dying patient. Capt. Merrill said that in all his years of running the inlet, the shoaling now is the worst he's seen. “This morning one of the fishing boats hit bottom on the way out,” he said. “Had to be towed back in.”
I was told that Tex, from Wanchese (Why not? After all Texas Pete comes from Winston-Salem!), has only worked on the ferries for two years. He is in training under Capt. Merrill who appeared to have full confidence in his handling of the vessel. I found it reassuring, although not at all surprising, that both men had been commercial fishermen for many years prior to joining the ferry service. No amount of book learning can match years of hands-on experience with these tricky waters.
Although the state is responsible for dredging from the Ocracoke basin to the inlet channel, the three major trouble spots are all located between the inlet channel and the Hatteras basin, a section whose maintenance is the responsibility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I had recently read that there is neither funding nor the political will to motivate immediate action on behalf of the federal government so I asked my hosts if they had any idea when relief might be on the way. “We can't answer that,” they told me, “Those decisions are made further up the food chain. All we do is run the boats. When we can!”
As we executed a difficult 90-degree turn between two visible sandbars, a woman's voice chimed in over the VHF radio. It was the Hatteras terminal calling to inform the bridge crew that the daily lumber truck was standing in line for the return trip. Both men rolled their eyes and one of them muttered, “Always at the lowest tide of the day! Oh well, what can you do?”
Careful maneuvering between the shoals means that the ferries can’t run full steam ahead. Most crossings are a good ten minutes longer than we’re all used to. During low tides, the crews are often forced to cancel or postpone trips to avoid parking the boat on a sandbar.
Back ashore on Ocracoke, I telephoned N.C. Department of Transportation communications officer Lucy Wallace, hoping she might be able to shed some light on what is clearly a worsening situation. Unfortunately, she could offer little encouragement and I got the impression that the shoaling channels of government funding can be every bit as challenging as the channel at Hatteras Inlet.
Just to give you an idea of how vital the Hatteras Inlet ferry is to Ocracoke, last year 859,341 passengers crossed the inlet. During the same period (fiscal year 2010 – 2011) the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferries combined carried 217,297.
“We are well aware of the severity of the problem,” Ms. Wallace told me. “And we're doing all we can to keep the traffic flowing.”
Meanwhile, if you need to ride the Hatteras ferry, you might want to bring along a good book, and be prepared for delays.
