Swift

Happy as Clams in Ocracoke


Silver Lake Anchorage, Ocracoke
Silver Lake
Ocracoke is a neat place. There are no bridges to the island, so one must take a ferry to get here. (The ferry from Hatteras is free, so it’s more affordable to do that than buy a boat and sail it from Miami!) The main village curves around the harbor, and features endless variety of coffee shops, wifi bars, bookstores, and art shops. Everything is in walking distance, so shank’s pony, bikes and golf carts are the preferred method of transport. Perfect for a boater!

Our first day here, we walked the town, enjoyed coffee and wifi, figured we had seen the island and were planning on leaving that afternoon for our next stop. Instead, another cruiser invited us to go crabbing that evening and told us they were planning on staying here for a month. This made me question why I’ve felt the need to move on to the next location as quickly as possible. I realized that I’d entered myself into a race to see how fast I can check off locations and move on to the next place. Maybe the cruising life should be more about fully enjoying the experience?

So, we decided to settle in to island time and are oh so glad we did. Crabbing was followed by clamming, eating of the crabs and clams, followed by beers in town, more clamming, coffee shops and ghost walks. Root beer floats one day, pizza the next. There are no chains on Ocracoke - everything is locally owned and operated.

Hastings finds us exhausting - crabbing from the dinghy.
Ocracoke Lighthouse
Clamming and Crabbing!
We listen to live music from the pub each night. We monitor the comings and goings of our anchorage mates. When our neighbor dragged during a storm, Matt got up at 1AM to help them off the sandbar at high tide.

Anchor Testing Storms
Day by day, Ocracoke has charmed us. More than that, we’ve been thrilled to make new friends, especially when they come prepared with clam recipes!
We love forcing Hastings to expand his comfort zone!
Whats the most effort you've ever gone to to procure food? More effort than hours of clamming and crabbing, cooking and dissecting to get 3 morsels of edible food? 

This is the story of Matt, Lucy and Hastings, the crew of the sailing vessel Dulcinea, a 1985 Cabo Rico 38.

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4 comments

  1. LiesbetAugust 5, 2016 at 12:53 PM

    One of the nicest things about cruising is that you can stay in a place as long as you want or are comfortable. Weather depending, of course. :-) We once harvested some tiny snails in Panama to have a seafood dinner. It took ages to clean them and we ended up with less than a hand full for our pasta dinner. It was tasty nevertheless and a great experience.

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    1. Boat Life Larks - S/V DulcineaAugust 6, 2016 at 3:32 PM

      It is pretty fabulous to make up your own schedule! The snails do sound like a lot of work... but it is totally about the experience! Fun!

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  2. TheCambriansAugust 7, 2016 at 2:54 PM

    That's the best picture of a dog and a dinghy I've ever seen! I think Hasting should win the award for Crabmaster of the Year! But what kind of crab are they? I thought digging for meat in Dungeness was a real pain in the backside, but those little guys definitely take the prize!

    Stephanie @ SV CAMBRIA

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    1. Boat Life Larks - S/V DulcineaAugust 7, 2016 at 7:27 PM

      Hastings sure makes us laugh! They are blue crabs - and very small, with a rather pitiful amount of meat. It was all about the fun though :-)

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