And who says we don't have good fall color on Ocracoke? We’ve got Virginia creeper and poison ivy vines turning all sorts of beautiful shades of yellow, red and gold, and the island's pyracantha shrubs can rival any leaf show. The pyrachanthas, which have tiny white flowers in spring, erupt in cascades of brilliant orange berries in the fall. Pyracanthas attract songbirds and are fast-growing and salt-tolerant – what’s not to love except maybe their inch-long rash-inducing thorns? But hey, nobody’s perfect, and the pyracanthas help to make autumn on Ocracoke a beautiful sight.
Happy (Belated) Halloween!
One of Ocracoke’s favorite traditions is the annual Ocracoke School PTA Halloween Carnival, which always includes games, food, Quizo, a bake sale and cake walk and spook walk. The highlight of the carnival is the spectacular Costume Parade!
Ocracoke’s Schooner Windfall Places 3rd in Schooner Race
Ocracoke’s own schooner Windfall, and her captain, Rob Temple, competed in the 19th annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race on October 16-18th. The race, which benefits the non-profit Save the Bay Foundation, runs a course of 127 nautical miles from Fell’s Point in Baltimore, Maryland to Portsmouth, Virginia. There are parties, educational programs and nautical celebrations at both ends of the race. In Baltimore, Captain Rob presented his Rumgagger program to group of local sixth graders, and showed them the ropes on board his schooner.
The GCBSR was created by a challenge from the Norfolk Rebel to the Pride of Baltimore, and has grown over the past nineteen years making it the largest all-schooner sailing race in the world. A record number of fifty-six schooners competed this year, but Windfall was the only one from North Carolina. Windfall finished third in her class, with an elapsed time of 15 hours and 18 minutes. Captain Rob Temple was quite pleased with her performance.
“She sailed faster than ever – during the race I saw her hit speeds I’d never seen before,” he said, while imbibing large quantities of free beer at the awards party in Portsmouth. “We even finished ahead of several of the larger boats. I was proud of my vessel and proud of my crew.”
Windfall’s crew pose with their 3rd place plaque: Emmet Temple, Captain Rob Temple, Philip Howard, all of Ocracoke, and Steve Musil of Colington, NC. Not pictured: Frank Phelps of Washington, NC.
Schooners were everywhere during the event’s Parade of Sail
Pinch Pots, Turk’s Heads and 11 Pounds of Butter!
The Second Annual Ocrafolk School Was a Huge Success
Following a show-and-tell session on Friday morning, the participants of the 2nd annual Ocrafolk School reluctantly bid farewell to their teachers and classmates as the week of fun and learning came to a close. Although all the classes had plenty to brag about, the cooking class outdid the rest when they announced they had cooked with (and consumed) eleven pounds of butter during the week!
Soundfront Inn
Five classes were offered this year: Pottery, Basketry, Cooking, Watercolor Painting and the Ocrafolk Sampler (island ecology, history and maritime lore). Next week we’ll have a full story about the Folk School’s happenings, but these pictures offer a peak at the good times had by all.
To the delight of her students, Debbie Wells pours the yummy batter of Chocolate Bourbon Torte into the pan in the sunny, warm kitchen at Soundfront Inn
Carol Doty and Terri Large are gettin’ muddy in the pottery class
Fiddler Dave shows off the bread he’s baking for the Shrimp Boil potluck at Soundfront Inn. Dave was the assistant to chef Debbie Wells in the cooking class
Painting in progress
Second-year folk school attendee Margot Babb is happy to accept praise from artist and instructor Mary Ellen Golden
Linda Driskell works on the base of her “cat’s head” style basket
That's all for this week!
