Ocracoke Island, the southernmost barrier island of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, enjoys such a strong association with its one-square-mile historic village that some tourists here were surprised to learn the federal shutdown had affected their vacation plans.
Because the island, except for the village, is part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and owned by the National Park Service, its 16 miles of undeveloped dunes and beaches are officially closed. In practice, enforcement has been flexible, at least for beachgoers on foot.
"When I heard the news about the Hatteras Seashore shutting down, I thought, oh, we're OK because we're going to Ocracoke, and the park service only controls some of the beaches," said Sam, a visitor from Greenville, N.C., who didn't want to give his last name because he was illegally enjoying the Atlantic surf on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon.
When his wife called their hotel to check on the situation, they learned about the ban, but were told no one had been ordered off the sand. So, like dozens of beachgoers from states up and down the East Coast, judging from the cars in the parking lot, they passed the small closure sign next to a dune walkover and spent a relaxing day at the beach.
What Sam had been looking forward to and couldn't do was drive his four-wheel vehicle to South Point, the best fishing spot for drum and more than three miles from the nearest parking lot. In October — the most popular surf-fishing month of the year on the island — the remote beach is usually filled with 4x4s carrying anglers and gear. Those people are out of luck, as are the businesses that service them – the bait and tackle shop, off-road rentals, and accommodations.
Sundae Horn, the village's tourism director and co-owner of the online local news service OcracokeCurrent, said that it was difficult to gauge how the shutdown was affecting tourism.
"Campers at the national park campground had to vacate, some hotels had people leave early and others are canceling, but we're so popular for our village that folks know there's still a lot to do here. I do tell everyone that officially the beach is closed, but that no one has been ticketed. Our biggest fear is that the day trippers from Hatteras will stop coming, because what hurts Hatteras, hurts us, and Hatteras is all about fishing." (The free ferry from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke is state-run and not affected by the shutdown.)
One industry has seen a surge in business – boat rentals – thanks to disappointed surf fishermen looking to cast their lines elsewhere.
"Normally we're lucky if we can get two boats out for the week this time of year," said Chrissy O'Neal of Restless Native boat rentals. "This week we did seven. We already had to pull out some of our boats in storage for the season. So, yeah, it's been a good week for us, but not so good for everyone else."
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