No good captain is in favor of pushing their boat to the extremes, particularly so for a seasoned submariner enjoying their Ranger Tug through retirement. Alas, when you're chasing friends in much larger Grand Banks - the old rule again rings loud:
One boy equals one brain. Two boys equal half a brain. Three boy's equals a quarter brain, four or more - the whole group is operating on less than zero brainpower at all!
It's hard to imagine crossing the more than 30 nautical miles
to reach Silver Lake and the beautiful harbor of Ocracoke in the conditions of Monday, June 8th 2026. With winds gusting from 15-20, a small craft advisory was in effect calling for increasing seas growing from 2-3ft into 6-8ft conditions. I was onboard the Swan Quarter to Ocracoke ferry crossing during the Ranger's crossing window - something the Ranger Captain and I discovered the next day while having a casual conversation on the dock.
By midway across the Pamlico Sound, waves of 6-8ft were crashing up onto the middle lane's of North Carolina's 300 ton, Sound Class Ferry. The journey that day had the ferry hauling around 40 vehicles, several commercial trucks and EMS, along with three RV's.
By an hour into the journey, it was clear the 220ft long ferry was testing the limits of the chalks laid down against the larger loads on deck as it heaved and turned into the waves. By a wide margin, it was the most turbulent ferry ride this author had ever encountered. The Ranger 27 departed Wilimgton, NC at 9:30am, and encountered 15ft-30ft depth readings for the majority of the crossing.
"I don't like abusing the boat, that was the main mistake I made - although I never felt like I pushed it further than the Ranger was capable of"
A journey to North Carolina's outer banks is a dream come true for any intracoastal boater. Timing the weather is another task entirely. As any good boater knows - the "forecast" can often be as wrong as it is right. It's in these maritime moments that remembering you're here for fun is paramount.
No part of a 30nm crossing in seas of 6ft + is ever going to be enjoyable, least of all in a sub 30" vessel.
