day four - rainy morning on Ocracoke

Morning comes with a walk down British Cemetery Road to Back Road on the way to Ocracoke Coffee Company. Iced tea and a mango/rasperry muffin on the porch as a sprinkling rain comes and goes.Back to the National Park docks on Silver Lake before the rain arrive. I sit under the shelter and the heavy rain gets blown by a strong south wind into the open back of my boom tent. I know immediately that I have made a mistake by not tucking the sleeping gear away. Rain and wind persist. I sit under the shelter as far away from the horizontal rain as I can, trying to stay dry. A car ferry is loading next the shelter. Once the ferry leaves, the poor guy directing traffic onto the ferry - now soaked to the bone - comes over and sits in the shelter with me. The rain ends just before noon. I get my sleeping gear from the boat and spread it out to dry. Fortunately enough wind remains so that the sleeping bag, bivy and inflatable pad dry out quickly.An afternoon shuttle takes me to the Variety Store…