State’s ferries go Purple and Gold

(Jan. 9, 1994)   —   A state ferryboat trimmed in purple and gold and decked out with other symbols of ECU will soon sail the waters of the Pamlico Sound from Cedar Island to Ocracoke.

The ferry, to be launched later this month, is the first of 16 ferries that will carry the banners and colors of the state’s 16 public universities. State Representative Sam Hunt of Burlington, an ECU grad, sponsored the legislative bill that authorized the ferry system to decorate the vessels in the state’s ferry fleet with school colors and emblems.

“The ferry with the ECU emblems is the newest and the largest,” said Charlie Utz of the N.C. Ferry Division in Morehead City. He said the ferry will carry passengers on a two-hour voyage from the mainland at Cedar Island to Ocracoke in the Outer Banks chain. 

The vessel is currently being trimmed in purple and gold. Two 36 inch diameter emblems — most likely the campus logo — will be color screened onto aluminum plates and will be mounted on each side of the vessel’s superstructure.

In addition to the Cedar Island to Ocracoke ferries, the state also provide ferry connections that link Ocracoke with Swan Quarter and Hatteras Island. Other state ferries between Bath and Aurora on the Pamlico River; between Minnesott Beach and the Cherry Point area on the Neuse; from Currituck to Knotts Island near the Virginia border; and from Southport to Fort Fisher near Wilmington.