This is the big day -- and the last day of both the Outer Banks 500 and the Atlantic 1000. The boats will be leaving Ocracoke Island at 10:00 a.m. and rounding Cape Hatteras on their way to the final finish line at Kill Devil Hills. The leg is 83.7 miles.

For the Worrell 1000, the checkpoint on the Outer Banks was at Hatteras, but apparently most of the hotels have not yet recovered from being devastated by Hurricane Isabel last September. So this time the stopover was on Ocracoke Island.

As a result, Rick will again not be at the start this morning because he had to catch the early ferry to get over to Hatteras so he could be at Hatteras point in time to get pictures. Jon Britt, one of the Outer Banks organizers, has a four-wheel drive vehicle, and he will be taking Rick out to the point. Rick is already in the parking area at the Hatteras Lighthouse, waiting for his ride.

The Cape Hatteras rounding traditionally produces the most dramatic photographs of the race, because the boats round within yards of the beach, while running the gauntlet through the infamous "piss-ups," geysers of water that shoot up here and there, unpredictably.

It is only a short distance from Ocracoke to the Cape, which is why Rick had to catch an early ferry. After the Cape rounding, when he gets back to the motorhome, he will post a morning story on our race page and, hopefully, some pictures, before he heads to the finish at Kill Devil Hills.

Wind this morning is about 15 out of the SSW.

P.S. Last night a big storm blew through at Ocracoke, rocking the motorhome. This morning Rick went out to see if the boats were still there, but they looked fine, all still upright.