On a warm September Saturday, the docks of Safe Harbor Outer Banks in Wanchese will transform into a swashbuckling playground. Families will arrive in eye patches and tricorn hats, children will brandish foam cutlasses, and the smell of grilled hot dogs will drift across the marina. This is Family Day at the Safe Harbor, a free, three-hour celebration that pairs pirate fun with a serious mission: supporting the Community Care Clinic of Dare, the region's only free and charitable clinic for uninsured and underinsured adults.
The event, scheduled for September 12, 2026, from noon to 3 p.m., takes place at Johanna's Tiki Hut, an open-air food truck and bar tucked into the marina at 708 Harbor Road. Sponsored by Safe Harbor, the afternoon costs nothing to enter. Guests are invited to dress in their best pirate costume and join a parade, then climb aboard a “pirate ship” for a cruise around the harbor—likely the Kokomo, a 40-foot catamaran that normally carries dolphin-watchers through the Roanoke Sound. Hot dogs and soft drinks are free, while t-shirts, ice cream, treats, a paint-along activity, and raffle tickets are available for a small fee. Every dollar raised goes directly to the clinic.
The Community Care Clinic of Dare has been a lifeline for the Outer Banks since 2005, when a group of concerned citizens and healthcare providers recognized that many working residents—fishermen, hospitality workers, small-business owners—were falling through the cracks of the American healthcare system. They opened a small clinic in Nags Head with a simple mission: provide quality healthcare, medication assistance, and wellness education to eligible adults who live or work in Dare County and lack affordable insurance. Over two decades, the clinic has grown into an integrated medical, dental, mental health, and pharmacy facility, serving thousands of patients each year. It operates entirely on donations, grants, and fundraisers like Family Day, and its staff and volunteers are the backbone of its success. In 2025, the clinic celebrated its 20th anniversary, a milestone that underscored how deeply it has become woven into the community's fabric.
The setting for this year's Family Day is as much a character as the pirates themselves. Wanchese, a quiet fishing village on the southern tip of Roanoke Island, has been a working waterfront for generations. Its commercial fishing fleet still unloads fresh catch daily, and the marina hums with the activity of charter boats, pleasure craft, and the occasional dolphin cruise. Safe Harbor Outer Banks, which took over the marina in 2022, is a state-of-the-art facility with wet slips, dry storage, a ship's store, and a fuel dock. But the heart of the waterfront experience is Johanna's Tiki Hut, a beloved local eatery run by Chef Johanna Lachine. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Lachine moved to the Outer Banks in 2009, opened Café Lachine in 2012, and later expanded into catering and this casual tiki hut, where she serves buffalo chicken tacos, fresh tuna poke bowls, and fried shrimp baskets with a view of the fishing fleet. Her presence gives the event a distinctly local flavor—literally and figuratively.
The pirate theme is more than just whimsy. The Outer Banks has a deep maritime history, and its waters were once prowled by Blackbeard and other buccaneers who found refuge in the shallow sounds and hidden inlets. Roanoke Island itself is steeped in the mystery of the Lost Colony, and the region's identity is inseparable from the sea. Family Day taps into that heritage, inviting kids and adults alike to embrace their inner pirate for an afternoon. The costume parade is a highlight, with prizes for the most creative outfits, and the harbor cruise offers a chance to see the marina from the water, past the masts and the osprey nests that line the shore.
For the Community Care Clinic, events like this are essential. The clinic receives no government funding for its operations; it relies on the generosity of individuals, businesses, and foundations. The Billfish Tournament, held the same weekend, is its largest fundraiser, but Family Day is deliberately accessible—a low-barrier way for families to contribute while enjoying a day by the water. The clinic's executive director, Lyn Jenkins, has often spoken about the importance of community support, and the clinic's patients are a testament to that care. Stories on the clinic's website tell of individuals who lost weight, managed diabetes, and regained their health through the clinic's nutrition and wellness programs. Every raffle ticket sold and every t-shirt purchased at Family Day helps make those stories possible.
As the afternoon winds down, the pirates will return their costumes to the closet, the Kokomo will dock, and the marina will settle back into its usual rhythm. But the impact of the day will linger. For a few hours, families will have laughed, played, and cruised the harbor, all while knowing they were part of something bigger—a community taking care of its own. That is the true treasure of Family Day at the Safe Harbor.