After leaving the Bodie Island Lighthouse (see this), I would like to continue south and enter the ferry system operated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The plan would be...
Take the 14:00 Hatteras => Ocracoke ferry, arriving in Ocracoke at 14:30
Take the 15:30 Ocracoke => Swan Quarter ferry, arriving on the mainland approximately 3 hours later.
In order to minimize the chances of being 'stuck' on the Outer Banks with no place to stay, I would like to book connecting reservations for both legs. I have learned that travel agents are unable, or unwilling, to assist in these matters. Instead, they defer to the NCDOT's site for making ferry reservations and all that I need is there. When I explain that 'no, all of the information is decidedly not there, they say they cannot help me further.
Question: the site appears to offer no way to make reservations for the first leg. Is this a bug? How can a person make reservations for the Hatteras => Ocracoke ferry? Or alternatively, what can a person do aside from showing up early in the morning and spend the day waiting in a first-come-first-served queue?
Secondary: in the chance that I get selected for screening by the maritime division of the TSA, will I need to produce a passport or would it be deemed acceptable for security purposes? I have no forms of Identification to show I reside in the US (because I do not).
Adding: travelling in a standard sedan car, not on foot, not on bicycle.