Greetings From Oriental, NC!

SHIP'S LOG:

Well, it has been a couple of days since I have been able to get online. I am sure that as the population of the state increases, more towers will be built and the online deadspots will be eliminated. Unfortunately, such ins not the case currently. I am have "taken refuge" in Oriental, the "sailing capital of the North Carolina!" or so they claim. It is a small town and is what you would call "quaint." I hoofed it up to the market about a mile away and got to see pretty much the whole "village." And it is quaint! I can understand why the local want to keep it this way. Yes, please come and visit but don't stay long or even consider moving here. It rally would spoil the atmosphere of the place. Think in terms of Stockbridge, MA or Wickford, RI. If it were bigger, it would loose its panache!

When last we "spoke" I was headed into the Neuse River. I spent the night in Long Creek off Bonner Bay. when I woke up the next morning, it was raining and it was a good thing that I didn't have far to go. I made it to the South River, about 5 miles outside of Oriental on the eastern bank. It rained on and off the whole trip of about 15 miles. I was able to motorsail most of the way which kept the rolling and yawing down to a minimum. The part of the trip that was uneasy was when I broke form the "herd" of boats heading south down the ICW to cut over to South River. There is something a little scary to go off on your own when everyone else is going in another direction. I was able to find South River even though I couldn't see the mouth in the rain and overcast. Following the charts and the course laid out non the chartplotter, I hit it on the nose. As Skipper Bob predicted, there was plenty of room. when I got into the river, there was one other boat anchored so I moved in and left him with tons of room. I didn't want to crowd him. After I dropped the hook( good bite) and had done all of the anchoring procedures, and settled in for a stay, another ketch came in and did the same. I couldn't tell what she was, though she had to be a good five feet larger than ABISHAG. When I was anchoring, the rain came down in buckets, pouring so hard that it hurt to standout in it securing the anchor. But no sooner had I finished and so did the rain. A third boat also came in and anchored. I gather that the weather reports for Thursday, had made an impression (gale off the NC coast & 70-100% chance of rain) and people were unwilling to stay out in that!

Thursday, I awoke to fog and I mean FOG!!!! I don't believe that I would have been able to see the end of my boat hook (if I still had one) if I held it out from the bow of the boat. It was surprisingly warm but clammy all the same, and no rain. No rain by noon either and I was beginning to become a little irritated that I made a move that would turn out to be unnecessary. Still, I had a chance to look over the ICW from Oriental South. It is not a good stretch in the sense that there are not a lot of places to drop the hook and with the thundering herd on its way south from Newport News, things might get a little tight! I called Chuck Estell, the launch driver from TYC and he promised that he would go through his logs and charts( he has made the trip numerous times) and come up with spots that worked for him . . . . then of course, Chuck was one of those 50+miles a day guys.

About 3pm, NOAA came through and the skies opened up like there was no tomorrow. It rained like someone had a fire hose playing on the boat. I don't know how much actually fell, but it seemed like a foot! Unfortunately, South River is a "deadspot" and I couldn't get online. I had planed to to some bill paying and email sending, but it was no joy! It was interesting though sitting and listening to the rain. When you just listen, it can be very entertaining, very peace-producing, and utterly enjoyable. It helped put me in a peace of mind to make the decision to go into Oriental and get a slip. Getting the free spot at the town dock would have been nice but I would have had to pay for the showers and the laundry and there was no electricity so it was just as well to bite the bullet and pay for the slip.

Friday morning(Nov. 5th) I pulled up anchor in the sunshine and headed across the river to Oriental. I got a spot on the facing dock and shortly after I tied up, Dick Nelson, showed up and me made arrangements for dinner. Dick lives in Oriental and he was the one who tipped me to the free town dock. A nice gesture but in this case, the marinas was the better move for me this time. Oh the showers was a joy. I must have spent 15 minutes just soaking. Too bad they didn't have jacuzzi! I am spending the afternoon blogging and sending emails and getting the weather and planning the route for the days ahead. The sun is out and it is wonderfully warm though tonight, and for the next couple, the temps is heading down into the high 30's!!!!!!!!!!! They keep things tight in the Oriental Marina. They parked a LARGE MOTOR VESSEL not two(2) feet off my stern. Hope his dock lines are good! I just have to remember that if the crunch comes, the first thing to yell is "WHIPLASH!!!!!"