Fun at Oriental

We've had a nice long weekend in Oriental....Friday night the Oriental Old Theater showed  the movie "Psycho" - 5 bucks got you into the movie and all the popcorn you cared to eat!  What a deal....plus there was some local entertainment and "introduction" to the movie....many wore shower caps....

There was even a shower cap "hawker"....we just relaxed and watched the festivities.  Good fun and the theater was packed!  I didn't know there were that many people in Oriental!!

Remember, our foresail was destroyed in Hurricane Irene.....we finally received the replacement.

Here is the barren bow of the boat....

The sail laid out ready to be hoisted...

Easy, peasy!  All set for sailing again!

So, we had to take her out an make sure all is well.  Wonderful fall sailing with fairly warm temps and 20 knot breezes.

We sailed for a few hours - approaching Oriental we sailed through a race course.....pretty little spinnaker...

Fun, fun!!

Hurricane Irene "After" Photos from Pecan Grove

Our original plans for this weekend were to sail with Sharon and Buddy to Ocracoke for Labor Day....but Hurricane Irene put a stop to that! The boat is a bit "under the weather" (pardon the pun!!)

So, we changed course and made plans to fly to Myrtle Beach instead.

On our way, we flew to the boat to take the tattered foresail down...

Duane getting the sail down - not an easy process when it's wrapped tightly in several different directions during the hurricane!!

We also wanted to look at our little building lot across from the marina to see what it looked like after a hurricane....there is a house on the lot next door - it's for sale and vacant.  There is a couple of small trees that were toppled and resting on the house.  Doesn't look like there is any damage to the house.

Our lot is just wooded - but there are several very healthy looking pines that are just snapped off.  Shows the incredible power of the wind!  And this was just category 1!!!

There is alot of debris around the town, but doesn't look like too much other damage.  Lots of piles of debris like this one outside the marina.  Lots of folks will be getting new ductwork and sheetrock in the coming weeks!!

Slow sailing

Quick trip to the boat this weekend for a little relaxation.  Here we are at New Bern - first trip out with our new "numbers". 

Leaving the marina for a "sail"....notice the relatively smooth water.....

This was about as fast as I could manage...Duane was letting me "find the wind" myself (in other words, he was taking a nap!!)

I wandered around on the deck....pleasant and slow.   It was off to the "Bean" the next morning for wonderful coffee, then home for some chores. 

July 4th - long weekend!! Up in the morning for a leisurely sail up to River Dunes for lunch....always some interesting traffic out on the Pamlico Sound!



Captain Sharon!





Always helpful! Sharon and Buddy helping with the lines....



At the dock - River Dunes....we had a wonderful lunch (as usual!)




On the sail back to Oriental.....Aren't they sweet??





Nice, calm sail.....



Coming back into the marina after the nice sail back.






The next morning, woke up to this scene in the marina....I don't think I've ever seen it so still....the image is so mirror-like that it looks like a boat is sitting on top of another boat!




And "Now for something completely different" ....our friends, Tom and Janet, brought their nice power boat down to stay at the marina with us!

We took this opportunity to cruise at a "much higher rate of speed"!!!

Here we are motoring out of the marina, Capt'n Tom at the wheel.....Glory Days in the background.

Off to Ocracoke for a day-trip. In the sailboat, it takes about 7 hours to reach Ocracoke....so it's never a day-trip!! It took less than 2 hours in the power boat - a nice change!

The sound was fairly calm - Sharon spent a good part of the trip enjoying the breeze on the bow.




This is certainly a different view aft - our sailboat leaves almost no wake!



The mighty crew!




First Mate Janet!


We always see a ferry on the trip to Ocracoke.....this trip was no different!!



The smoke from the coastal fires are very evident - normally, we could easily make out Ocracoke from this point. You can faintly see the water tower in this photo.


Closer in you can see the smokiness - it's about 2pm in this photo.



At the dock in Ocracoke...



We rented bikes for a few hours just to explore.



Captn Tom - peeking thru the door at the Ocracoke Lighthouse.....I guess that makes him "Peeping Tom"....sorry, I just had to say that!!



Back to Oriental for the evening. They close the Highway 55 bridge off for the fireworks viewing. So, we all put on ample bug-spray and headed for the bridge (it's about 500 yds from the marina). Very nice fireworks display!


Another leisurely morning - and then we hopped back on Tom and Janet's boat for a trip down to Beaufort. Again, very smokey - this time down the Intercoastal Waterway.


Approaching Beaufort - the bridge opened - but we didn't need it this time (since we had no mast to worry with!!)


We lucked out with a nice little along-side tie at Beaufort Docks on the busy 4th of July weekend.




A nice group!! Bill and Kay have a second home nearby and came to visit with us at Clawsons Restaurant.




Bill and Kay giving us a send-off at the Beaufort Docks.





Just a short little hop over into the Beaufort Inlet - but it was time to go back to Oriental.....we'll have to go to Cape Lookout some other day!! Capt'n Tom took us safely back to Oriental.....What a nice little vacation!

We had meant to leave home Friday, but stormy weather prevented that....and then more stormy weather prevented us leaving Saturday morning, as well. The runway was soggy and the ceilings were very low with fog. So, we just relaxed and waited it out! We took off about 7pm for Oriental, finally!!

Beautiful skies met us Sunday morning - we decided to head to Beaufort for the evening. I wanted to sail at least to the edge of Adam's Creek (the entrance to the intercoastal waterway) - so we tacked and tacked and tacked.....in very light winds for about an hour. And then we decided that we were NOT a sailboat today - and decided to be a very slow motorboat. HAHA.


The usual phosphate barge sighting! Never ceases to amaze me how big these things are!



Always scary going under these bridges since our mast is 64+ feet tall and the generic clearance for the intercoastal waterway is 65 feet....plus or minus.....so you understand my hesitation.....




We arrived safely a few hours later at the Town Creek Anchorage in Beaufort. We had not anchored her before - it's a nice little place to stay. Calm and very close to the waterfront.

Mom and Frank will remember this bridge shown opening here....we had a engine control issue when we came thru it with them a few years ago on a trip to Cape Lookout.

This is the view of the bridge from the anchorage.


A very nice day!



Cool boat anchored behind us...



I was taking a nap....and I kept hearing whistles. I stuck my head topsides and saw a little sailing school in progress.



We decided to take the dinghy to the waterfront for dinner. Glory Days - pretty, as ever.




Tied the dinghy up the the public dock.



Wandered down the boardwalk.

Ended up having drinks and dinner at Finz. Bartender gave me the "leftovers" from a neat drink she mixed in the blender. It involved pouring Bacardi 151 down the straw after the drink was made. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't have the whole drink!!!




Back at sundown to Glory Days. Nice cool breeze so it should be a great night to be at anchor!!