Judy and I like to go to Oriental once in a while just to stay at the marina and be in the little town for a while. There had been an article and some advertising on the Towndock.net website about the first ever "Dragon Boat" races to be held on Saturday. Small towns are known for holding festivals and Oriental has it's share. The events tend to bring people (and their wallets) to town for at least a day. The advertisements alluded to free entertainment during the weekend but it was not specific. Since we like to sail to Oriental anyway, we made a reservation at the Oriental Marina for Saturday night.
Friday August 20, 2010
We left home as soon as I was finished with work. Working from home is great. I can shut down my computer and leave for the coast 15 minutes later, which is just what we did. Judy had made sandwiches for the trip. This saved us the time of stopping to eat. The trip was uneventful, with an average amount of traffic. The weather was hot but not as oppressive as the past week or so. The temperature steadily dropped from the time we left home. By the time we arrived at Ensign harbor it was down to about 76 degrees. We did not need the air conditioner. Our big fan was enough to cool the boat enough for sleeping. There was no rain in the forecast for Friday night. For once the forecast was right and we slept comfortably under an open hatch.
My hat is off to our friend Brent. Earlier in the summer he set several open boxes of charcoal in the new boat when he was ready to leave. He told me this would make the boat smell better because it would absorb normal boat odors, like mildew and diesel fuel. I think all boats have a certain amount of odor unless their ventilation is very good. I was really skeptical of Brent's charcoal odor cure after having charcoal on board our boat in 4 open boxes for about a month now, the boat odors were practically gone.
Saturday August 21, 2010
There was no rain in the forecast for Saturday but we usually take that the forecast with a grain of salt. We had our usual coffee and cereal on board. There was no hurry to get to Oriental and it wouldn't take more than a few hours if there was any wind at all. After we got the boat ready to launch we wanted to take a brisk walk. Joey had told us that the bugs were really bad near the parking area but we figured after we got past the trees they would not be so bad. We were wrong. It seemed the further we walked, the worse they got. These are not little wimpy piedmont North Carolina mosquitoes. These are big ol' hairy Pamlico County bugs that could eat our inland bugs for breakfast. They were visibly swarming around our legs as we walked. One slap on a leg could kill half a dozen bugs. We got almost to the end of the driveway before we gave up and ran back to the docks. I had to wash my hands to get the blood splatters off. Mosquitoes are part of the landscape in coastal Carolina but they had not been bad at all this summer. Nick and Jeanette said they just showed up earlier in the week. I guess they are trying to make up for lost time.
We showered and left for Oriental before noon. The wind forecast was for east winds 5 to 10 knots. This is where the forecast started to slip. The winds were indeed east but considerably more than 5 to 10 knots. The seas had started to build and there were numerous white caps with the wind probably around 15. By the time we made our turn at Gum Thicket Shoals we were no longer beating into the wind so it didn't seem so intense. We turned so that we were not directly down wind for a more comfortable motion. When we got as far as Garbacon Shoal, we jibed the boat and turned toward Oriental. Even at that the wind was nearly dead astern almost all the way, and the seas were building all the time. All things considered it was a good sail and very fast. We were making over 5 knots all the way.
We were expected at the marina so when we contacted them on VHF radio, Tom told us we would be in slip #2. Little boats are usually moored in the slips near the street and across from the town dock. It can be difficult to get our boat out when there are vessels tied to the town dock. I would really hate to try to get a forty footer out of a place that tight. We landed with no damage to the vessel or crew then walked over to the park to check on the Dragon Boat races. We forgot the camera so I went back to get it. I got back just in time to miss the last race. I did get one picture of a Dragon Boat as she was paddling back to land. We saw Nick and Jeanette at the race. I didn't even realize they were Dragon Boat race fans!
The breeze was nice but the marina buildings blocked it completely. We deployed the air conditioner and the cockpit canopy. The canopy does a lot toward cooling the boat just by shading the top of the cabin. Finally it was time to relax. We cooled down under the canopy and enjoyed cool drinks. It was so hot that neither of us had eaten since breakfast and we still weren't hungry. While we sat relaxing, the weather forecast of sunny with zero percent chance of rain, slipped again. We saw dark clouds over the water. We couldn't tell the direction it was headed but it has been our experience, if you are on board a sailboat and you see a storm, it is most likely headed your way. We deployed the hatch dodger so our bed would stay dry and waited for the rain to come. While we were waiting, Frank from "Wild Turkey II" stopped by. He said he recognized me from somewhere but we could never come up with where. He sat for a while and told us about his boat, a Hunter 34, and how he built his hard bimini, which looked very handsome. The rain came and Frank stayed with us. He would have gotten soaked trying to get to "Wild Turkey" just a few yards away. We have met lots of interesting people in our seven years on the water. Frank is a good example of how none of them are strangers and how easy it is to strike up a conversation with folks who have common interests.
After we had cooled off and relaxed for a while, our appetites began to return. We had anticipated a really big crowd in town for the big race and all the entertainment, but neither the crowds nor the entertainment ever materialized. Judy had prepared spaghetti so we would not have to fight the crowds. I was glad she did because it was delicious. Regular readers know my views on restaurants so I won't repeat them here. Dinner was just great. We went for a short walk (without too many bugs) around town. Unfortunately we found that the Provision Company was completely closed and padlocked. It has been general knowledge that this would happen but knowing how difficult it is to run a small business, I hate to see them fail.
Since there was no entertainment to be found, we enjoyed the cool comfort of the boat for a while. After running from bugs, sailing in a stiff wind and double timing from the park and back I was ready to turn in by 10 pm. We slept well except for the downpour in the middle of the night. Judy was up and had the hatch closed before I knew what was happening. Strike three for the weather forecasters.
Sunday August 22, 2010
The forecast was not so good for Sunday. Cloudy with a 50% chance of rain in the afternoon had us up and gone by 8:30. Leaving our tight slip proved to be challenging. Luckily, there was little wind. A kind bystander kept our port side close to the finger pier while we backed out. The C-30 has a noticeable prop walk that tends to move the stern to port when the transmission is in reverse. Unfortunately we needed her stern to go to starboard. I used every trick I could think of, but it was not to be. The big vessel tied to the town dock gave us little room to maneuver, so given the circumstances, I backed as straight as possible getting to within 10 feet of the big boat. I put the transmission in forward and hit the throttle a bit. As expected, when the prop started turning right, the boat spun on her deep fin keel. This actually assisted the hard turn to starboard we needed to make. We cleared every obstacle with room to spare and got a rousing round of applause from the 6-person crew of a big center cockpit sailboat a few slips down.
Out on the river, the weather was threatening and there was little wind. We decided to run the diesel back to our dock because we wanted to stop on the way home to see our kids in Raleigh. Running the diesel we made the trip in about two hours. The skies were less threatening and the wind had picked up a bit. It would have been a nice time for a day sail. We landed safely and started the "go home" process. Judy had already prepared everything below for departure so it didn't take long. We were in the car and gone shortly after noon.
Oriental is one of the few places we can "cruise" to in just a weekend. We enjoy doing it and hopefully we will again.