The Spirit of Christmas celebration in Oriental, North Carolina could be described as pure Americana, a perfect example of small town living. Local businesses and organizations participate by holding open houses with refreshments or maybe having a big sale to attract holiday shoppers. The entire town is decorated including the boats in the marinas. On Friday night there is a boat parade with prizes given to the best lights and decorations. There is a street parade on Saturday afternoon. We have been attending for years in one capacity or another. I would like to think it would last forever, but I'm afraid it's days are numbered. With the influx of people to coastal areas, I think it is only a matter of time until the real estate developers turn the whole area into a gated community, with no access for commoners like us. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since we celebrated "Spirit of Christmas 2005" but obviously, it has been. Just the other day my friend Alvin said, "Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end the faster it goes". That's ok Alvin just hang on tight.

As usual, weather played a major role in this boating adventure. I say boating adventure because for one reason or another, no sailing was done at any time this weekend. The weekend was not about sailing anyway; it was about tying up in Oriental, decorating the boat and having an excellent Christmas celebration with good friends.

Spirit of Christmas 2006 Pictures

Thursday December 7, 2006 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day)
I managed to leave work a bit early by starting early and working through lunchtime. We left home at about 4 pm and headed east-southeast for Whortonsville. On the way we spoke to our friends Richard and Frances and asked Richard to go aboard our boat and turn the cabin heater up to double high. He graciously agreed and we looked forward to a warm boat. We arrived about 5 hours later without incident, which is always a good way to arrive. It wasn't too late and after unloading we had a few minutes to catch-up with Richard and Frances who we hadn't seen in over a month. They filled us in on what was going on in their lives and we did the same. There was a lot of discussion around whether we were going to make the trip to Oriental in the morning since the wind was blowing about 30 knots at the dock. After we turned in, the wind grew stronger. The skies were completely clear but the temperature was dropping and the wind was howling. The boat groaned, creaked and tugged at her dock lines all night. The wind was strong enough to cause her to heel noticeably during the night. The heeling and motion is something you get used to, and did not cause a problem for sleeping. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the entire Ensign harbor facility was having an electrical power problem that kept heaters and other appliances from working at peak efficiency. We were using every blanket and cover we had and managed to keep the chill at bay.

Friday December 8, 2006
By morning the wind had backed off a bit but is was still strong. There was a small craft advisory but it was to expire around midday. I informed Jeanette of our electrical problem and she promised to take action right away. We consulted with Richard and Frances about whether or not to make the trip. The committee decided to give it a try at noon. If it was just too bad we would turn around come back. Richard and Frances left the dock just a minute before we did. Our trouble began as we tried to get out of the slip. The wind was blowing so hard that when Judy untied the bow line the boat went crashing downwind into the piling. She tried twice, but she is simply not strong enough to hold the boat against a 35 knot wind long enough to get out. I went forward and she went aft to take the wheel. I was thinking for a minute that I would not be able to do it either but I huffed and puffed and finally got her bow upwind. I signaled Judy and she gunned it. We shot out of the slip without touching a single piling, as if her crew had done it a thousand times before. I'm really glad none of the dock mates were watching. We have turned around before because of bad weather and we will do it again, but in this case the wind was from the northwest, which means it is coming from the direction of the land. Typically a northwest wind will not kick up quite so much chop. When we reached open water. we evaluated the weather and decided that since it was only about 10 miles we would give it a try. We were about to make our turn to the south at gum thicket shoal when Richard hailed us on the radio. They were having a bit of trouble with their diesel. It seems it was running hot and Richard had to shut it down. They decided to call the towboat and evaluate the situation when they got back to the dock. We stayed with them until help arrived then continued our journey. We found out later that the coolant had leaked out of the engine but at this writing we don't know how. We hated to leave them behind but that's just the way it is. You make sure your towboat insurance is paid up before you leave the dock, and hope you don't need it. We tried deploying the headsail to steady the boat's motion and help with a little speed but it seemed it just made matters worse. It was really cold and the sound was really lumpy but by this time we were getting close to our destination anyway.

We landed in Oriental at about 2:30 pm. After securing the boat we went in search of a hot drink and a snack since we had neglected to eat lunch in all the excitement. Luckily "The Bean" coffee shop is right across the street from the marina. How convenient! After we had thawed a bit, we started decorating the boat for the celebration. The Oriental Marina encourages boaters to decorate by giving a 50% discount on dockage. Judy served a fine dinner that she had prepared at home and we settled in for a long winter night.

Saturday December 9,2006
This is the big day for Spirit of Christmas celebrating. We had breakfast at the M&M Grill where we ran into friends we hadn't seen in a while. After catching up we did a little shopping. All the merchants and organizations were having open houses; they were serving everything from light refreshments to hot chicken soup. Back at the boat some of our dock mates stopped by. We served hot cider and snack food aboard Southern Star. At one point I counted nine guests aboard. We visited aboard Stefan's Layla for a while before the parade started.

A small town parade is always a treat and this one is no exception. The entries were very predictable. There was the Pamlico County high school band, fire trucks, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, and an unusual number of "Red Hat Society" clubs. There were dignitaries and local business entries but the most unusual entry in the parade was the last one. Instead of reindeer, Saint Nick being pulled by a pickup truck in a bright red inflatable boat provided by the U.S. Coastguard.

We had arranged for Bill, Susan, Richard and Frances to come by for dinner after the parade crowd thinned. Susan and Frances furnished the food including a pot of Susan's delicious homemade chili. Judy heated the chili on our stove and we furnished drinks and a nice warm boat for the dinner party. Everyone was hungry and we did our best, but that was a huge pot of chili. What a great way to spend a day, on the water with friends.

Sunday December 10. 2006
We got up before 7 and Judy made coffee to stave off the cold while taking the decorations down. We both noticed the worst part was that our hands got so cold they didn't work well so we had to go below to warm up several times. Putting the decorations up is much more fun than taking them down but it didn't take all that long. We left Oriental around 9:30 headed for Whortonsville. There was virtually no wind so we motored home. Back at the dock we started preparations to get on the road. Bill and Susan had stayed their first night on their new boat and invited us along with Richard and Frances to lunch so that we could finish off the chili we hadn't eaten the night before. After lunch we witnessed the naming ceremony for Doug and Cheryl's new boat. They named her "Prudence" which in my opinion is an excellent choice. I thought of our friends Steve and Donna who witnessed the de-naming a few weeks ago and wished they could have seen the naming. This ceremony was much shorter. It seems it is less stressful to name a boat than to de-name one. Of course a libation was served to Neptune and the participants. This practice is not at all unusual when sailors gather for any reason.

We didn't want to go, but it was time to go back to the real world. We left at around 3 pm for the trip home. This was another adventure that we will remember for a long time. Good times, good friends and a successful voyage with no damage the vessel or her crew.

Spirit of Christmas 2006 Pictures

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