Log 134; Day 363; May 19, 2009; Oriental, NC

Here are a few shots of Oriental NC. A very small, but neat, town

Reading the plaque below is important for the following picture

Can you imagine 200 years ago folks coming to get water and sitting on these benchs and passing town gossip

This is looking NE over the Pamlico Sound

This is where the Nuese River and Pamlico Sound come together

Beautiful home...with a beautiful view of the Sound

And another

Like a lot of the homes in the South...most of the homes in Oriental have large porches

Out in the rain, talking to our boat neighbor John, from Emery el

Last nights sunset

This morning the water is over the sidewalk and the street

Causing a bit of a problem for folks wanting to get their coffee at "The Bean". If you look closely, you can see a guy in the right of the picture climing over the railing to avoid the water puddles in front of the stairs. He made it.

Log 134

Day 363

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

7:00 AM EDT

Location: Oriental Marina & Inn; Oriental, NC

Weather: 59 degrees and very windy; Strong NE winds forecasted

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCIA (my sister)

The winds blew hard all night long. Even though we are in a protected cove, the boats are rocking this morning, and several times last night the boat fender hit the piling, and made a squeak, just to remind you of what it was like outside. NOAA says winds out of the NE at 25 to 30, with gusts of 35 today. The rain has finally stopped, but with the NE winds, it has blown lots of water in the Oriental cove. When we backed into our slip on Saturday, my depth finder read 3.6 feet...now it reads 6.4 feet. The water in the harbor is now over the sidewalk and street.

Yesterday...it rained most of the day, finally stopping about 4 pm. The front that came through, just basically stalled over this area, and the radar showed the rain just sitting above us. Not sure what the official rainfall was for the last 24 hours, but I’m sure it was over 2 inches. It would not be much of a stretch to say Deb and I did nothing all day. I’m pretty sure Deb was still in her pajamas at lunch time, and at 4 pm she went walked out on the front of the boat, and came back in to say it was cold out...and that was the first, and only, time she went out all day long. We kept talking about a walk...but it never happened. Deb cooked most of the day, and worked on the computer. I can’t say I accomplished much either. I worked on the charts; made some slip reservations; and did some small organizing. But most of the day was spent “putzing” on the computer. I checked out every weather site known to man, and all of them said it was cold and blowing out, and would be for a few days. When we came here, I planned to leave on Wednesday, because that is when the weather was supposed to change (winds switching from the NE to the east), but after reviewing the weather (for the 40^th time) I went and told the marina we would not leave until Thursday. Several other boats changed their minds as well, and no one left the harbor yesterday. Smart move.

To show how windy it is in this area, here is a YouTube link to show a sailboat at a dock with these winds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY5Pwr_c7E4

Today...we probably will not be as cooped up as yesterday (it’s not raining), but it is a long way from a nice day out either. It’s cloudy, the winds (even in this protected harbor) are blowing about 20 mph, and it is supposed to reach a high of 68 today. About a block away is a nice general store (with a great marine section) and they have bikes that they say we can “borrow”, so one thing we want to do is ride about 1 mile to a real grocery store. That can be our “project” for the day. I also know Deb wants to do some “adventure” walking, and see more of the town. Also...I’m sure I will review more charts, and more weather sites, to determine when we can leave. Right now, the weather is supposed to continue to blow hard out of the NE (right down the center of Pamlico Sound) until Thursday afternoon, and then switch to the east. If that happens (assuming they have space for us to stay here) we will not leave until Friday morning. It’s not that it’s dangerous...it’s just not any fun to get banged around, with the short choppy waves the Pamlico Sound will be producing. We are not in a hurry...so (if possible) we try to make each cruising day enjoyable. So far...most of them have been.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob