Two Weeks in Oriental

I’ve decided to update the blog with a description of Oriental, NC, and to relate some of the things that I’ve been doing for the last two weeks while Serendipity has been at the marina here.

I spent the first day or so getting settled in the slip, pulling out my fold-up bicycle, doing laundry and getting some groceries. I also visited a number of times with Lara and Simon Manetta, including an evening BBQ out at Zimmerman’s boat yard (It was prettier than you’d picture!) with Clint, Ashley, and Madison (friends of Nicholay’s whom I had met when I was here in December) and some other nice folks.

I also found a lovely place to do yoga each morning. Simon told me that Oriental has a bunch of mini-parks–little water-front properties between houses, each with a bench overlooking the water. He said that if the bench has a dragon painted on it, then it’s a public park. So I found one that has proven absolutely perfect for yoga, with a shade tree and everything. It is in between two beautiful B & B’s and about a 3-minute bike ride from the boat. (That’s one of the advantages of a town with less than 1,000 people–everything is close!)

We also did Open Mic Night at The Silos restaurant, which was a very cool venue.

The Croaker Festival was on the Friday and Saturday after I arrived, but my timing was bad and I seemed to have been taking a nap or doing something else during the parades and other big events. But, I did catch the fireworks. Of course, they were hard to miss as they were launched from the bridge right next to my boat! Great show!

But, after all the initial excitement, the fatigue from the last six weeks started to set in, and I realized I was very tired! I think it will be very good to have a month here to get back in shape a bit, get my yoga routine back, and just get some rest.

After the festival weekend, the weather turned blustery, with winds out of the south-southwest at 15-25 knots. This continued day after day. Each day the winds were much higher than forecast and were from the only direction across the Neuse River that wasn’t protected by the marina’s breakwater. My boat was rocking and rolling constantly, with few breaks, for nearly a week.

That got very old because it was incessant, day and night. The motion wasn’t as extreme as I had experienced on A-Dock at DIYC when the wind was from the south, but that typically only lasted a day or two. This seemed to last forever. Inside my boat, it felt like I was on a passage! It was great for sleeping because it wasn’t enough to roll me out of my bunk, but just trying to move around the cabin, grab a glass of wate, take a step–all these things were made very uncoordinated when a sudden motion of the boat would interfere with the planned movement. Again, it was just like being offshore, except I wasn’t paying $ to be subject to offshore conditions in the marina! I started getting very irritated when in my boat and so would have to get off and just go walk around on solid ground every once in awhile (something, admittedly, that you can’t do when offshore).

The winds with the associated 2-3′ waves (sometimes made higher by the wakes of passing boats) also caused problems with (and damage to) boats tied up on the south side of the dock, as well as those in the anchorage just south of the marina. More than one dragged anchor.

In fact, we had quite an exciting afternoon this last Friday! A small ketch, Astrid, which was anchored just off A Dock (where my boat was), started dragging anchor, heading right for the bridge and a boat tied up on the outside of the dock! Nobody was aboard, the companionway hatch was open, and the dinghy was gone, so the owners were probably ashore, but nobody could locate them (or even find out who they were). As the word spread, a small crowd gathered on the dock to watch and offer suggestions about what to do about the problem. Ideas ranged from doing nothing (“I’m not going to get sued!”); to taking a dinghy to Astrid, starting the engine, and re-anchoring it further upwind; to trying to wrestle it to the dock and secure it there. There were as many opinions as there were spectators (as it typical with sailors). 🙂

The marina staff was doing everything in its power to locate the owners, but to no avail. However, it was obvious they did not want to responsibility of the boat being tied up to their dock.

Finally, the owner of the boat on the dock that was most at risk, a young British guy named Matt and his friend went out to the boat with the intention of getting some lines on it and pulling it to an open space on the dock (despite the marina’s wishes, evidently).

The marina started getting involved by sending one of the dockhands out in a dinghy to try to get the hull numbers (like the VIN for a boat) to hopefully be able to track down the owners that way.

But before our two intrepid young men had a chance to put their (probably ill-advised) plan into action, the marina staff called SeaTow, who surprisingly showed up and took charge.

I was quite surprised that they were willing to get involved without the Astrid’s owners’ permission, but they got the vessel in tow and ended up pulling it over to the city’s free dock, where it still sits, evidently waiting for the owners’ return.

I’ve also gotten the chance in the last two weeks to see much of the town. It is populated with many quaint and unique homes.

In addition to The Silos, there are a few other noteworthy commercial establishments in Oriental:

Speaking of which, the name of the town of Oriental has been continually tricking me since I’ve been here. For example, the first time I went shopping in the Piglet, I saw this sign on the first few aisles I looked down:

I started getting frustrated, thinking, “How many aisles of oriental food do they need in such a small store! Where is all the normal American food?” lol I’ve been back a half-dozen times, and it still throws me off!

Similarly, the first time I saw this sign

I thought to myself, “Come on! How many oriental women could there really be here in backwoods North Carolina?”¹ I’m serious. They are very proud of their town, and so add “Oriental” to just about everything!

And the last way I’ve been spending my time is researching where I’m going to go next!

I had Oriental as an interim destination since the beginning of my trip. I’d been this far before, didn’t feel the need to see anything in between, and just wanted to get as far north as I could as quickly as I could to get out of the main hurricane zone (and the Florida heat).

But now that I’m here, I have to decide where to go next! My options are to a leisurely cruise up the final miles of the ICW to Norfolk, VA, and the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay, then explore it. Or, push north through the Chesapeake with the goal of getting up to New England (Long Island Sound, Newport, Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, etc). Or, really push hard and try to get all the way up to Maine, which is supposed to be very beautiful (and reminiscent of where I was stationed for four years in Southeast Alaska).

Sadly, I’ve eliminated the last option for this season after finding a Maine cruising guide. It convinced me that I’m not ready to single-hand in Maine. There are many significant challenges (cold water, three million lobster pots, huge tidal ranges (20 feet+!), heavy fog, etc., none of which I’m comfortable confronting alone. And, the frosting on the cake was that even in the summer, it seaid, one should bring cold-weather clothes because the nights get cold. No thanks! I’m not buying any cold-weather clothes anytime soon! So, Maine is out!

So instead I’ve been studying a Chesapeake Bay cruising guide, trying to figure out what is worthwhile to see. So far, it sounds like there are a lot of places to visit, lots of anchoring spots, lots of choices. Initially, it sounds like Hampton, VA (Fort Monroe) and Yorktown are two places worth a visit, so I’ll probably hit those initially. It also sounds like it will be very exciting just passing by Norfolk, the biggest naval base in the world. And, from reading the Coast Guard notices, it sound like I’ll be passing right by the Dali, the boat that ran into and knocked down the Baltimore bridge. I’ll try to get a photo.

One other option I’m contemplating depends on the heat and slip availability. August in the Chesapeake is supposed to be very hot and humid with little wind. If I find living on the hook just too hot, I may splurge by deciding to check into another marina somewhere further north to spend the remainder of August with air conditioning.

After that, if I find the Chesapeake interesting enough, I’ll take my time and not worry about getting past it this season. Or, if I get bored, then I may go further north. I’m at the point in my cruising now where I don’t have an agenda, a goal, or a schedule. If I see a storm brewing in the Caribbean heading this way, I may accelerate my pace to get more north in the Chesapeake, but otherwise, I plan to just take my time and explore.

So, that’s where I’m at right now. I expect to spend another couple of weeks here continuing to “reboot” before resuming my north-bound cruising, which regardless will begin with a five-day trip up the ICW to Norfolk and the Chesapeake.

Thanks for reading!

1. I was right about this one. I looked it up and according to the 2020 census, there are a total of two (2) asians living in Oriental. 🙂 ↩︎