11/3/2015 – 11/6/2015, Oriental, NC

On Tuesday, 11/3/15, on a very grey and damp morning, we left Belhaven, NC and motor-sailed down the Pungo River, across the Pamlico River, and then down the Neuse River to Oriental, NC.

We had never been to Oriental by water, and were very lucky to just nose right in and score a spot on the new town courtesy (free) dock, just before 4 PM.

We immediately called Hodges St. Sailmaker, and Gil and Laura came right over with their truck to pick up our jib sail to be repaired. It was an off and on rainy day, so even though their loft is just a few blocks away, it was nice that we didn’t have to carry that heavy, awkward bundle in the rain. I was glad that we had called them weeks ago, and as a result they were willing and able to fit us into their schedule so that we’d be fixed and on our way within a few days.

So now we had a few days to spend in Oriental, and we had already been to The Bean and the Marine Consignment Store last spring (when we came to Oriental by car, to get our main sail fixed by Gil and Laura) – now what to do? We walked 1 mile in the rain to the Walmart Pharmacy for medicine refills, and since they didn’t have all of what we needed, this would be the first of 3 consecutive days of trips to the Walmart.  By the time we left to walk back to the boat it was dark, and still drizzling, so we were grateful that a retired cruiser couple offered us a ride back.

The local market that closed – and what the locals think of the Wal-Mart. 

We heard they drive 30 minutes out of town to avoid shopping there.

On Wednesday, 11/4/15, all of the other boats on the two town docks were replaced by new ones, since there is a 48 hour limit. In came Stacey and Jesse on s/v Smitty (from MA, who we first met at Elizabeth City), and Ron and Jackie on s/v Hullaballoo, from MI. Both are young couples. And then came Tyler from ME and Doug from TX, two young single-handers on different sailboats, continuing the theme that this is the year for young people to escape in their boats!

View of the busy inner harbor, from the main street in town.

The town dock, with Summer Wind, is on the left.

We rode our bikes around, saw the pretty coastal houses, and rode past the Marine Consignment Store, where we ran into our friends Tom and June, on s/v Lady Ella, with whom we sort-of crossed over to the Bahamas last spring.  We left for our crossing on the same early morning, but didn’t see each other again until 5 weeks later, in the Abacos! This was the first time on this trip that we saw cruisers that we met last year. 

We stopped by a health club with a pool, which looked so inviting that we made plans to get a day pass for the next day. We’d be able to swim, work out, shower and relax for $10 each. We really looked forward to a "spa" day.

We then rode the bikes to the Walmart for trip #2, in which we picked up a pile of groceries, among them a whole chicken, which we “roasted” in the pressure cooker. (Not golden brown “pretty”, but delicious!)

On Thursday, 11/5/15, we had to move off the dock, but not before discovering that there were pecans under two nearby trees that were not in yards with houses. There was a lot of rain overnight and now it was hot and humid, but we picked up a pile of pecans to bring back to the boat. Then we moved Summer Wind out to the anchorage, and rinsed the pecans (of dirt from the rain) and left them to dry. 

A bowlful of pilfered pecans

Pecan stages – clockwise from left: 

with dark, damp outer shell, with the (typical) inner shells, 

almost whole pecan in the shell, broken pieces of pecan meats.

We went to shore, rode the bikes around, and picked up a few more pecans under trees that were not in someone’s yard. We rode again to the Walmart for trip #3, to finally get our medicine, and on our way back, we met an older retired man with a little dog. He was sitting on the bench near the dinghy dock. He moved to Oriental after retiring about 15 years ago, and he has a boat but his wife doesn’t sail. How sad! He told us that Oriental has a population of 900 people and 4500 boats. Retired people and weekend sailors.

View of the anchorage, with Summer Wind, from the dinghy dock

A very cool rowing dinghy, with rear view mirrors!

We never made it back to the pool, unfortunately, but we went to sleep dreaming about all of the things we could make with 3 lbs of pecans – roasted pecans, pecan pie, pralines, pecan sticky buns, pecans on cereal, sweet potatoes with pecans …. And dreaming of getting in trouble for taking them! Our thumbs and forefingers were black from removing those outer shells. We later found out that this dark stain lasts for days, or even weeks. (“Did you steal pecans from the tree with no house?” “Oh no, not us!” “Let me see your hands…GUILTY!!!”)

“Pecan Hand” speaks for itself!

On Friday morning, 11/6/15, we stopped by Hodges St. Sailmakers to pay for the sail repairs, and Gil and Laura delivered the sail to the dinghy dock. We put it back on the boat, and by noon we were ready to leave, heading across the Neuse River, for Beaufort, NC.

Laura and Gil, with Chuck on the dinghy dock, 

delivering the repaired sail.