Discovering Oriental 6-28/7-3

Big boat! There were quite a few barges running the ICW with us, so we took care to give them the channel when we could. A little courtesy goes a long way, I can remember from my days playing "tugboat" in the gulf of Alaska. Sail around imagining that your bow sticks out another 200 feet and you can only marginaly turn, and you can have a peek into the head of a barge pilot....

Blayde, taking point on the way in to "mysterious creek" ... a little creek off the main channel that we anchored off to explore....Little did we know what lay in wait for us.....

.....A dead end, not 100 feet off the channel. It wasn't a creek at all, but a little inlet made perhaps for livestock to drink from.

On the way back out to the channel from "mysterious creek". Not too long after, we arrived in Oriental, with its reported "plenty of room to anchor" ....

A sad sight, a little 22' Catalina? that sank in a squall just hours before we got there. We heard it on the radio - she got knocked down, and I guess that no one released the sheets, as she filled by the fore-hatch and sank on the spot. We offered assistance with our inflatable things and air compressor, but the I think the Tow boat US operator was irritated by the prospect of our lowering his salvage bill, and honked us away, sirens blaring, like some kind of wanna be coastie on crystal meth.

The harbor at Oriental, as it turned out, was a bit small for our little ship, and as we have learned since, "plenty of room" usually means for a thirty footer. Most folks just cant get their head around the fact that in 15 feet of water, we need 15*5 = 75 (anchor line) + 65 (length) + 5 x 8 = 40(roller above the water) that's 180 foot radius... or a little more than a football field of swinging room (360ft) , all told. Twice we had to move out of the harbor around 2 AM in a thundershower, with poorly anchored boats blowing up against us, so the next night we spent out and slept well, despite the little swell.

Insufficient harbors and bad anchoring manners aside, we found the town very accommodating. Raoul and Dave both found temporary employment, and the facilities provided by the town were excellent. We were even invited to join in some community activities for the boys, and felt very warmly welcomed by this picturesque little fishing village.

Drake, running trash to shore solo. A proud day for this boy and his parents. They grow up so fast, don't blink or you might miss it!

Sunset under the bridge. Despite the late night thunderstorm drama, the harbor was quite pleasant, and comes highly recommended for boats up to 35 feet or so. The western part of the harbor is quite shoal, so if you draw more than 4 feet you should stay close to the seawall side if possible.

Frog footed vines... Not what they are called of course, but they were neat anyway...

The community theatre, where the boys were graciously invited to participate in a youth theatre workshop. They were very thankful for the opportunity, and had a great time... thank you, Oriental!!

Jellyfish.... They kept getting caught in the sea strainer and plugging the cooling water. Yech!! A slimy job to clean up, both times.

The Barnacle bike, covered completely with barnacles.... Ironically, the seat was covered by a bag to keep it dry!