{"id":183,"date":"2011-12-29T23:19:36","date_gmt":"2011-12-30T03:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/?p=183"},"modified":"2013-02-27T14:02:16","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T18:02:16","slug":"cornered-in-oriental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/2011\/12\/29\/cornered-in-oriental\/","title":{"rendered":"Cornered in Oriental"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Town<\/a>
Sirocco med-moored to the end of the free town dock in Oriental, NC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It has been almost two weeks since I arrived in Oriental, NC, with the idea that I would rest and refuel and wait out a strong southerly wind that was predicted for the day after I arrived.<\/p>\n

I don’t have a good track record of making it out of Oriental quickly. \u00a0The last time I was here I came for a week and ended up staying more than two months. \u00a0A local diver here named Ralph says that it is because of one of Blackbeard’s curses. \u00a0Whatever the reason, Oriental seems to be one of those placed that just holds onto me when I come.<\/p>\n

I can’t say that it is at all an unpleasant thing to have happen, as I enjoy this little town as much as almost anywhere else that I can think of. \u00a0 \u00a0The people here are friendly to visiting sailors–an overall attitude that I find to be the exception among the places that I know. \u00a0 The town has everything that a sailor could want–good, protected anchorages or marinas; free town dinghy docks that are safe and convenient; marine supply stores (including a marine consignment shop, a West Marine, and the supplies available through the local marinas); a grocery store that is a comfortable walk from the harbor; some good restaurants; \u00a0a local gathering place in The Bean coffee shop where sailors from all over the world can swap stories over a fresh cup of brew… \u00a0The town is very pleasant to walk and one can see many people out enjoying the quiet, friendly atmosphere of Oriental’s quiet back streets. \u00a0There are also a couple of well-kept parks, including one stretching along the town’s waterfront on the Neuse River, which is a wonderful place from which to watch sailboats come and go.<\/p>\n

Oriental bills itself as the “Sailing Capital of North Carolina”. \u00a0I can’t argue with that, as it may very well be true, but I think of it as more of the “Sailboat Storage Capital of North Carolina” for all of the boats that are here that don’t get regularly used. \u00a0It is true everywhere that most boats spend the great percentage of their time tied to a dock or mooring or on the hard, but for all of the hundreds of boats in this area I am regularly surprised at just how few are ever on the water on any of the many lovely afternoons that I have passed in this pleasant city. \u00a0On an absolutely gorgeous day it is common to only see one or two boats sailing out on the wide Neuse River. \u00a0On a weekend I would put that up to 4 or 5. \u00a0I don’t recall ever seeing more than a half-dozen boats out sailing on the river at the same time except for a special event or race. \u00a0Dinghies from the sailing camps are the exception, of course. \u00a0Maybe everyone is just enjoying the welcoming atmosphere ashore, as am I…<\/p>\n

\"Sirocco<\/a>
Sirocco docked in Deaton's boatyard, Oriental, NC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today I took advantage of the unseasonably warm winter weather, with a high of about 55, to put a coat of varnish on the tiller and a coat of white paint on the inboard end of the bowsprit and the mooring bitts. \u00a0Sirocco is thanking me, I am sure. \u00a0The bitts had seen some abuse in the past months, including having been tasked with holding Sirocco fast during hurricane Irene, and the tiller can always use another coat of varnish because of the constant wear that it receives during regular use. \u00a0I didn’t think that I would be painting and varnishing at this time of year at this latitude, but I’ll take it, thank you!<\/p>\n

The plan now is to stay here for the New Year’s celebrations before moving on. \u00a0Northerly winds are forecast for next week, along with much cooler temperatures, so that will spur me on. \u00a0It was a fine day today for moving south, but I wasn’t ready yet to say farewell to friends here in lovely Oriental.<\/p>\n

\"Firing<\/a>
My friend, Christian, salutes the sunset and Sirocco with a black-powder signal cannon that he made from scratch from a bronze propeller shaft<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been almost two weeks since I arrived in Oriental, NC, with the idea that I would rest and refuel and wait out a strong southerly wind that was predicted for the day after I arrived. I don’t have a good track record of making it out of Oriental quickly. \u00a0The last time I… Continue reading Cornered in Oriental<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sirocco","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ztFW-2X","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":354,"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setforsea.com\/barrystravels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}