The Path Of The Cruiser

Oriental Feels Just Right For Now

Besides the Perfect Weather

Once out of the creek, the water opened out again into the Bay River, and we looked ahead to a line of about six boats. As we get further south, the cruising has become less lonely. Today we even passed another boat, a sailboat named "Columbine." The captain called us on the radio to compliment Slowly and chit-chat about stuff. The combination of radio distortion and a southern accent made it hard to keep up our end of the chatter, but we did okay.

The wide Bay River dumped us into the wider Neuse River. Here, we started to see more and more sailboats as we got closer to Oriental, the alleged sailing capitol of North Carolina. It was also a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Oriental was our final destination for the day. We had hoped to land a spot on the free town dock, but the weekend traffic made scoring one of three spots impossible. Instead, we headed up Smith Creek a short distance to drop our anchor. After kicking up a little mud, we brought out the lead line (see fun fact) and were happy to find we had seven feet of water. We nestled ourselves away from some docks, and between some fishing buoys and an abandoned looking sailboat that appeared to have made an anchor of some fish traps. Our anchoring skills are improving as we learn this gentle art of staying away from stuff.

Arriving early in the afternoon, we found time for some boat projects, finally installing the new windshield on the fly bridge. It is basically three sheets of clear lexan that keep the wind out of our faces when we drive from up there. We also put the plants out on the bow to enjoy the sun! We enjoy their company inside too, but they take up some leg room under the table. After our projects and showers, we collected some laundry and dropped it into Surely. It was a short row down Smith Creek to the Oriental Boat Launch. Though small, Smith Creek's undulating shoreline gives it a wild and explorable feeling that we enjoyed.

Much of Oriental feels like a residential neighborhood where some people decided to convert their homes into businesses. If there were no signs on front lawns we would have walked by unknowing. It has a peaceful relaxed nature to it that clearly keeps people coming back. We found our way to some small laundry facilities at a marina. The single machine was fairly slow, and we didn't have any fabric softener [Oh noooo!!! -Ed.]; but there was a deli attached with porch and tables, so we contented ourselves with some snacks and drinks as the sun set. Sitting there, we met another cruising couple, Andrea and Chuck. Meeting other cruisers has been one of the best parts of our trip. As soon as we establish ourselves as fellow cruisers, there are endless amounts of shared experiences to talk about. A diverse group of outsiders and explorers, the cruising fellowship is one we are really enjoying.

We have even more in common with Andrea and Chuck because they are also cruising in a trawler too, and they have a website! It turned out they also wanted a hand with a computer onboard, so we made a plan to meet up the following morning aboard Celebrate for coffee and computer support.

With our laundry done, we headed further inland in search of spoils. We found two bustling restaurants in Oriental. Both looked very attractive to us, but we tried M&M's for their lower prices. M&M's Cafe is a bar and restaurant in a house. Walking in the front door, expecting a living room, there is a bar with a TV. Tables are set up in a room to the left and further out on a side porch. Behind the bar there is a substantial collection of M&M Candy merchandise. In particular, we saw many dispensers and plush M&M toys (plain and peanut).

As always, we felt full and content from our meal. Walking back to the dinghy, we remembered how we forgot our flashlight. Setting out into the creek, we aimed at where we remembered Slowly to be. Before long, she appeared in the darkness, and soon we were back aboard folding laundry. Too tired even to watch the last reel of Two Towers, we passed out yet again.