Left the quiet anchorage of Long Creek, headed back to waterway. Winds calm,skies clear.
Entered the Neuse river and sailed for awhile. Drying our mainsail which had collected water from the rainy night in a fold under the sailcover. The winds were very light but we were able to make headway and it was nice to turn off the motor. Winds soon dropped to nothing and we started motoring again. It was a very short trip to Oriental and we watched the activity of shrimp boats and small sailboats going out as light winds picked up again. We anchored outside the harbor off the shrimp docks and east of the channel. It is not a very protected anchorage but was supposed to have good holding, lots of room and deep water. Light winds predicted through the night,
After lunch we made our way ashore. Our little electric motor pushed us right along. At the dinghy dock we met our neighbor Troy who owned the catamaran anchored next to us. He is a farmer from Indiana who owns a large farm and cruises in the winter. He is solo on a large cat Utopia that is brand new. he advises us to stage from Marathon , Fl., and leave from Rodriguez key. Said Miami was too far north and better to cross gulf stream from south. he recommended checking in at Bimini. Thought it was easy to get in and out there.He invited us to stop by his boat on our way back.
Garbage and recycling near dock. We walked to west marine which was closed as were many other businesses on Sunday. The waterway provisioning company was open and we bought a bottle of wine and a rail mount flagpole. The had great sail sew department. The woman who checked us pair had parakeet on her shoulder. The bird was being naughty pecking her neck,climbing in her shirt as she checked us out. To her it was business as usual including the droppings that fell to the floor behind her. She would lean down to get a bag and the bird would just hold on. We were quite distracted.
The Bean was open and we had ice cream treats on their sunny warm porch and watched boats in the harbor. On the way back to our boat, we stopped for a tour of the catamaran. Troy recommended a book called The Wanderer. We learned about the Engel chest freezer. Catamaran with impressive space, a pop up griddle , and lots of tools for easy handling.
Back to boat for pasta pesto from north street market freeze dried selections. Augmented with lemon and capers. Quite good.
Crimson sky after sunset. Worked on kindle and audible . Checked predict wind for outside passage and does not look good now for 24th. Very difficult to know weather and coordinate gathering for a passage. Chauncey, David won again and rolled a three Chauncey.
