Chesapeake Chase Day 47: Oriental, and Jelly Fish
July 28, 2022:
Today’s destination was the Oriental Marina and Inn in Oriental, North Carolina. Before we left Belhaven, I wanted to do at least two loads of laundry, especially since it was free. We had planned to take showers, but we first had to deal with water in the bilge and some in the bow thruster well because of crossing Albemarle Sound yesterday. This meant removing the mattress again and Fred getting his boat yoga in for the day. Sad to say, but we now have this process fine-tuned. That does not mean it was easier, we’re just quicker now. We never did have enough time to shower.
An Aside: Fred spoke this morning with a man who was doing the Great Loop on a jet ski. The Great Loop is 6000 miles. Many boaters on much bigger vessels have traveled the Great Loop. Look it up on Google. It’s a long trip! [and he started from Omaha, NE]
We were underway before 12:30 PM. It was another hot day, and the wind once again made for a bouncy ride. This time the rough water was on Pamlico Sound. We could have used the generator to have AC, then at least we could have coped with the heat, but the generator doesn’t like rough water.
Seven hours after we left Belhaven, we arrived in Oriental. The slip we were going into was narrow. The wind was blowing us in the wrong direction, and the bow thruster quit before we could dock. We tried going in stern first, but after several attempts, we finally had to go in bow first. Due to the configuration of the slip, this made getting the electrical cords which plugged into outlets in the stern more difficult to reach the electrical box on the dock. We had two men from the marina assisting us with the whole process, but this was our most challenging experience docking on this trip so far.
Once we were secure and AC running, we went to the office to check in. We checked out the showers – perfectly fine. They also provided clean towels, soap, and shampoo. It was getting late, we were heat weary, wave weary, and hungry, so, again, we decided to eat at the onsite restaurant after showers. We headed back to the boat to gather our things.
My phone was ringing as I got back on the boat. I knew the person calling, so I answered. You know how we sometimes pace or walk around when talking on the phone? I was doing that, and shortly began to smell a horrible odor. At first, I thought it might be the head from bouncing around. Then I started to notice brown places on the floor. I had stepped in dog poop and was tracking all over the boat. This for me was the final straw, and there wasn’t any place open to get ice cream!! They had closed at 6:00 PM – in the summer!!
Fred was very understanding and patient with me while I had my “little” rant, and then we cleaned up the mess, took showers, and again we got to the restaurant not long before the kitchen closed. By the time we were back on the boat and were no longer sweaty, dirty, and hungry, life was once again good and in balance. Afterall, this is our summer adventure, and we are so privileged to experience it.
Captain’s Comments:
Oriental was another destination on our desired stop list that we skipped on the way north, but now wanted to take advantage of (for the AC, and hopefully, some ice cream).
We reserved a slip at Oriental Marina and Inn. It’s probably more Inn than Marina; it also includes a Tiki bar, pool and restaurant. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had read the reviews more carefully. (“It can be very rough when winds are high… and it’s my understanding that the winds are always blowing hard here!”)
And the winds were blowing hard—right down the narrow fairway where our slip was that we had planned to back in to. There wasn’t enough room to turn around due to the shrimp boats docked behind us and our thruster couldn’t hold the bow against the wind. Worse, the piling at the entrance to our slip was inside of two adjacent boats that stuck out further, so I couldn’t use it to pivot. In the end, I used the piling on the town dinghy dock to pivot us around and went in to our slip bow first. Unfortunately, the dinghy dock piling had old bolts sticking out that gouged our rub rail…
Also, going in bow first meant we had to stretch our shore power cable all the way from the stern over the anchor roller to the dock, where we had exactly the right length once we added the 30 to 50 amp Y adapter.
Adding insult to injury, after we went to the office to check in, Sue unknowingly stepped in dog poop and tracked it on board…
While not as dead as Belhaven, Oriental was “quiet,” except for the generator that ran all night on the shrimp boat docked behind us. We ate at the on-site restaurant. No ice cream, but decent showers. And AC.
In the morning, I paid the price for the AC. Because of the commercial fishing boats lining the opposite side of the fairway, there was a fair amount of waste in the water that apparently attracted jelly fish. By morning, our AC strainers were packed with jelly fish. Unexpectedly, they cling hard to the strainer basket and don’t just wash off. I became much more familiar with jelly fish anatomy than I had ever intended. One of the strainer baskets was so fouled that it pulled apart as I removed it from the strainer; fortunately, I had a spare.
Sorry to say, but Oriental is not on my list for a return visit.