We departed Dowry Creek at sunrise before any wind could come up. We only had just over one boat length of maneuvering room behind us so we didn't want any wind making the departure any more challenging.
There was very little wind and we were able to spin the boat within its length and make our way out of the marina.
On to Oriental.
Saw this guy just north of Hobuken. Sitting pretty low in the water, waves were breaking over the bow. That's about all the gravel he can carry.
Passing by Mayo Seafood in Hobucken. We often stay overnight here when it is cold and we need to plug into shore power for heat. Today we are proceeding on to Oriental.
Surprisingly, some idiot in a 60ft sport fisher boat passed us between us and the docks. People ashore were yelling at him to slow down as his wake was slamming them against the docks. Crazy, thoughtless power boaters out there.
We were able to sail for a couple hours down the Bay River south of Hobucken. Nice to turn the noisy engine off.
Soon however, we had to make the turn up the Neuse River straight into the wind. Fortunately it was only about 15kts, which slows us down but we weren't bashing. It was a 2 hr transit up the Neuse.
There are 5 spots you can tie up at the Oriental free docks for 48hrs, but they are first come/first serve, so there's no guarantee of a spot. There is a webcam that we checked and we could only see 1 boat tied up so we figured we would be okay.
When we arrived it turned out there were 2 boats there leaving 3 open spots so we took the pole position (we're parked on the left in the photo) parked right in front of the Oriental coffee shop, "The Bean".
Within the next 30 minutes, 2 more boats arrived taking the last 2 spots. We got here just in time.
First stop in Oriental was the New Village Brewery, located in an old house on the main drive.
Had good hazy IPA for Mark and chocolate stout for Sue.
Early Friday morning and just completed walking the dog and now sitting on the porch of "The Bean" having a morning coffee.
We'll do a couple walks today taking advantage of the great weather. A bit chilly in the mornings but about 70 during the day.
We were surprised when Jim and Laurie from Kismet showed up to visit us in Oriental. We made a beeline for the New Village Brewery and spent a couple hours chatting over some beers.
Walking the dog again, Sat morning. We'll be off for the last leg this trip to New Bern in a couple hours.
