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Oriental

Currently, North Carolina is the only state on the U.S. Atlantic coast that allows shrimp trawling to take place in its estuarine waters. - NCSU.edu
"The Sailing Capital of North Carolina" is written across the flags flying along every street here in the town of Oriental. Friendly people, well stocked and accessible marine store, public dinghy dock, all of the things that cruisers love.

The temperature has been great, it finally cooled off to a comfortable 85 degrees, and I'm not going to complain about the heat anymore, I'm embracing it! It's 115 in Baghdad today, so I know how good we've got it! Today we went ashore and explored the town because we've always heard so many positive things from other cruisers about Oriental. We were offered bikes to use to ride to the grocery and hardware store, which we gladly accepted, but then I ended up pushing one of them back after the tire blew out. No fat boy jokes!!
We were a little surprised by the size of the harbor, it's really small. Room for 6-8 boats to anchor if their packed in like sardines. Even more surprising, guys are trawling shrimp nets behind skiffs day and night through the anchorage. Seriously, anytime day or night there are 5-6 boats dragging nets along the bottom for shrimp right through the anchorage and zig-zagging between the boats and over our anchor lines. I was a little stressed at first when I watched these guys drag their nets right over our anchor yesterday evening, but apparently they don't snag the anchor because I watched the trawls run over it at least 10 times before I started to relax. Still it's a little disconcerting when your home and everything you own in the world is being held off a rock jetty by a 40# anchor, and someone else is dragging a net back and forth over it while you sleep at night.
Somebody please help me out and tell me what a Deadhead is. The Coast Guard has been making regular announcements on the vhf radio lately that "There is a report of a Deadhead in the Pungo-Alligator river canal". We'll be passing through the area soon, and I didn't want to call the Coast Guard back and ask them why I should be concerned about hippies in the water who used to follow a band that broke up years ago. Is this some term for a tree or submerged object that I've never heard before?

Comments

  1. Captain ClydeJune 22, 2009 at 6:55 PM

    Dead Head: It is an object in the water. Usually a tree I believe. But I ain't quite certain bubba. I think you'll be OK. Just don't try shrimping as you go by it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 23, 2009 at 6:30 AM

    a log floating on end, sometimes fully submerged

    "Ripple in still water,
    When there is no pebble tossed,
    Nor wind to blow." Jerry G

    ReplyDelete
  3. RunnermanJune 23, 2009 at 8:50 AM

    Probably looked like peewee Herman on the bike, when the tire blew you said"I meant to do that"!! You ought to scarf up some of those shrimp and put them in your freezer, hillbillies love shrimp.Will trade for venison!!

    ReplyDelete

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