10.26- Harbor full

Boats anchored in Oriental Harbor after sunset

(click on picture or here for full size)

There were a total of 17 boats at anchor in Oriental harbor tonight as the sun set. Mostly sailboats, but a few trawlers.

Town Dock and many transient slips at the marinas were also full.

Many of these boats are "snow-birds" heading south on their winter cruises. A few are probably boats that have been parked up north during hurricane season for insurance purposes... Hurricane season ends on November 1, and boats will then begin moving en masse back south of South Carolina, where policies often do not cover risks during the season.

Here is another view of the harbor, looking back towards the Oriental Harbor Marina and the Point Pride Seafood docks:

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10.10- Rumors of Mimosa's hibernation are greatly exagerated

A Mimosa tree near the Dinghy Dock is sprouting new leaves while seed pods from its' last cycle still hang from its' branches.

My favorite reading tree, a Mimosa next to the Dinghy Dock on Oriental Harbor, is sprouting new leaves just about one month after it dropped its' last batch on going to seed. (See picture of same tree gone to seed in my posting of September 9)

I was afraid the tree had shut down for the winter... According to Wikipedia:

In the Northern Hemisphere (the mimosa tree ) blossoms and produces fruit from November to June or July...In the Southern Hemisphere it blooms primarily from September to January.

Looks like this tree isn't sure which hemisphere it is in, so it is blooming twice just in case.

I'm glad of it, and look forward to the branches being full of leaves again... bare branches offer little shade, and shade makes for a better reading spot.

See more of my pictures of this same tree as it has gone through its' cycle this year:

-- Mimosa leaves falling off
-- 6.02- Mimosa Flowers
-- 5.29- Mimosa Flower buds
-- 5.22- Mimosa leaves
-- 4.13- Mimosa Tree Budding

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10.8- Breakwater perch #2 - Heron edition

A Blue Heron surveys Oriental Harbor from its' perch at the end of the Oriental Harbor breakwater.

Okay, this is becoming a series: birds perched on the breakwater... see the very similar photo of a Brown Pelican perched in pretty much the same spot in my posting of Oct. 1.

As in the Oct. 1 photo, I took this from about 15 to 20 feet away from the bird while sailing the Bauer dinghy back into the harbor after a brief sail out to Oriental marker #1.
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10.1- Breakwater perch

A Brown Pelican surveys the Neuse River from its' perch at the end of the Oriental Harbor breakwater

I photographed this brown pelican (one of my favorite subjects) from about
fifteen feet away as I was sailing around the breakwater in the Bauer
dinghy.

Usually birds perching on the breakwater fly away as I sail closer, but
this one stayed put, keeping one eye on me and the other on the river.

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9.21- "Kandy Bar"

A cruiser relaxes and reads aboard his vessel, "Kandy Bar," while at anchor in Oriental Harbor.
(Click here for full size)

This handsome boat (for a stink-pot, that is) is a "Ranger R21"... it was built by a company called "Fluid Motion," but is sold by "Ranger Tugs"... The R21 has a sleeping berth, but the newer "R21 EC" ("extended cabin") adds 18 inches to the pilothouse, and includes amenities such as a galley, pressurized water and sink, and built-in head.

"Fluid Motion" and "Ranger Tugs" are owned by the same guy, John Livingston, out of Kent, Washington... Another company, "Martini Marine" also claims to be the manufacturer, though they do so on the Ranger Tugs internet domain. I can't really find out why there are three different company names associated with the boat.

To add to the confusion, these boats were also manufactured and sold as "C-Rangers" in some sort of marketing agreement with the folks who make the very similar "C-Dory," but that was apparently a short-lived arrangement.

There were also two "C-Dory"s (I don't know what the plural is... "C-Dories"?) tied up in Raccoon Creek today... probably some sort of meet-up, or maybe they were cruising in convoy.

According to the "C-Brats Online Forum," there will be a NC gathering of these types of boats here in Oriental, at Whittaker Pointy Marina, next weekend...

I will try to drop by and get some pics of a bunch of these Ranger and C-Dory boats gathered together, and maybe learn a bit more about them to share with everyone (like what's the deal with the three different "Ranger" companies?)

According to Ranger Tugs, the Ranger 21 is based on Bristol Bay fishing trollers...

Bristol Bay is home to an apparently very competitive Salmon gill-netting fishery, and is the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world.

By regulation, the Salmon trollers are limited to 32 feet in length, and do have a distinctive style... According to Wikipedia, the 32 foot limit is prompted in part by the extreme 30 foot tides, dangerous and uncharted shoals and other navigational limitations, but I wonder if it has more to do with fishery management... will have to research)... See some examples of the Bristol Bay trollers (with 20 inch drafts!) from one manufacturer, Rozema Boat Works.

Also, as I did in my discussion of much-closer menhaden fishing industry (no sockeye around these parts), I recommend the following video of the Bristol Bay commercial fishermen's extremely dangerous and hard work... at the end of the video, related videos of Bristol Bay trollers at work will appear:



All in all, I'd say that life on a 21 foot Ranger is much more relaxing than on a 32 foot Bristol Bay troller! I'm sure the captain in today's picture would agree.

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9.19- Rigging the trawl nets (Skywatch Friday is PRIOR POST BELOW)

Workers stow and rig trawl nets on shrimp boat docked at Point Pride Seafood
(click here or on picture for full size)

I am frequently dumbfounded by the apparent complexity of rigging on the commercial trawlers that inhabit the two Raccoon Creek fish-houses.

The outriggers reaching to the sky, the assorted superstructures, attachments and the miles of cables and rigging remind me of the multiple masts, spars and rigging I've seen on various models of old square-rigged ships (and as described in Patrick O'Brian's Aubry-Maturin books.)

The guy up top was stacking the various nets on which he is standing, and passing lines to the guy down on the deck.

I took this picture from the Bauer dinghy while sailing up Raccoon Creek.

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9.12- Casting net from Town Dock (SkywatchFriday is next OLDER POST, below)

Casting a net for bait fish at Town Dock in Raccoon Creek, Oriental, NC.

This gentleman and his wife arrived at Town Dock in their inflatable dinghy this afternoon... while the wife went to The Bean for some coffee drinks, the husband took out his cast net and began casting for bait.

The couple live aboard their boat at Pecan Grove Marina, right across Smith Creek from Oriental (straight ahead as the camera points.) "Yeah, this dinghy is our car, and the boat is our house," the wife explained to me.

Both I and the wife pointed out to the husband that there were thousands of Menhaden swimming around in a tight ball near the Hodges Street bulkhead, 30 feet from Town Dock, but the husband wanted Pinfish, and was not interested in Menhaden... "They fall apart too easy," he said.

For those of you who have never used a cast net, this guy makes it look easy, but it just ain't so at first... I have been trying to learn, but I can't get it to spread out properly except maybe every fourth or fifth throw. See Capt. Robby trying to teach me at the end of the slide show on my Labor Day posting.

It seems just about every person has his or her own particular method of casting a net... just search "how to cast net" on YouTube, and you will come up with a dozen or more "how to" videos (see one example below), each involving different steps and techniques, and each one of which claims to be the easiest and most effective. The same is true of every fisher I have talked to in person... Typical instructions go along the lines of:

"You just (coil the line in your throwing hand / coil in your non-throwing hand / let the line lay on the ground), then grab the net about (1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 3 feet, 4 feet down, waist-high, just above the waist, just below the waist), then grab the (front, rear, left, right) of the hanging lead-line (with your right pinky / left forefinger and thumb / in your teeth) then you grab (1/2, 1/3, 3/4, 5/8) of the remaining net in your (left / right/ throwing / non-throwing) hand, then (put this part on your left shoulder / put that part over your right leg / flip this part over your left wrist), do the hokey-pokey, blink three times, wiggle your right earlobe, and throw!"

Follow these easy instructions (!!!!) and you too can throw a perfect cast net:

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9.12- Skywatch Friday - Look, up in the sky... It's Captain Ben!

Yours truly, up in the sky!

The picture above is less about watching spectacular skies than about the spectacular feeling of going into the sky...

Earlier this week I took a ride into the sky... well, 55 feet (17 meters) into the sky, anyway. Why I was there is explained below, in my posting of "9.08- Climbing the Mast" (scroll down to prior posting, or click here for the "post" page of that entry) so I won't repeat myself here.

I've been much higher in the sky before, of course, but never in a cloth chair hanging by a rope from a pole gently rocking back and forth with the boat below.

The sensation of being in the sky in that boatswain's chair was much stronger than I have had flying in an airplane, though not nearly so strong as I had jumping out of a flying airplane.

I have also never been this high up in Oriental... even the bridge from which I took last week's Skywatch photo is a few feet short of where you see me in this picture.

I think the dangling feet adds a lot to the experience... having solid matter (like a bridge) beneath one's feet takes away from the sensation.

Okay, enough about that... how about a picture of the sky itself? Here is what the sky looked like yesterday from the Oriental Yacht Club... I took this while standing on the narrow finger-pier that extends from the covered deck on Raccoon Creek:

See more views of the heavens from around the globe at:

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9.11- Fulcher Seafood docks from OYC

(click on picture for full size image)

Three commercial trawlers docked at Fulcher Seafood Co. docks in Raccoon Creek, as seen from the deck of the Oriental Yacht Club.

"Betty H.," "Capt. Ryan" and "Capt. Jeff" were docked at Fulcher Seafood Co. this afternoon when I dropped by the "Oriental Yacht Club."

I'll have more to say about the OYC in the future... I need to get some more info so I don't end up telling some lies about it. It is in some pretty old buildings, though, and it has this funky covered deck sticking out into Raccoon Creek right next to the Fulcher Seafood fish-house and docks, also on Raccoon Creek.

This is my fist B&W entry in either of my two blogs. I learned photography as a lad and young man with analog cameras... by the time I was in Junior High School I was doing almost exclusively B&W photos and my own processing and printing, much of it for the yearbooks and newspapers.

I kind of gave up photography at some point in college, no longer having access to good darkroom facilities and having failed to maintain / replace my aging and abused cameras and equipment. As I re-entered the hobby in the digital age, I adopted to color photography, which was quite expensive back in the analog days.

Now I have been seeing a lot of great B&W work on "City Daily Photo" blogs, and decided to give digital B&W a try for a while... not exclusively, mind you, but now that I have figured out how to switch the cameras to B&W mode, I expect to being doing a bit more... Now I just have to figure out how to switch my brain and eyes to B&W mode; I hope it's something like riding a bicycle.

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9.09- Mimosa leaves falling off

Brown seed pods and drying, falling leaves of the mimosa tree next to the dinghy dock on Oriental Harbor.

Yesterday I was browsing through my favorite "City Daily Photo" blogs, and I came across an August 29 posting from Brian's "Terrell Texas Daily Photo" blog showing bright green leaves of a mimosa tree... Brian noted that he "can't wait for the pink blooms to come out on my mimosa tree - it usually gets them in the fall."

My favorite reading shade tree, the mimosa next to the dinghy dock, has shed most of its leaves since tropical storm Hanna came through a few days ago.

I think some leaves were already turning brown, and the tree's thousands of seed pods went brown some time ago, but I was surprised to see it losing its leaves completely at this time of year.

Seems like last year this mimosa, like Brian's Terrell TX mimosa, was in blooming mode, though I can't remember if it was still flowers from the summer, or if maybe it flowered in spring and again in early fall.

Anyway, I offer today's picture as a contrast to Brian's Terrell TX mimosa, and as another in a series of pictures of my favorite mimosa on the waterfront. My other pictures, located on my "Dinghy Dock" blog, can be seen at the following links:

-- 6.02- Mimosa Flowers
-- 5.29- Mimosa Flower buds
-- 5.22- Mimosa leaves
-- 4.13- Mimosa Tree Budding

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9.07- Slow Sunday at the Deli... PLUS: New Mink Pictures from South Ave. waterfront!

Umbrellas guard empty tables on the deck of the Oriental Harbor Deli & Bistro, as a thunderstorm darkens the western sky... Also some new pictures of the "Lou-Mac Mink."

As the "alien season" in Oriental fades in the wake of Labor Day and worries about Hanna-Ike-Josephine storms, there are few visitors in town this weekend.

During the summer season, aliens (and a few locals) enjoy lunch and dinner on the deck at the Oriental Harbor Deli & Bistro, with a grand view of Smith's Creek and the Oriental Harbor Marina.

Though clearly open for business today, I did not see a single customer this afternoon. The whole town is extremely quiet and empty for an early September weekend, but no doubt Hanna prompted weekend travelers to stay home for this one.

The Oriental Harbor Deli & Bistro resides in the early 20th century passenger depot building of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad Co.

In addition to the Deli, the old depot is also now home to the Oriental Harbor Marina's heads and laundry room, and "The General Store," which offers Oriental souvenirs, a surprising collection of wines and $2.00 cans of coke (the wine is much more reasonable than the cokes).

The N&S RR ran regular passenger service from New Bern to Oriental into the 1940's. The N&S RR 's first lines to Oriental were built in the very early 20th century, and provided important transportation for local timber and produce (mostly cabbages), as well as passengers.

Before the N&S RR built its line into Oriental, the Old Dominion Steamship Company had been providing freight and passenger services from Oriental to New Bern, Elizabeth City, Portsmouth, VA (and available transfer service to as far away as New York City) from its pier on the Neuse River at the end of King Street.

The N&S RR line traveled along Midyette Street to service three lumber mills, including the giant John L. Roper Lumber Co. mills located along Camp Creek, before crossing Broad Street to the passenger depot on the harbor front at Water Street. While N&S RR acquired an easement to build a planned spur across the village to the former ODSS warehouses and Neuse River pier on King St., it was never built.

The depot building now stands about about 100 yards away from its original location.

Below is an old N&S RR Map I have enhanced to show the main properties, rail lines and proposed rail line discussed above...

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9.05- SkywatchFriday - Here Comes Hanna!

About 20-25 mph winds buffet the flag on top of the Hwy. 55 bridge as an outer rain band of Tropical Storm Hanna crosses over the Neuse River and Oriental at about 2:30 p.m., Friday September 5.

An hour and a half later (about 4:00 pm) , as I am writing this post, the sun is out and large puffy cumulus clouds are zipping over us, headed westerly.

All around town boats have been pulled, lines have been doubled, lawn chairs put away or set upside down, a few windows have been boarded, and the picnic benches at Lou-Mac Park have been lashed to the old live oak tree.

Now we wait. I don't know if I'll be able to get any pictures of the scary stuff, since it will be coming in after dark. I'll add more photos to the slide show, above, if I do get any more.

See more views of the heavens from around the globe at:

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9.04- Preparing for "Hannah"... and "Ike"... and "Josephine

Capt. Dave removes the canvas from the "Hirondelle" in preparation for approaching tropical storm Hannah.

A beautiful, calm clear day here in Oriental... perhaps the proverbial and literal "calm before the storm." Many local sailors and stink-potters are making preparations for some potentially nasty weather.

As Hannah approaches the East Coast, many local sailors are, like Capt. Dave, removing the canvas from their boats and adding extra lines in preparation for high winds.

The Wildlife Boat Ramp is also busy as owners of trailer-able sailboats and power boats haul them out to stay on dry land for a while as a string of hurricanes and tropical storms wander in our direction. Local boat yards are also putting many boats on the hard today. No doubt all will be doing the same all day tomorrow.

Capt. Dave will be watching NOAA, WeatherUnderground and other sources of hurricane/tropical storm info as the three storms approach, and is beginning to think about finding a good "hurricane hole" in which to anchor Hirondelle if things look particularly nasty for either of the next two.

According to NOAA, we can expect a good steady 40 knot easterly winds with 50 + knot gusts by 8:00 pm tomorrow night, with hours more of the same to follow.

That wind will no doubt bring rising wind-tides, which Local Knowledge says will exceed 4 feet, enough to cover Hodges St. at Town Dock, in front of The Bean, but not much more.

All day Saturday the continuing 40 + knot winds will swing across to southerly and end westerly, dieing off precipitously the more westerly they become. By 5:00 pm Saturday, winds will have fallen to below 20 knots westerly. According to NOAA...We shall see.

My brother, "Cabin Boy" Fred has successfully made it back to New Orleans from his brief (3 day) and agonizing exodus to Memphis (where he sat in on a gig playing his newly-acquired Mexican made fender copy guitar} after the Gustav scare.

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