10.5- Air supply

Compressed air hose at Village Hardware

Village Hardware, on Broad Street (Hwy. 55) is a great place for such things as nuts, bolts, mosquito control, mulch and boat parts.

Not everyone may know that it is also the place to go to fill your tires with air. Even when the store is closed.

An air hose protrudes from the south side of the building, ready for all your low-tire issues, free of cost. I suggest you bring your own pressure gauge, however, since the built-in one seems to be off by about 10 psi (they always are).

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9.24- "Slow No Wake"

A driver ignores the "No Wake Zone" sign posted at the Hodges Street causeway, which was inundated by rising "wind tide" waters as a continuing Nor'easter pushes Pamlico Sound waters all the way up into Raccoon Creek.
(click on picture or here for full size)

... But of course this is not an official town of Oriental sign...

These three notorious pranksters (identities obscured) were photographed in the vicinity of the sign soon after it appeared... one of them carrying a roll of duct tape...
(click on picture or here for full size)

















Sandy (on right) rescued the Farmer's Market signage from the rising waters covering the Farmer's Market area,
Melinda (left) and Sandy then stored the signs in the "Witts End" building, where they will be marginally safer from floating away...
(click on photo for full size)

Town Dock, also on the Hodges' St. causeway, was crowded not with boats, but with "street-gulls" who were enjoying undisturbed (mostly) access to the dock and to the 18 inches of water covering the roadway... Jack (the canine), who normally claims control of the centerline of Hodges St. by lying down on it, decided to let the gulls know just whose house they were in:

The seagulls adjusted to the unfamiliar sight of water-covered Hodges St. by gravitating towards the more familiar...

The mural on the side of the Garland Fulcher Seafood Market building... perhaps they were hoping some by-catch would be tossed from the "Brooke-Morgan"...

OK, here is the artsy shot of the day... You know it's artsy because it's monochrome... for full artsy effect, click on picture or here for full size:


Thanks to the Nor'easter, Capt. Ben didn't even need the dinghy to get out on the water today... the Dinghy Dock itself did the job nicely!

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9.22- Captain's Quarters porch #2

Visitors gab with locals gathered on the porch of the Captain's Quarters Bed & Breakfast.

One of Oriental's informal gathering places, the porch of the Captain's Quarters B&B, today saw the B&B guests outnumbered by locals dropping by for conversation and libations.

Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd, particularly on this porch right on the main road through town, Broad Street (Hwy. 55).

From left to right; Patty, Sandy, Robby (all locals), Tom & Linda (visiting from Greenville, SC, home of the "Greenville Daily Photo" blog I visit regularly) and Tory (on last day of extended summer visit from Iowa). Other locals came by, visited and went on their ways during the afternoon, and the porch party was joined by other B&B guests and still going strong at 8:00 pm when I dropped by again.

Yes, I have featured the Captain's Quarters porch before in my posting of August 28 (featuring B&B owner Capt. Roy)... What can I say, it is a popular spot, pure Oriental, and I didn't feel like hunting for a picture today.

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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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9.17- Dive Master Ralph

Dive Master Ralph Evey cruises Raccoon Creek in his Carolina Skiff

While I was helping Capt. Dave tie up Hirondelle at the Oriental Yacht Club, Dive Master Ralph cruised alongside in his Carolina Skiff (full of diving equipment) to say hello and chat... from the looks of the cup-holder in his chair, he was coming from The Bean coffee shop next to Town Dock.

Ralph runs the "Oriental Dive Company," a commercial diving enterprise here in Oriental. ODC can clean your bottom (your boat's bottom, that is) while it is still in the water, retrieve your heirloom necklace or new stainless steel bow pulpit that fell in the drink, and perform any kind of diving service you may need.

He is also just about the friendliest guy in town, and in Oriental that is pretty darned friendly.

Ralph can often be seen cruising area marinas, harbors and creeks in a boat bearing diving flags, or driving around town in the "Big Unit," a former radio station promo-mobile (and probably an ambulance before that) which he has converted to carry his diving equipment. I will have to get a picture of that thing in a future post, for sure... it is a riot.

Here, by the way, is a picture of the Hirondelle at her new berth, right on Raccoon Creek at the prestigious Oriental Yacht Club:

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