10.14- "Endurance" - PART ONE

Captain Keith Bruno is pleased with this Atlantic Tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis) he pulled from one of his gill-nets along the Neuse River near Pierce Creek

Bruno, a commercial fisherman, does his own catching and his own retail selling of many fruits of the local waters... But after removing the rare Tripletail catch from his net, he proclaimed "you can't buy this one from me!"

Today and tomorrow, I will introduce you to Captain Bruno.

I hope you enjoy meeting him as I did...

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying Endurance Seafood owner Capt. Keith Bruno as he pulled his gill-nets set the previous night along the banks of the Neuse River and Smith's Creek. Bruno's prize catch of the day was the handsome Tripletail featured in today's photo.

Like not a few of Oriental's residents, Bruno has long experience working on water, and more than a few tales to tell about it...

From blood-curdling terror in the "Perfect Storm" of the North Atlantic to karmic respite along the sun-drenched beaches and ports of the Mediterranean... from a penniless vagabond sleeping under the docks of Bermuda to successful lobster baron... from cut-throat competition and anti-viral devastation of the New York lobster fishery to a happy family home in the welcoming world and diverse fisheries of Down East North Carolina...

Endurance:

• en-dur-ance... n 1: PERMANENCE, DURATION 2: the ability to withstand hardship or adversity...
  

• en-dure... vb 1: to undergo (as a hardship) especially without giving in...

Bred for Water:

Bruno, now 40, began his lifetime of working the waters as a 5 year-old, apprenticing with his father fishing lobsters out of Smithtown, N.Y., on Long Island Sound.

After high school, Capt. Bruno attended the Landing School of Boat Building & Design, where he built his project boat, the "Arab III," a mahogany 26' runabout... (You can see a very similar boat, the Miss Severn, by clicking here.)

From 1989 to 1991, Bruno worked on lobster boats, first working the inshore fishery, then moving up to the tougher world and better money of offshore lobstering.

The Perfect Storm:

In 1991, as a weakening hurricane Grace was working her way into the North Atlantic, the offshore lobster boat which was Bruno's workplace and home for 7 of every 10 days, began heading back to port.

Before making it back, however, the boat was overtaken by the infamous "Perfect Storm" of 1991 (the one that killed the captain and 5 crew of the Andrea Gail, as fictionalized in the George Clooney movie)...

As the lobster boat struggled through the heavy storm-torn seas, Bruno was on deck when the boat broached to in the trough of mountainous waves. Lying parallel to the waves in the trough, the boat was helpless as the towering following wave crashed on top of her. Bruno was crushed against the bulwark by the deck-load of lobster traps and tons of water enveloping the boat as the wave tore abrest.

Being so pinned down by the weight and pressure of the traps and water may well have saved Bruno from being immediately washed over the open transom or out of a scupper to certain death in the stormy seas, but Bruno's legs were injured and his body heat had been sucked out by the mass of chilly water that flooded his protective oilskin foul-weather gear.

As Bruno struggled to re-orient himself on the open deck of the still-broached vessel, a crewmate grabbed him by the collar, hauled him into the cabin, unceremoniously dumped him on the floor where he lay alone as the crewmate returned to the danger on deck.

Sometime later, perhaps an hour or so, Bruno regained his senses enough to begin removing the soaked clothing from his chilled and battered body in an attempt to begin raising his body temperature.

While Bruno struggled to remove his upper garments, the boat's Captain entered the cabin, saw Bruno moving and growled that it looked like he was ready to go back to work. When Bruno understandably indicated that indeed he was not so ready, the Captain expressed his great displeasure at the news, and added some comments to the effect that Bruno seemed to lack certain traits of male anatomy.

Again later, as Bruno continued to struggle removing his dangerously cold and wet clothing, and as he realized his legs had been so injured as to prevent him from walking, much less assisting the crew on the heaving deck in the storm, the Captain returned to ask Bruno if he was finished with his beauty rest and ready to return to the world of working men, only to be dissapointed again by Bruno's negative response.

The next day, the storm abated but Bruno still battered, the Captain again asked if Bruno were ready to go back to work. While Bruno understood and expected that the boat would not discontinue further lobster fishing to take his injured self back to port, he knew he was not able to return to the physical work of the crew.

The Captain informed Bruno that he would not rate any pay for the remaining days at sea, and that Bruno was welcome to return to crying like a girl in his berth until the boat returned to port.

The Shore of Refuge:

Back ashore and out of the lobstering business, Bruno began recovering from his injuries.

Bruno received a call from an old friend who asked him if he was available for work. Bruno explained that he was not fit for the work of commercial lobster fishing...

"But do you think you could sail?" he was asked. Bruno had sailed on a shooner one summer in his youth - just day-sailing, no cruising or ocean voyages, but Bruno knew the fundamentals of sailing.

"Sure, I can sail."

"Well, I need a boat delivered to Bermuda... I can offer you all your provisions for the trip, of course, and a return plane ticket plus a little pocket money... at least think about it."

Bruno thought about it, and two days later had consented to the job.

Bruno sailed the boat to Bermuda, still in pain and limited by his injury on the voyage. Upon his arrival, where he was required to stay aboard the fully-provisioned boat for a time, Bruno discovered his pain and injuries were nothing that all the rum in Bermuda couldn't cure.

When his pocket money ran out, Bruno cashed in his plane ticket. When vacated from the boat by the arrival of the boat's owner, Bruno's employer offered to loan Bruno money for a new plane ticket. Bruno decided not to accept the loan, and to stay in Bermuda.

Out of cash, with no family or friends and few acquaintances on the island, Bruno found serviceable accommodations underneath a dock on the beach...


TO BE CONTINUED...

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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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10.7- Where are we again?

Town workers erect new banners - promoting Oriental as the Sailing Capitol of North Carolina - On Hodges Street

These banners promoting Oriental have been appearing at various strategic locations around town over the past couple of months.

Today a bunch more went up along Broad Street and Hodges Street, the main thoroughfares through town.

Apparently the Tourism Board found a good deal on the banners... I've noticed similar banners in other towns and cities. Must be something of a trend.

The crew was having a great time putting these signs up... the guy actually installing the signs was putting on a one-man show, cracking up the "ground crew" the entire time they were working their way down Hodges.

I think the signs look nice, with an attractive sailboat & gull motif, but I am getting a little worried about the explosion of Oriental's self-promotion signs that have sprouted up all summer long.

The Oriental History Museum has also been erecting "historical markers" around town also.

It's beginning to make me feel like I'm living in some sort of museum, with all the promotional vertical banners and the explanatory placards at every turn, just like the Smithsonian museums. Well, more about that later.

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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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10.4- Slow Solos

A number of sailboats in today's annual Neuse Solo Race were "wing-and-wing" in what passed for the "down-wind" leg of the race between the Garbacon Shoal marker and the Adam's Creek marker on the Neuse River.

(Click on picture or here for full size)

Solo sailors in today's Neuse Solo Race might've wished they had someone else on board to complain to about the lack of wind during most of the race.

I overheard a number of gripes from the fleet over the VHF while I too was attempting to sail on the Neuse.

One complainant broadcast that he was cruising at all of 0.3 knots... another captain responded he wished he had that kind of speed.

A number of captains repeatedly complained about the wakes from one chase boat interfering with what little momentum their sailboats achieved.

As the race time ran down with no boats nearing the finish, an increasing stream of captains well back in the pack called in to report they were abandoning the race... no doubt interested in getting back to the Tiki-Bar for post-race festivities.

The Committee Boat let it be known that the race would be called at 5:00 pm and finishing order would be based on the boats' positions at that time. No word yet on the winners.

The boats in today's photo are headed roughly towards the camera position, and appear "hull-down"... their hulls are not visible. The boats are about 3 to 4 miles away, the camera is only about one foot above the surface of the river, and the hulls of the boats probably stick up about four or five feet above the water... so the earth's curvature can account for some of the invisibility

... The BIG factor, however, is the REFRACTION OF LIGHT, creating an INFERIOR MIRAGE (the same thing that creates apparent "water" or "oil slick" near the horizon on highways or deserts).

The refraction caused as the light travels from cooler air to warmer air near the surface causes the light to curve away from the earth. Result is that you can't see what is actually in front of you, but you can see two of what is above you... the top "right-side-up" image of the tops of the sails is light traveling directly from the sails into the camera (or eye) while the bottom "upside-down" images are caused by light from the same objects traveling in a concave curve, first down toward the earth then back up and again into the camera (or eye). The light from the lower masts, trees and sails never reaches the camera, since it is also curving down towards the earth and then away from the earth and above the camera.

Click on the full size photo and you can really see the effect of refraction on the boats on the right side of the picture... You can see where the upright sails and trees of the shoreline meet what appears to be their reflection extending upside down from the bottom. This is a common optical illusion on the water: it makes distant shorelines, boats and other objects on the surface appear closer than they actually are (contrary to side-view mirrors on cars) because the refracted image makes it appear about twice as large.

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10.3- Overlapping seasons

Signs in front of a Main Street residence indicate that shrimp season is now running into election season.

Fresh shrimp and candidates for elective office get equal billing in Ponce's yard.

While the message is clear on the Presidential ticket, the signs suggest possible household disagreement on the race for North Carolina House District 3; Norman Sanderson (R) is running against incumbent Alice Underhill (D) for the seat.

At least everyone can agree on the shrimp...

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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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