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The Caledonia yawl ‘Sara’ and its two man, one dog crew head past the Oriental breakwater. The ‘Sara’ and a sister yawl visited Oriental this past week. The story is in The Shipping News

Friday May 16, 2008

Somewhere in our childhood, there was a book with a drawing of the Owl and the Pussycat going off to sea — or maybe it was Three Men in a Tub? In any event, the image of those boats came back the other day when a couple of Caledonia yawls tied up at the Town Dock. The two boats were carrying four men and one dog on their travels around the Pamlico Sound this past week. (So did the NC Ferry System, as it turned out.) The lovely lap-straked boats are the ‘Sara’ and the ‘Rebecca Ann’ and we have more on the adventures of boats and crew in the latest Shipping News. …

The doughty crews of those yawls took off in the rain yesterday, and there’s more of that overcast weather today. The weekend, though, looks sunny. There’s actually some sunny Spain to be had tonight with a Noche Flamenco at the Old Theater.” Cruising boaters Richard and Andrea Black are putting on one more performance of flamenco music and dance.

On Saturday, the Farmers Market opens at 8am with produce that’s about as local as you can get (much of it comes from gardens just around the corners) If you’re looking for some local crafts, you can find those at the market too, and Ben Casey will be there selling copies of his new book, “Dismal?” which is about the Dismal Swamp. (The official release of the book is Sunday up in the swamp territory.)

There’s lots more going on and you can find it all in What’s Happening ( And by the way, if you have an event coming up and want folks to know about it thru What’s Happening, drop us a line – email info@towndock.net )

Thursday May 15, 2008

Cynthia Shockley over at PAWS says that it’s now a $1200 reward for info in to the recent dog poisonings. The size of the reward grew as folks came thru with more money to up the ante. What they would really like is for someone to come thru with info to explain who did it. If you have info, please contact Trinity Smith, Pamlico County’s Animal Control Officer at 745-3203.

Laura’s drawing shows a Town Dock with no boats, but the past few days have seen a lot of action at Oriental’s free dock. Tied up nearby last night were two open boats — Caledonia yawls — and the four men in the crews took off for New Bern in the rain this morning. The TownDock crew itself is rowing thru pages of notes and photos to get this Shipping News story — and others too numerous to mention — up and out. Better get back to work before the editor resumes the flogging….

Wednesday May 14, 2008

This is the time of year when lots of boats pass through. The docks at Oriental Marina are often full with transients, and there are usually two (sometimes three) boats tied up at the Town Dock.

Sometimes you can catch the Town Dock empty though… it might be just for an hour or so after boats leave for the day. Artist Laura Turgeon found the dock empty recently… and her drawing hand went to work. Town Dock – Space Available is this month’s Drawing The Town.

Tuesday May 13, 2008

Reward: $500. The report that came back yesterday confirms last week’s suspicions about two dogs being poisoned at Buccaneer Bay. Pamlico County’s Animal Control Officer Trinity Smith says it was an agricultural insecticide. PAWS – the Pamlico Animal Welfare Society — is offering a $500 reward for information that helps solve the case. Our update is here.

The Fourth Annual Art on the Neuse unfolds on June 14th here in Oriental and there’s still room for more artists. This year, $400 in cash awards are being given. Let Susan Cheatham know if you want to show your fine arts and master crafts. More info is in What’s Happening.

Also looking ahead to June… the Bow to Stern Sailing School’s Youth Sailing Camp gets going on June 9 and will be holding week-long sailing instruction all summer long, right here in Oriental. Kinda makes sense that the Sailing Capital of NC would offer sailing classes for kids, right? Lots of folks here in town have been working to make it happen; Pamlico Woodworkers group built 9 of the Optimist dinghies that will be used, and Bow to Stern is signing kids up now to sail them. You’ll find more info and registration right here.

Monday May 12, 2008

2:30pm Update:The rains from last night have gone, and we have one of those everything’s-bright-and-shiny days, with “The Simpsons” clouds scudding across a deep blue sky and more where that came from. We also have winds that think it’s March. Trash cans are blowing across the streets (Mondays being pick-up day here in the village), the trees are showing how limber they are and down at the Oriental Harbor Marina, Ross had two red flags up around noontime, which if we recall our Chapman’s, means it’s blowin’ stink. If you’re after more precise details check the Oriental NC weather forecast. The Pamlico Sound Marine Weather Forecast shows the wind forecast – high north winds for early this week.

5am Okay, did someone forget to send Mother Nature a card or even give her a call Sunday? Mother’s Day went out with a bang — there were reports of tornadic-type winds in the region. Here in Oriental, we were spared that, but got rain and lightning. The rain fell hard for a while and then, when there was a break in the storm, we went out in hopes of finding a rainbow. Didn’t see any of them, but were otherwise rewarded for looking up at the sky. Then we came back in side cos the lightning was striking a little close for comfort. See the two page photo essay here.