Watching the Neighbors

Adam asked me on a bike ride today. What with the storm and my general lethargy, we haven't ridden bikes in a while. But it was a grand afternoon, splendid weather. We sat at Lou Mac Park for a bit and watched the sailboats come slowly down the river, into Oriental harbor for the night.

The river was smooth and sparkling.

Adam likes to watch the boats and listen to the slap-slap of the waves. The sailboats begin as tiny specks on the horizon, and we debate whether they're really boats or just our bad vision.

He wore a turtleneck for the first time today.

Sailboat #1 came along closer and Adam said, "We could watch it come by here, and then ride our bikes down to the harbor and watch them drop anchor for the night. Want to?"  I said yes.
The town harbor was already well-populated. In addition to Henig's boat, there were four others already anchored down for the night.

Just then, one of the shrimp boats from Fulcher's boat yard revved up its motors. It's the Carolina Lady, setting out for a night of shrimping. She's got her shrimping arms up in the air -- it almost makes her look like a sailboat, but she's definitely not.

Here's Sailboat #1, coming into the harbor. He puttered about, changed direction, and basically showed that he didn't know what he was doing. He's pulling a yellow dinghy behind, and had a friend up on the prow to drop anchor for him.

Adam sat on the bench at the dinghy dock, and I stood on the dock taking pictures.

At last, Sailboat #1 nosed around, threw his anchor in the water, and proceeded to drift backwards, of course, until the anchor caught and he'd extended his line. Honestly, he was too far back in the channel, where other boats would need to go.

Sailboat #2 came in right on his heels, but he didn't drop a hook (as they say). See the bumpers all along his side? He's heading for a slip in Oriental Marina for the night.

Above, the sun was bright and the clouds were dark. It grew chilly and Adam complained of cold hands. I snuggled next to him on the bench.

How beautiful the harbor is!

Sailboat #1 drifted close to Henig's boat. It's too close to the breakwater wall.

Then a nice couple with a cute Schnauzer  walked to the dinghy dock, hopped in their inflatable boat and headed out to their sailboat for the night. Lots of boat people have dogs or cats.

Then Sailboat #3 came powering in. All the sailboats came in on power today. The wind was blowing against them. He has bumpers out and slipped straight into the town marina too.

Then a young fellow and his big yellow dog clambered out of one of the boats at anchor, into their dinghy, and buzzed up to the dinghy dock. We talked with him for a few minutes. He's a fairly new sailor himself.

His dog gave him a kiss on the way in. So sweet.

Sometimes this harbor is rather full, especially in October/November, when the snowbirds are yachting their way from Long Island or the Chesapeake, down to Florida for the winter. Then they make their way back up in March/April.

This is Sailboat #5. I'm not sure why I failed to get a shot of #4. It was a busy night in the harbor. This fellow gave Sailboat #1 a wide berth and didn't even try the channel.

Here he tucks between Henig's boat and #1, and makes his way into the town harbor. He got a nice spot there for the night; we saw him lashing up to his slip.

Watching neighbors with boats is a lot of fun. Adam says we're learning a lot about how to boat, and how not to boat, by watching. As we rode our bikes back home, I tugged my gloves on. The Carolina Lady was far out the river, sitting on the horizon with her shrimp arms down. Glistening in the setting sun, she looked like a massive white bird, perched and bobbing on the water.