10.5- Harkers Island Flare

Capt. Hodges circles Jenny back around in Raccoon Creek
(click on image to enlarge)

I have mentioned the 40-foot F/V "Jenny" in a couple of prior postings, where she appeared in the background... but today I decided to take my last opportunity to feature the boat as the subject of the daily photo.

Jenny is a prime example of a Down-East NC heritage treasure... the flare-bowed wooden workboat style known as "Core Sounders" or "Sink-Netters," developed since the advent of gasoline engines by the boat-builders of Harkers Island, NC.

Boat building has taken place on Harkers Island (see map, right or View Larger Map) since 1730, when the island's namesake, Ebenezer Harker, purchased the island and set up a plantation and boat yard there.

There are currently three boat-builders on the island, all small operations... one boat at a time, hand built, and without plans - only tried and true "rules of thumb" for achieving the shallow drafts and flared bows that make the boats perfect for navigating the "thin waters" above the shoals of NC's Bogue, Back and Core Sounds, and for taking on the steep waves stirred up in the sounds by frequent squalls.

Jenny was built by Clarence Willis, who learned his craft from the master of the style, boat builder Brady Lewis.

Lewis is credited with developing the "Core-Sounder" archetype in the 1930s, particularly the signature flared bow. He is the "grandfather" of the style, and his methods have been passed down to the current generation of Harkers Island builders.

I was really lucky that Capt. Hodges circled Jenny back around after leaving the dock at the Oriental Yacht Club, or I could not have gotten the above shot of her head-on... A friend of the crew was lucky, too... He had forgotten his beer, cigarettes and lighter on-board, so Capt. Hodges came back around and First Mate "Fuzzy" made the hand-off:

(click on image to enlarge)

... Then Jenny and crew (including the ship's dog, Belle) left in search of green-tail shrimp:

(click on image to enlarge)

Some links related to Harkers Island style boats:

• photos of Brady Lewis' boat yard from the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum
• history of "Jean Dale," a Harkers Island style F/V donated to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum
• Lots lots more history, paintings and photos of "Jean Dale" at site raising funds for her restoration
  
• article about and photos of Jenny's creator, boat-builder Clarence Lewis on WRAL.com
• A photo of a Harkers Island boat yard at work (but no other info) from HarkersIslandBoats.Com
  

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10.3- Net-working

Shuttles, twine and electrical tape at the ready for net repair

For the past couple of days, First Mate "Fuzzy" of the commercial fishing vessel "Jenny" (like in Forrest Gump, he explained) has been repairing "mongoose trawl" nets on the deck of the Oriental Yacht Club in preparation for white shrimp season.

Jenny has been docked at the OYC for the past couple of weeks while Capt. Dave Hodges and crew repaired the bulkhead between the OYC building and Fulcher Seafood Co.

Jenny is a 40 foot "Core Sounder" wooden commercial fisher, capable of operating in less than three feet of water, thanks to a shallow draft and a tunnel-mounted prop.

Capt. Hodges is particularly proud of Jenny's hydraulic system for controlling the outriggers and warp cables, pointing out that very few vessels in her size-range sport such equipment, instead relying on engine-driven pulley linkages.

The Capt. and crew have stayed a little longer than planned because Jenny's starter fritzed out... They hope to have it repaired and re-installed soon so they can begin the white-shrimp season.

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9.23- New deck-grippers

New Sperry Topsiders!

Just got some new "Sperry" top-siders from the "West Marine" store in New Bern!

Classic, never out of style!

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9.04- Super-yacht on "A-Dock"

"Patti Lou" tied up to A-dock

(click on image to enlarge)

We don't see a lot of yachts over 100' here in Oriental - they usually head down to Beaufort or up to Norfolk for stop-overs.

This foreign-flagged luxury yacht found a spot along "A" Dock at Oriental Harbor Marina this evening, and the crew quickly got to work getting the saltiness off the deck.

You can see a shot this 3,600 horsepower vessel underway (max. 22 kts.), and some interior shots, at her builder's web site:
http://www.queenship.com/crescent/legacy.php?lid=2

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7.09- Tiki-Bar x 2

A 60-foot sports-fisher named "Tiki Bar" out of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ stopped in Oriental NC today...
(click image to enlarge)

... And of course where else would the vessel dock but next to the 15' x 15' Tiki-Bar (background... it is surrounded by a much larger Tiki-Deck) at the Oriental Marina & Inn on Raccoon Creek, with the best view for your sunset happy/cocktail hour ?

The Tiki-Bar features Oriental's finest bartenders (I have to say that or they will have my hide) as well as live music many weekends during "the Season." (call or log-on for info)

Oriental Marina and Inn hosts boat slips for cruisers, sports-fishers etc., plus hotel (well, actually "Condo-tel," but it amounts to the same thing) accommodations for overnight visitors from land or sea, showers and laundry facilities (small fee for those not docking), on-site Tiki-Bar (Best Sunset Service, Drinks and Views, as voted unanimously by yours truly) as well as the indoor bar, restaurant (and occasional live music venue) the Toucan Bar and Fresh Grill. (Just don't display any fear towards Donna... she can smell it a league away, and then you're done-for!)

For overnight accommodations ashore (comfortable full service suites) or in a convenient slip (plus Fuel Dock) at the very heart of Oriental on Raccoon Creek see Oriental Marina & Inn

The Oriental Marina & Inn Monitors:

• Channel 16 (hailing) and
• Channel 71 (direct comm. with vessels coming into slips)

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6.29- Provisioning "Shelly Lewis"

Capt. and crew of "Shelly Lewis" prepare to get underway

(click on image to enlarge)

The "Shelly Lewis" shoved off this afternoon to go shrimping. I'm guessing she is going out to trawl in Pamlico Sound, but that is just a guess.

The Captain (on the right, on the dock) and his two crew spent about a half hour carrying gear and provisions out to the boat at one of the Garland Fulcher Seafood Co. docks on Raccoon Creek.

About a case of Dr. Pepper (I'm guessing that is reserved for the Capt.'s mess), several of bottled water, bags of groceries, boxes of who knows what, block and tackle, gasoline (prob. for a generator) and my favorite, the giant sealed plastic bag stuffed with clothes, shoes and a sleeping bag (crewman in black shirt).

Once loaded, they backed out into Raccoon Creek, then headed headed out the harbor towards the end of the breakwater and Oriental Marker No. 8:

Godspeed, "Shelly Lewis," and may you return safely with all aboard and a hold full!

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6.27- Cruising ketch

Saw this Dutch-looking gaff-rigged ketch coming into the harbor this afternoon.

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6.23- "Buoy Maker"

"Buoy Maker" sails down Raccoon Creek into Oriental Harbor

"Buoy Maker" is a beaut of a boat I regularly spot sailing around local waters. Here she is on a run out of Raccoon Creek into the anchorage of Oriental harbor after buzzing the Town Dock.

Now, I would call Buoy Maker a "gaff-rigged catboat," but certain people I know insist that that is a redundancy...

One of those people is this really really really old dude (and for you folks who live outside of Oriental, add another two or three "really"s) who thinks he can sail, tells me that if it has any other sail rig, it is not, by definition, a catboat of any sort whatsoever.

This nameless person insists, for instance, that the boat I called a "catboat" in my May 5 2009 DP is not a catboat at all, but a "non-such."

Well, the nameless critic may be from one of our Yankee states wherefrom catboats originate (state remains nameless to protect identity), and he may have owned a catboat or two (gaff-rigged, of course), but I maintain that a catboat can have ANY sail rig at all provided it is only one sail, there is no standing rigging (the mast is free-standing), and the mast sets way forward near the bow.

In any case, my critic and I can certainly agree that "Buoy Maker" is 100% "Catboat."

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6.22- Shrimping in the harbor

A small boat trawls for shrimp in Oriental harbor at sunset

With June comes the evening ritual of a dozen or more small boats trawling for Brown Shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) in and near Oriental Harbor... they are not allowed to shrimp on the other side of the Hwy. 55 bridge, seen in the above photo.

The boats motor slowly around the harbor and a bit into the River Neuse (generally counterclockwise, so far as I can tell) dragging their trawlnets behind, then hoisting and sorting the catch in the boat.

Typically the first shrimpers show up in the harbor in the late afternoon/early evening, and by sunset there will be a dozen or more working the harbor, many staying until near midnight.

Brown shrimp comprise about 65 percent of all shrimp catches in NC... In the fall, shrimpers will concentrate on White shrimp (aka Green Tail) and a minuscule catch of pink shrimp in the spring.

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4.21- Sailing School

"Red Baron" sails the narrow confines of Raccoon Creek

Sailing season is definitely here!


Today I saw one of the trademark-red boats of the Oriental School of Sailing practicing some quick-jibes (above) and quick-tacks between the commercial trawlers lining Raccoon Creek.

We have been experiencing 15-20 mph winds out of the South/Southwest today, so it was a bit too rough for these guys to sail out on the River Neuse, but a perfect day for practicing quick maneuvers in Raccoon Creek and Oriental Harbor...

The wind was blowing straight up the creek towards Town Dock (you can see a trimaran tied up starboard-to the town's FREE public boat-dock [up to 48 hr.s per month, per boat ;);)] where the Hodges St. causeway blocks the head of Raccoon Creek off of Oriental Harbor)

The wind direction was perfect for practicing running and jibing up into the creek, then quick-tacking back upwind to get back into the relatively-open waters of the Oriental Harbor anchorage and Smith's creek (for OSC boats, but check charts, mast and bridge height before going up Smith's, Green's and Kershaw Creeks like they do).

The strong winds out on the River Neuse today were abated a bit in the harbor and Raccoon Creek, thanks to Windmill and Wiggins' Points to the southwest, but were brisk enough to test a sailor's salt jibing and tacking between the commercial trawlers lining the creek (see the banner photo at the top of the blog for a view straight up the creek, same direction the wind was blowing today - though there were no rafting trawlers today, they were tied up on both sides of the creek.)

The "Red Baron" captain and crew did an impressive job... though there was some moments of perhaps-over-heavy heeling, that is easily explained by the squirrely winds coming over Chadwick Point before crashing into and swirling around in Raccoon Creek.
.

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4.16- Skywatch Friday - April showers on the way

Looks like some weather is moving in
(Click image to enlarge)

Today's Skywatch Friday picture comes from this past Monday April 13th. Rain, thunderstorms, rain and more storms was was forecast for Tuesday into Wednesday (correctly as it turned out: see the rainy skies in my Tuesday posting, below), but Monday was a fresh spring day.

The cumulus clouds came in from the west like a vast army during the day Monday...

The rain and thunder sure did come all day Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, and now we can look forward to explosive growth in local gardens and farm fields...

We can also expect less pleasant explosive growth in the many patches of standing water left throughout the area as warmer sunny days approach - Yes, the mosquito larvae are sure to be active in the wake of the rains, and folks around here will not be surprised if the Culicidae make their '09 mass debut this weekend.

(I have noticed a few skeeters around here and there already, but I haven't needed to purchase any DEET yet, so they have not really officially arrived)

Well, and so it goes... April showers bring May flowers and Summer bugs. At least the dreaded flying bloodsuckers are a harbinger of "The Season" around here, and will be closely followed by swarms (we hope) of Aliens...

Indeed, even on Monday, I spotted a couple of land-borne Aliens on the Dinghy Dock snapping photos of the Point Pride Seafood Co. trawlers docked on the other side of Raccoon Creek... we have also been seeing increasing numbers of water-borne Aliens at Town Dock, the local marinas and at anchor in Oriental Harbor - as seen in background, below :

(click image to enlarge)

HAPPY SWF EVERYONE!

I look forward to seeing the other Skywatch pictures from around the world on the other SWF sites listed at:

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3.12- Skywatch Friday - Sunrise over Chadwick Point

The sun rising over Chadwick Point (home of Point Pride Seafood)

Today's picture is from a boating trip earlier this week... a neighbor and I joined mutual neighbor Capt. Miller on his May Craft 1900 for a trip across the River Neuse, into Turnagain Bay, and through the "Indian Ditch" connecting Turnagain with Long Bay. (see prior post, below)

We left from the Wildlife Ramp on Smiths Creek and were crossing the mouth of Smiths Creek / Oriental Harbor just as the sun peeked over the point. An itinerant catamaran was at anchor in the harbor.

The rising sun illuminated the web of contrails left in the dry atmosphere by the many high-altitude commercial airplanes moving up and down the East Coast flight corridors.

HAPPY SWF EVERYONE!

I look forward to seeing the other Skywatch pictures from around the world on the other SWF sites listed at:

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1.26- Seals in Raccoon Creek

An 11 meter Naval Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boat cruises up Raccoon Creek
(Click on image or here for full size)

I usually see these 11m NSW-RIBs way out in the Neuse River cruising at 45 knots between the Cherry Point Marine Station and the Piney Island / BT-11 target range...(see related prior postings re: NSW-RIBs and the BT-11 target range)

I was watching this one headed back up-river towards Cherry Point when it surprisingly turned into the Oriental Harbor channel.

So I grabbed a camera and headed down to the Oriental Yacht Club in time to find the boat slowly cruising up and down Raccoon Creek...

One guy on board was pointing out various things around the harbor and creek-sides... I wonder if it was some sort of tactical orientation or a simple sightseeing side-trip after a day of storming Piney Island?

I have noticed a lot of U.S. Marine air traffic over the river the past couple of days, including Harriers, CH-35E Sea Stallion helicopters (see related prior posting re:CH-35E), CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, and MV-22B Osprey VTOL/STOLs.

I'm guessing these guys are U.S. Navy SEALS, as the NSW-RIB's primary mission is SEAL insertion and extraction, and I have not found any reference to the U.S. Marine Corps using them.

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1.07- Dinghy Dry-Dock

The Dinghy Dock crosses mud where water normally allows small boats to tie up

Strong Southwesterly winds all day today, in the 15-30 knot range, have done their usual trick of blowing all the river and creek waters out into Pamlico Sound, leaving water levels extremely low.

A surfboard would have been about the only watercraft capable of reaching the Dinghy Dock this afternoon.

For my out-of-area readers, we don't get lunar tides in local waters, due to the protection of the outer banks islands separating Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean...

We only get "wind-tides"... Sustained Northeasterly winds push the Pamlico Sound waters up into the rivers and creeks, raising the water levels locally, while SWy winds do the opposite.

When the mud flats appear under the Dinghy Dock, the water is about as low as it's gonna go.

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12.19- SkyWatch Friday - Scow-Schooner "Nina"

Capt. Dayton Trubee of the "Nina," a gaff-rigged scow-shooner, climbs the mizzen-mast ratlines with First Mate Ingrid Code at the helm as they cruised Oriental Harbor looking for a good spot to drop the hook

This beauty ("Nina," homeport Baltimore MD) came into Oriental Harbor near sunset this evening.


I was going to do a bit of research and write something up discussing this type of boat here on ONCDP, but my first Google revealed that the story of this very boat herself (including an explanation of the Australian flag atop her mainmast) is already online:


I highly recommend reading the TownDock.Net "Shipping News" article about "Nina" when she was here in Oriental almost four years ago... very interesting story... Read the 2005 TownDock.Net story here

Since then, in 2007, Nina had some work done at the de Rouville Boat Shop in NJ.

Also in 2007, the Nina's First Mate, Ingrid Code, has also written this article in Wooden Boat about another schooneer, "Steadfast."

Also, SEE SOME MORE OF MY PICTURES OF "NINA" at my other blog, "The Dinghy Dock."

HAPPY SWF EVERYONE!
I look forward to seeing the other Skywatch pictures from around the world on the other SWF sites listed at:


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12.18- In the trenches

Workers trenching and laying communications cable along Midyette St.

A crew was out laying cable in the misty rain on Midyette St. today... also a Bay River Sewer crew was working on a manhole nearby (more distant trucks).

The crews were pretty busy, so I did not find out any info on what they are doing... I'll ride by tomorrow and see if I can find out.

Also today the Pelicans were out again in full force (see yesterday's post)... So I decided to take some video to capture their frenetic feeding on the Neuse River just outside the Oriental Harbor breakwater:

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12.16- Raccoon Creek & Hodges St. Causeway

A Great Blue Heron stands near the edge of Raccoon Creek

A gray misty day here in Oriental.

The portion of Raccoon Creek in today's photo is separated by the Hodges' Street causeway from the navigable area of the creek where sailboats tie up at Town Dock and Oriental Marina & Inn and shrimp boat/trawlers tie up alongside the Town's two fish-houses, Point Pride Seafood (on the left) and Garland Fulcher Seafood (right).

The causeway is partially obscured by reeds at the other end of the water in today's photo, but you can see part of the wooden railing along the street.

Originally, Hodges Street ended at the northwest bank of Raccoon Creek (on the right side of today's photo.)

In 1908, the John L. Roper Lumber Company (which owned a large lumber mill across town) offered to supply the Town with the required materials if the Town would build a

"bridge across Raccoon Creek at the foot of Hodges St. and... get a right of way from the foot of said bridge on the East side of the creek out to Factory Street."
Minutes of Board of Commissioners of Town of Oriental, February 4, 1908)

The property over which such road would pass was at that time owned by the Oriental Manufacturing Company, and had been the site of lumber mills and manufacturing operations.

The Bank of Oriental foreclosed on the Oriental Manufacturing Company property, and sold it to H.A. Stephens by a February 6, 1911 deed which specifically reserved an easement for:

"... a strip on the Northernmost end of said land running from Hodges St. to a point on Wall St. the Southern line of which is forty feet distant & parallel with the present Bridge walk across said Raccoon Creek from Hodges St. to said Wall St."

(this is the earliest recordation of the easement, and earliest reference to any causeway across Raccoon Creek so far found in Pamlico County land records... no original easement has yet been found)

At some point the Town replaced the "Bridge walk" across the creek with a road-bearing causeway, allowing vehicular traffic across the creek, but blocking water and water traffic.

Before the causeway blocked water traffic, boats could come up the creek as far as Main Street, which also traverses the creek, and is where I stood to take today's picture. Town co-founder Louis B. Midyette built the road now known as Main St. across the creek some time prior to 1898 (some 1898 deeds for properties between Factory St. and Raccoon Creek describe land as bordering on the "New Road built by L.B. Midyette.)

Boats could come up to a store on the bank of the creek just opposite of where the heron appears in today's picture (just out of camera shot on the left.) L.B. Midyette was an owner and co-owner of the store for awhile.

There has been some discussion removing the Main St. crossing over the creek, and possibly re-engineering the Hodges St. causeway to return the creek to its more natural state as an actual flowing creek...

Many folks don't even realize the bodies of water east of Hodges are the now-blocked remnants of Raccoon Creek. Many refer to the bodies of water between Hodges and Main and east of Main as the "Duck Ponds," which I think is an unfortunate nick-name in that it devalues the waters' actual status as the artificially-blockaded Raccoon Creek.

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12.10- Above the fog

The outriggers of a trawler peak out above the fog on Raccoon Creek

Fog covered many waterways today, including the Neuse River, Oriental harbor and nearby creeks.

As warm (70+ degrees F) air soaked with moisture (97% humidity) moved over cooler water, fog formed... such fog is called "advection fog."

I went to the top of the Hwy. 55 bridge for this shot... It was about 4:00 PM, and I was standing about 50 feet above the water, just about the limit of the surrounding fog below.

I could barely make out the harbor's breakwater and the Neuse River beyond that was invisible, completely covered in fog.

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11.30 - Belted Kingfisher

A male Belted Kingfisher perches on a mainmast spreader at Oriental Harbor Marina

"The only kingfisher in most of North America," according to the National Geographic Field Giude. "Common and conspicuous along rivers and brooks, ponds and lakes, estuaries..."

"Call is a loud, dry rattle"... The bird's call was what whaat brought my attention to its' presence, but I would describe it more as a repetitive chittering.

I have seen these birds hovering near the mouth of Whittaker Creek, but not gotten a picture before today.

Kingrishers "hover over water or watch from low perches, then plunge headfirst to catch a fish."

Very cool. Now added to my photographic life-list.

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11.22- Gale warning

Two red triangular pennants fly at the Oriental Harbor Marina flag mast

Two red pennants means "gale warning"... This means winds from 34 to 48 knots (39 to 54 miles per hour or 63 to 69 kmh) are predicted.

The Oriental Harbor Marina flag mast is visible from most places in the harbor, and from the bridge over Smiths Creek...

If you are thinking about going boating, it is a good idea to glance at the OHM flag mast first... One red pennant indicates a "small craft advisory," which is either 15 or 20 knots, I can't recall. Red square flags with a black square in the middle mean "hurricane warning"... I haven't yet seen those flags at the OHM.

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