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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11.21- Cheap Gas

A man rides his bicycle up Broad Street (NC Hwy. 55) past the "Town and Country" grocery store, where gasoline has just dropped below $2.00 per gallon

I rode my bike up to Town and Country to buy a Coke from the machines outside when an employee came out to change the price sign.

As she was flipping the numbers, several folks asked what the new price was going to be, and cheered when they learned it was just now breaking the $2.00 level.

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11.01- "Marine Consignment of Oriental "

Dinghies on display in front of "Marine Consignment of Oriental"

If you are boating down the ICW and have a list of boat parts you are looking for (a bit redundant, I know), you might want to drop by Oriental and visit "Marine Consignment of Oriental" on Broad Street (Hwy 55).

Outboard motors, hardware, sails, rigging... any parts, big or small... if it attaches to a boat, they probably have it here.

If you have some extra parts to sell, you can sell them here on consignment.

I like the mouse on the bow of this dinghy... I guess it's supposed to be terrified by the frightening speed this rowing/sailing dinghy can achieve.

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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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9.15- Visit Oriental... Bring your own gasoline

Gas pumps at Oriental's "Town & Country" grocery store bear the effects of hurricane Ike... plastic bags over the pump handles.

If you are coming to Oriental this week, you may want to bring some jerry-cans of gasoline to make sure you can get back home.

Both land-based sources of gasoline in town (Mac's Mini-Mart and Town & Country) have no more gasoline... they have been empty for a few days now.

This is apparently a common sight throughout much of the southern and eastern regions of the U.S., purportedly because of the prophylactic shut-downs of refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, resulting in about a 20% reduction of the nation's oil refining capacity.

Those stations that do have gasoline have of course been charging higher and higher prices for what is left... In his campaign to enforce NC's anti-price-gouging laws, the NC Governor has already sought 7 subpoenas for gas stations according to an article in today's Raleigh News & Observer. The News & Observer also reports that many school districts are struggling to keep their school buses running.

I have not found out if any of the area marinas with fuel docks have run into similar shortages... but even if they do have gasoline / diesel, marina prices are normally much higher than land-based gas stations, and it is kind of hard to pull your pickup truck up to the pump in Whittaker Creek.

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