4.30- SkyWatch Friday - Sunset over Green's Creek

Sunset over Green's Creek and Kershaw Creek

My SkyWatch Friday pic today comes from last night's sunset.

The view is from the NC Hwy 55 bridge over Smith's Creek, looking up into Green's Creek (marked with channel markers, then bears off to the left at the top of the pic) and Kershaw Creek (branching off to the right, just under where the sun would be if you could see it.)

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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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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4.14- Foul-Weather Gear

Commercial fishing crew working the River Neuse

Local commercial fisherman, Capt. Keith Bruno, sets gill-nets along the banks of the River Neuse between Windmill Point and Wiggins Point. (See map below)

Helping the Capt. are his two sons, Zack and Ben. Ben is on the bow tossing over the gill-net as Capt. Bruno backs away from the anchor buoy at the end of the net (yellow object in water, left side of photo.)

It was a rainy day in the area... I was lucky to see the Bruno crew cruising the river during a lull in the rainfall. Of course I got to get back in the car when the rain started pouring, while the Brunos motored off into the rain to set five more nets before the day was done.

Make sure to drop by Capt. Bruno's "Endurance Seafood" fish-house (and chicken-house, peacock-house, duck-house, dog-house and people-house) next to Pecan Grove Marina during the Oriental Boat Show this weekend (see boat show web site here)...

You will be able to tour Bruno's other commercial fishing vessels (they are quite a bit bigger than the above Carolina Skiff), and it's a

great place to get some local "Fish so fresh it bites!"

...as the motto on the Endurance Seafood sign along Hwy 55 (just over the bridge from Oriental, see red marker on map below) proclaims.

You can read more about Capt. Bruno at my Oct. 14, 2008 posting, "Endurance - Part One." (Part two is still in pre-production)

View Windmill and Wiggins points in a larger map

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2.04- Coastal snow

Snow descends on mallards (anas platyrhynchos) swimming past a man-made Osprey nest platform near Harker's Island, NC
(Click on image to enlarge)

Snow came down across Down-East North Carolina today, dropping one to two inches across the region, with up to one inch of accumulation in places. It was nice big fluffy snow, not like the minuscule flakes of the November flurries.

I know, I know, for all you folks with that "flinty Chicago toughness" our President so admires, it's no big deal... just like a mid-July day. But it is unusual around here, though it caused no problems along the coastal counties... some wimpier inland counties delayed school and government openings, but not the hearty down-easters.

This picture was taken near Harker's Island, along Core Sound, near Cape Lookout. I will be back and forth to the area over the next few days, and hope to get some good pictures in the area.

View Larger Map

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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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12.10- 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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11.19- Snow flurries

A cloud moving out over the Neuse River drops snow near Smiths Creek and Oriental Harbor

Early snow in Oriental! As predicted, snow flurries moved through the area today. Each flurry was very brief, but I experienced three or four separate flurries during the day.

It really is snow, and not rain! In the picture below, the small white dots are snowflakes being lit up by the camera flash:

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11.15- Tow time

A newly-anchored itinerant sailor with a motor-dinghy gives a tow to another itinerant in her two-armstrong powered "Dink"

I met this young woman at the Dinghy Dock today as I was riding by.

She had come ashore to go grocery shopping, leaving her "old man" on their sailboat at anchor out in the harbor (not in camera shot above).

She had rowed ashore in a "Dink" dinghy.

When she returned to the Dinghy Dock after a couple of hours, she found the winds had grown fairly stiff... about 15 to 20 knots... out of the Southwest.

(Notice two of the anchored sailboats in the picture are pointing straight into the fresh breeze... the third/middle sailboat, flying Netherlands flag, is not pointing into the wind only because she is aground)

Finding it impossible to row the light dinghy straight into the wind far enough to reach her boat, the woman had been embayed for at least an hour before I showed up.

As we were chatting, another sailboat came into the harbor and began trying to anchor.

We watched as her captain dropped anchor, hoping he would dinghy ashore soon and maybe be able to help the woman return to her boat. The anchor dragged, and the sailboat drifted towards another anchored boat. The guy weighed anchor, motored around, and tried again. Anchor dragged again. Guy weighed, moved and dropped the hook yet again.

By this time, another woman had walked up to the Dinghy Dock, introduced herself, and explained she was waiting for the guy out there trying to anchor to come pick her up.

By this time there were four of us watching this guy try to anchor... Watching someone struggle with anchoring, particularly in a Southerly or Southwesterly blow, is considered better-than-TV entertainment in Oriental.

After the guy dropped anchor again, we saw him finally lowering his dinghy from the stern davits into the water. Great, we all thought... one woman was waiting for the guy to come take her to his boat, the other woman was hoping the guy could tow her dinghy back to her boat, and myself and another guy were watching all the drama with great interest.

The guy got in his dinghy, hauled in the painter, and started motoring... away from the dinghy dock! Where is he going, the watching crowd wondered in chorus, while at the same time noticing that the guy's sailboat was swinging awfully near it's anchored neighbor.

The guy motored his dinghy about a hundred feet ahead of his sailboat on the starboard side, then stood up in the dinghy.

"He's dropping a second hook" we all said, again in chorus.

So the guy dropped his second anchor from the dinghy, motored back to his sailboat, went aboard and hauled in his hawsers to satisfaction, neatly pulling his sailboat away from the threatened neighbor.

He then came ashore, and happily gave the stranded rower a tow back to her "old man" just as the sun set.

Another exciting 90 minute drama at Oriental anchorage!

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10.9- Skywatch Friday - Mixed sky

A mix of clouds fills the western sky over Green Creek
(Click on picture or here for full size)

Inspired by Dewdrop's recent Cloud Lessons on the Skywatch Friday site, I have been trying to learn my clouds, and taking a lot of pictures of clouds so I can study and compare them with pictures and descriptions in weather books and on-line.

As Dewdrop rightly pointed out, a sailor should know clouds, so I am slowly working through "Weather for the Mariner," by William J. Kotsch, Rear Admiral USN (Ret.), and refering to a couple of other weather-for-sailors books I have access to... unfortunately, they are all a bit dated, featuring black & white photos and lots of information on a (I assume) now moribund network of "telefacsimile"-transmitted isobar maps that seems to have been on the cutting edge of weather info sometime in the ancient past.

Today's main picture features a mixed sky, which I think includes cirrostratus, cirrus, altocumulus and/or cirrocululus (I can't quite tell the difference between those two), a tad of fractostratus, and some condensation trails.

I think... The hardest part for me right now is determining the altitude of the clouds I see, both in absolute terms and in relation to other clouds. I am hoping it is just a matter of looking at the skies a bit more (SWF has prompted me to do that) and to patiently do my homework on clouds and weather systems (as noted earlier, Dewdrop has inspired me to do that.)

I am still using the books to decode todays pictures, (taken yesterday), and am watching the shifting fronts and pressure systems on NOAA and WeatherUnderground to get a sense of why the sky filled with so many different types of clouds yesterday after several days of pure blue sky.

I would love to hear comments from the SWF community about the types of clouds in today's pictures.

Here are a few more cloud pictures, also taken yesterday:

#2) More mixed clouds, this time facing East over the Neuse River:

#3) Altocumulus or Cirrocumulus ??? (facing just north of west):

#4) Straight above... condensation trail becoming cirrus ???

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

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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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9.25- Why don't you kids go play out in the street?

Kids playing on "boogie boards" in the wind-tide-inundated portion of Hodges Street.

The water is going down today as 94L approaches the South Carolina-North Carolina border and winds down a bit after a night of gusty winds in the 20-40 mph range.

These three kids were enjoying the "Hodges St. Beach"... a foot or more of water has covered the street since yesterday (see yesterday's post, below... even more pictures of the high waters on "The Dinghy Dock" posts for today and yesterday.)

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9.24- "Slow No Wake"

A driver ignores the "No Wake Zone" sign posted at the Hodges Street causeway as it passes in front of The Bean coffee shop.
(click on picture or here for full size)

Northeast winds mean rising waters around here... Lunar tides are negligible, but once in a while a sustained nor'easter pushes the Pamlico Sound waters up the Neuse River and its tributaries.

The steady northeast winds of the past two days have brought the waters of Raccoon Creek up about 18 inches over the Hodges St. causeway, prompting someone to post this "Slow No Wake" sign.

(for my non-boating readers: the sign is a gag... "Slow No Wake" or "No Wake Zone" signs are normally found posted on waterways to warn passing boaters that they are approaching a marina or other location where big wakes from fast-moving boats can cause a lot of damage.)

The system causing the northeast winds has been named "L94" by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration... it is a hybrid "subtropical /extratropical" storm that just formed off of the South Carolina coast and is headed this way.

See more of my pictures of today's unusual high wind-tide at The Dinghy Dock.

Read more about "L94" on WetherUnderground at Jeff Masters' Wunder Blog.

See radar images of L94 from NOAA.

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9.07- Slow Sunday at the Deli

Umbrellas guard empty tables on the deck of the Oriental Harbor Deli & Bistro, as a thunderstorm darkens the western sky.

As the "alien season" in Oriental fades in the wake of Labor Day and worries about Hanna-Ike-Josephine storms, there are few visitors in town this weekend.

During the summer season, aliens (and a few locals) enjoy lunch and dinner on the deck at the Oriental Harbor Deli & Bistro, with a grand view of Smith's Creek and the Oriental Harbor Marina.

Though clearly open for business today, I did not see a single customer this afternoon. The whole town is extremely quiet and empty for an early September weekend, but no doubt Hanna prompted weekend travelers to stay home for this one.

The Oriental Harbor Deli & Bistro resides in the early 20th century passenger depot building of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad Co.

In addition to the Deli, the old depot is also now home to the Oriental Harbor Marina's heads and laundry room, and "The General Store," which offers Oriental souvenirs, a surprising collection of wines and $2.00 cans of coke (the wine is much more reasonable than the cokes).

The N&S RR ran regular passenger service from New Bern to Oriental into the 1940's. The N&S RR 's first lines to Oriental were built in the very early 20th century, and provided important transportation for local timber and produce (mostly cabbages), as well as passengers.

Before the N&S RR built its line into Oriental, the Old Dominion Steamship Company had been providing freight and passenger services from Oriental to New Bern, Elizabeth City, Portsmouth, VA (and available transfer service to as far away as New York City) from its pier on the Neuse River at the end of King Street.

The N&S RR line traveled along Midyette Street to service three lumber mills, including the giant John L. Roper Lumber Co. mills located along Camp Creek, before crossing Broad Street to the passenger depot on the harbor front at Water Street. While N&S RR acquired an easement to build a planned spur across the village to the former ODSS warehouses and Neuse River pier on King St., it was never built.

The depot building now stands about about 100 yards away from its original location.

Below is an old N&S RR Map I have enhanced to show the main properties, rail lines and proposed rail line discussed above...

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9.06- Hanna aftermath

Electric Co. vehicles and line workers assembled under clear skies and a half moon in the parking lot at Mac's gas station as the sun sets.

Tropical Storm Hanna came through Oriental as dawn approached this morning, bringing 20-30 mph winds from about 2:00 a.m. through 8:00 a.m.

From about 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 winds were in the 30-40 mph range, with reported gusts near 60 mph. After 10:00 a.m. it became a beautiful clear day with 5-10 mph winds the rest of the day.

No flooding overnight, no storm surge, no heavy rains, and winds similar in strength to common thunderstorms in the area, though the winds persisted at strength for longer periods of time.

The storm did knock out power to the entire town for a few hours this morning, with intermittent power outages throughout the day as "Progress Energy" crews made repairs around town.

All in all, Hanna was a lot of not much around here. Should be a nice day for sailing tomorrow, and I hope to be out, either in the Bauer Classic 10 dinghy or crewing on my neighbor's Catalina 25.

Ike looks to be headed for FL and the Gulf, and Josephine appears to be petering out. It will be nice to not have everyone talking hurricanes 24/7 around here, as they have been for a few days now.

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9.05- Here Comes Hanna! SkywatchFriday

About 20-25 mph winds buffet the flag on top of the Hwy. 55 bridge as an outer rain band of Tropical Storm Hanna crosses over the Neuse River and Oriental at about 2:30 p.m., Friday September 5.

An hour and a half later (about 4:00 pm) , as I am writing this post, the sun is out and large puffy cumulus clouds are zipping over us, headed westerly.

The eye of the storm is about 300 miles to the south as of this writing.

All around town boats have been pulled, lines have been doubled, lawn chairs put away or set upside down, a few windows have been boarded, and the picnic benches at Lou-Mac Park have been lashed to the old live oak tree.

Now we wait. I don't know if I'll be able to get any pictures of the scary stuff, since it will be coming in after dark.

See more views of the heavens from around the globe at:

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9.04- Preparing for "Hanna"... and "Ike"... and "Josephine

Capt. Dave spreads out the jib he has removed from the "Hirondelle" in preparation for approaching tropical storm Hannah.

A beautiful, calm clear day here in Oriental... perhaps the proverbial and literal "calm before the storm." Many local sailors and stink-potters are making preparations for some potentially nasty weather.

As Hannah approaches the East Coast, many local sailors are, like Capt. Dave, removing the canvas from their boats and adding extra lines in preparation for high winds.

The Wildlife Boat Ramp is also busy as owners of trailer-able sailboats and power boats haul them out to stay on dry land for a while as a string of hurricanes and tropical storms wander in our direction. Local boat yards are also putting many boats on the hard today. No doubt all will be doing the same all day tomorrow.

Capt. Dave will be watching NOAA, WeatherUnderground and other sources of hurricane/tropical storm info as the three storms approach, and is beginning to think about finding a good "hurricane hole" in which to anchor Hirondelle if things look particularly nasty for either of the next two.

According to NOAA, we can expect a good steady 40 knot easterly winds with 50 + knot gusts by 8:00 pm tomorrow (Friday) night, with hours more of the same to follow.

That wind will no doubt bring rising wind-tides, which Local Knowledge says will exceed 4 feet, enough to cover Hodges St. at Town Dock, in front of The Bean, but not much more.

All day Saturday the continuing 40 + knot winds will swing across to southerly and end westerly, dieing off precipitously the more westerly they become. By 5:00 pm Saturday, winds will have fallen to below 20 knots westerly. According to NOAA...We shall see.

My brother, "Cabin Boy" Fred has successfully made it back to New Orleans from his brief (3 day) and agonizing exodus to Memphis (where he sat in on a gig playing his newly-acquired Mexican made fender copy guitar} after the Gustav scare.

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8.27- Respite from the Rain

Captain Roy (nearest to the street) holds court on the porch of The Captain's Quarters Bed and Breakfast on a rainy day here in Oriental.

Capt. Roy, owner of The Captain's Quarters B&B hosts some friends for wine, cigars, antipasti and conversation on the porch on Broad St. (Hwy. 55) as afternoon rains pass over Oriental. Today's new edition of the weekly "Pamlico News" newspaper rests on the table.

Broad St. is the main thoroughfare through "downtown" Oriental, so while sitting on this porch (at the intersection of Church St.) one can see everyone in town driving, biking or walking by, and many folks wave to Capt. Roy and anyone who happens to be on the porch.

Even a day of rain and thunder doesn't stop the regular appearance of Capt. Roy and guests on the porch... a great place to get out of the rain and enjoy some excellent company... or on sunny days, to get out of the sun and do the same.

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8.9- South River

Today I took a trip across the Neuse River to South River with a neighbor in his Mako power boat.

As we crossed the Neuse, a squall moved in over Oriental and the Neuse River behind us, coming in from the northwest. While we were enjoying sun in South River, things were getting pretty hairy along the route back, as the storm was spreading and moving our way. Things can get very nasty on the Neuse in a very short period of time: many a boater and fisher has died out there in surprise squalls.

Not being in a boat built for weather, we decided to tie up amongst the branches of a fallen oak tree along the shore (not the tree in this picture) to see how the weather developed... as lightning and thunder started moving across the river in our general direction, we decided to step ashore and rig a lean-to with a tarp, just in case we got stranded in the thick of it.

I took this picture from the bank, looking back towards Oriental and the threatening skies.

As it turned out, we only got a little sprinkle for a while, then the weather cleared enough for us to get back in the boat and head back across the Neuse to Oriental.

Oriental had indeed been hit hard by rain and high winds during the squall, so it turns out we picked the right time for our trip and our return.

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6.28- That Boat Won't Float...

"Tow Boat U.S." crews working to raise a Catalina 25 sailboat from Oriental channel with air bladders slung under the hull.

The annual Oriental Cup Regatta race was held today, despite a small craft advisory. A squall came through the area around the time the race was finishing up and boats were headed back to Oriental Harbor and Whittaker Creek, bringing gusts up to 50 knots, rain and plenty of lightning.

One boat was struck by lightning, and this Catalina (not in the race) capsized and sank in the channel into Oriental Harbor. Captain and crew got off safely with the help of a sailboat returning from the race.

This picture was taken around 7:00p.m., several hours after Tow Boat U.S. began the salvage operation. Around 8:00 pm the boat was finally floated and towed to Whittaker Creek.

The salvage effort by "Tow Boat U.S." involved the Oreintal-based Tow Boat U.S. team, and a Tow Boat U.S. crew (diving team) from Beaufort.

The salvagers first cut the halliard and lowered the sail (which remained partially above the surface), then dragged the boat away from the channel and into shallower water. Dive team then installed a bladder under the boat, filled it with air, and began pumping water out of the boat until it floated. All of this happened with steadily increasing winds (note the chop in the pictures) of 15-25 knots

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