Thursday 3-19-09
After a still and comfortable night at anchor, we were underway by 07:15 in the semi-darkness of dawn. The only thing else that was moving as we got our anchor up, was a solitary sailboat headed north on the ICW. We weren’t the only early birds on the water after all. We followed behind the sailboat (about a mile or two) all of the way to Oriental, NC. The only thing notable about the 50 mile voyage that day was the weather – SPECTACULAR- bright blue sky with a light breeze for the entire voyage, with nearly other traffic on the waterway.
We did see a helicopter flying very low over Bogue Sound. The chopper was equipped with some strange looking gear – external booms that we guessed might hold electronic sensors for surveying the sea bottom. Or maybe they were counting the Dolphin – we did see a few of them. There also was a ship being unloaded in Beaufort harbor that had several small guard boats patrolling the ship’s perimeter.
We arrived in the little harbor of Oriental a bit after 1:00 PM and after we got the boat squared away and relaxed a bit, Polly phoned our friends Madge and Larry Williams, who later stopped by our boat to visit and invite us to dinner Friday evening (the invite also included pick-up and delivery). They were away on a trip to Australia and New Zealand when we stopped in Oriental last fall and now they will be leaving on Sunday for a trip to China – no wilting flowers are the Williams. They also own a Monk trawler and one of their problems is making time to cruise in it between travels. It is a real treat to know Madge and Larry.
After a still and comfortable night at anchor, we were underway by 07:15 in the semi-darkness of dawn. The only thing else that was moving as we got our anchor up, was a solitary sailboat headed north on the ICW. We weren’t the only early birds on the water after all. We followed behind the sailboat (about a mile or two) all of the way to Oriental, NC. The only thing notable about the 50 mile voyage that day was the weather – SPECTACULAR- bright blue sky with a light breeze for the entire voyage, with nearly other traffic on the waterway.
We did see a helicopter flying very low over Bogue Sound. The chopper was equipped with some strange looking gear – external booms that we guessed might hold electronic sensors for surveying the sea bottom. Or maybe they were counting the Dolphin – we did see a few of them. There also was a ship being unloaded in Beaufort harbor that had several small guard boats patrolling the ship’s perimeter.We arrived in the little harbor of Oriental a bit after 1:00 PM and after we got the boat squared away and relaxed a bit, Polly phoned our friends Madge and Larry Williams, who later stopped by our boat to visit and invite us to dinner Friday evening (the invite also included pick-up and delivery). They were away on a trip to Australia and New Zealand when we stopped in Oriental last fall and now they will be leaving on Sunday for a trip to China – no wilting flowers are the Williams. They also own a Monk trawler and one of their problems is making time to cruise in it between travels. It is a real treat to know Madge and Larry.
John O"Bryan, Madge and Larry Williams at the 2008 Monk Rendezvous.
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