Ed called his friend Mass who had sailed from New Bern to Oriental to meet us. Mass had tied up at the town dock and was holding a spot for us along the dock.
We motored out of the River Dunes Marina Channel at 10:30 AM and out into the Nuese River. The river is very wide in this area and almost looks like an open sound. We arrived at the town dock in Oriental, NC, at 1:30 PM, and Mass helped us tie up.
Mass' batteries on his boat were dead and he was concerned that he might not be able to start his engine in the morning. He had contacted TowBoat/US for a jump start in the morning if needed.
After getting settled we went across the street to "The Bean". This a popular coffee house in Oriental. We had some snacks and coffee for lunch.
When we came out of The Bean and returned to the dock a sailboat was approaching to tie up. It was a Catalina 30 with 2 families aboard. The owner had just bought the boat and was taking his wife and 2 kids and his brother and his wife and kids for a sail. They were stopping for lunch in Oriental. His name was Paul and he was an EMT and worked at the Tri-Country fire department. He was an ex-marine and had been stationed at Camp Lajuene, NC. He was born and raised in Allentown, PA. He wanted to get a job in Pennsylvania, but the competition was to difficult. So, when he got a job offer from her he took it because he was familiar with the area. I told him that I had a Catalina 30 and he asked me to help him understand how his head (toilet) worked because he had heard that his boat could sink if the head was not set the right way. I told him about how to open and close the seacocks for the head and also some precautions about the sink in the galley. I also reset his main sheet which had been run through the wrong blocks. Paul thanked us and wished us a safe journey to New Bern. They went across the street to get their kids some ice cream at "The Bean" and then motored away from the dock to head home.
After they left another boat pulled in to the town dock. We helped them dock and tie up their boat. They had come from Elizabeth City and had followed the same route we had come. They had problems with their fuel pump and needed a new one. When we leave in the morning we will move them further onto the dock so they can fix their boat.
They had a Honda generator on board and volunteered to connect it to Mass' boat to power his battery charger.
We went out to dinner at "M & M's", a nice restaurant in Oriental, while the generator charged Mass' batteries.
We will get an early start for New Bern tomorrow so that we can arrive by early afternoon.
Lat/Lon = N W
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