Nov 13 - 16 Oriental to Southport NC

The symbol of Oriental - a dragon.

     We enjoyed the hospitality of Oriental for a second day.  Dan and I took a long walk through town on Friday and bought some groceries at the Walmart Express (a mini Walmart?- mostly it was a grocery store of moderate size) and he browsed through the Oriental Marine Consignment Shop for at least an hour.  We had some mailing labels to print out for some items we were returning, and the Inland Waterway Provision Company on the nearby corner kindly let us use their printer.  The whole town is exceptionally friendly to boaters - docks are free for 48 hours, the IWPC offers courtesy bikes, the ladies at The Bean, the coffeeshop/local hangout directly across from the dock let us know we could sit on their porch and avail ourselves of their wifi and outlet to charge the computer even after hours.  Soon there will be a brand new restroom and shower facility too, free for boaters.  Oriental is overall a warm, welcoming place. 

     We spent three more nights in North Carolina: Swansboro, which is just South of the Cape Fear River, Sloop Point in Topsail Sound, where we listened the surf crashing all night, and Southport.  Southport also boasted free docks, but when we turned into the tiny Southport basin and saw the docks, we decided it better to anchor next to them instead.

Sunset Topsail Sound - s/v Mascaret from Montreal

      The town of Southport is a sleepy little Southern town, whose claim to fame is being on the way to the more prestigious community of Oak Island on the outer banks.  The town docks, while free, are in very poor condition, with pilings tilting and overgrown with oysters, and access to the dock itself consists of half-rotten ladders or metal spikes similar to those on telephone poles.  The floating dinghy dock offers no access at all to the fixed dock, which even at high tide is about six feet up.  Dan and I tried our hand at the metal spike climb when we went ashore to replenish the Dark and Stormy supplies, but we chose to dinghy directly over to the restaurant dock when we went back to town for dinner.  We had a good meal at the Fishy Fish Cafe, and a very pretty sunset.

Sunset in Southport