Boat Talkers vs. Non-Boat Talkers

In some of the previous posts, you have seen references to the confusion that can exist between Boat Talkers (that would be the group of people who do not call a rope a rope) and Non-Boat Talkers (that would be the group of people who would ask "do you mean the red rope or the black rope?").

Boat talkers never call something by its land name.  For instance, a room with a bed would never be called a bedroom, it would be called a cabin.  The area where you cook would never be called a kitchen, it is the galley.  Of course everyone is aware that there are no bathrooms on a boat, merely heads.   But, at least in most cases, if you have a decent sailing primer, a Non-Boat Talker can actually figure out what a Boat Talker is saying if they use the proper term for something on the boat.  Things become much more complex when a Boat Talker moves to "Boat Slang".  For instance,  the primer calls the sail at the front of our boat a jib.  Except most Boat Talkers call it a ginny.  Try looking that up in the primer.

And then, there are so many words that seem to mean close to the same thing.  Take the back of the boat.  Pretty simple concept--t-h-e--b-a-c-k--o-f--t-h-e--b-o-a-t.  Just a few of the Boat Talker words for that general area include aft, stern, transom, sugar scoop (and there are more). 

Just when you think you might have the hang of some of this slang, ask your captain how fast you are going and their reply is likely to be, "Over water or over land?".  Ask how hard the wind is blowing and the reply might be "True or Apparent?".  Ask what the compass reading is and you will likely get "True or Magnetic?"  Oh my, the Boat Talkers really must not want anyone else to understand them.  Maybe they could devise the next code for the NSA.

Then there is the world of non-verbal communication so many Boat Talkers use--but I will save that for another post.

Top 10 Things River Duners should know about Oriental

10.  Oriental is the sailing capital of North Carolina with about 850 residents and over 3000 boats.
  9.  http://www.towndock.net/ is one of the best local websites.  It contains:
                           -Local and Marine Weather Forecasts
                           -Webcams showing several areas of town including one showing the Neuse
                           -Information about upcoming events
  8.  Oriental is an area where many people retire.  The average age is (how to say this diplomatically) old.  Seems like the younger people live in surrounding areas.
  7.  The Bean has killer coffee and homemade baked goods (as well as ice cream) and  gets a limited supply of the Sunday Washington Post and New York Times.  You will not be a stranger for long if you stop in for morning coffee at The Bean.  June can help you with your morning puzzles.
  6.  If you are brave enough to dock at the town dock (across from The Bean), the people sitting on the front porch of The Bean will be discussing your technique and possibly the way you have outfitted your boat.
  5.  Of the regulars at The Bean, you will see that the people who think they know it all are pretty annoying to the other people who think they know it all.   To those of us who know we are dumb as bricks, it is pretty amusing.
  4.  There is a rich varierty of "goings on" in Oriental, from farmers' markets to art shows to musical and theatrical productions.  There is an outdoor Sunday morning church service at the local park overlooking the Neuse from May to October.
  3.  Dogs wander freely in Oriental. Most of them are known by name and are so "famous" that a calendar was produced "The Dogs of Oriental."
  2.  There are two competing local weekly papers.  You have to read them both to really understand what is going on.
  1.  There are at least weekly sailboat races.  Some of these are serious and at others, everyone who finishes puts their name in a hat and a winner's name is drawn.

Sea Sickness

At a party last night, several friends asked about how Gay coped with motion sickness.  Ever since finding these "shockingly" amazing bands, there is nothing to cope with.  Some sailing friends of ours who sail the Great Lakes area recommended them.  We tried one and now keep four on our boat so we always have plenty for guests who are queasy. 

http://www.reliefband.com/main.html

Return from Ocracoke

To return to Oriental, we took the ferry from Ocracoke to  Hatteras (instead of the Cedar Island Route) and drove through the outer banks up to Nags Head and crossed Roanoak Island and drove through Manteo and little Washington.   The ferry ride to and from from Ocracoke (on Sunday we drove all the way up to Avon to look for a New York Times before finally abandoned the quest) was the most interesting ferry ride of all we had taken.  One entire leg of the ferry trip was completed backward.  To achieve that, the ferry spent several minutes pivoting against the pilings on the Hatteras side. Then the ferry bounced between the pilings like a pinball game. We had waves that crashed not only over the bow of the ferry but also over the hood of our truck.  A word to the wise--never take your own car to Ocracoke or Hatteras (rent one).  The amount of salt water that we had to drive through was amazing.  We will always make sure that any used car we buy has not spent time on the Outer Banks.

During the two months Gay was in NC, we had the chance to explore the Outer Banks from Nags Head down to Lookout.  And of course, we spent time on the Crystal Coast down below Lookout.  While each area has its charms, so far, Emerald Isle and Lookout Bight (along with Shakelford Banks) are Gay's favorites.  Ken, diplomatically, finds each appealing in different ways.

Two nights in Okracoke (via ferry)

Take away the sun and the warmth, add in gale force winds, rain and general gloom and Ocracoke is not so much fun.  The only people enjoying themselves seemed to be the serious surf-casters and the kite boarders.  While it is always nice to curl up with a good book, frankly River Dunes is a much nicer, cozier place to do that.  Under these weather conditions, the landscapes looked bleak and forlorn.  Accomodations were adequate at the Castle but frankly, nothing cozy, warm or comfortable about them (give me the River Dunes cottages anyday).  The high points on the island included some of the best Thai food found anywhere at Thai Moon (carry-out only, cash only).  Nice dinner at the Back Porch.   There are miles and miles of unspoiled Atlantic beach that would certainly be a draw in nice weather.  Next time around, will definitely sail (that way getting there will be half the fun), stay on the boat and plan the trip around sunshine.

One if by land, Two if by sea (or sound)

While waiting for the "perfect" weather window to head to Ocracoke, we missed the good weather in Okracoke.  We certainly could have headed that way numerous times, but each time, the sail one way or the other promised to be bumpy (or we had guests or there was something fun at the club or in Oriental that we did not want to miss...).  Not that we (the boat or the humans) couldn't handle the bumpy ride, but Ken had wanted Gay's last "long" sail to be pleasant.  So now, instead of sailing, we are taking the ferry from Cedar Island and will stay at the Castle for a few days.  Gay's long anticipated boat trip to Ocracoke will likely have to wait until next hurricane season (since the plan, at this moment, is to head far south with the boat after the holidays and stay somewhere in the Keys/Bahama/Caribbean until next hurricane season--when we will return to River Dunes).  Now that these plans have actually been committed to writing, we will see what Murphy (of Murphy's Law) thinks of them.  We will report on Ocracoke through the eyes of a first timer next week.

Seriously delicious soft shell crab at Broad Street

For all you folks in the Oriental area, you have to try to soft shell crab appetizer at the Broad Street Grill.  Do not miss it.

Marking the anchor chain

After all the fun we had with our anchoring practice, in our post mortem discussions, we decided to follow through on a previous discussion and mark the anchor chain so we could tell approximately how many feet of it were in the water.  After considering simple and complex systems (guess who suggested each) we settled on very simple--we will paint one link every ten feet.  For the first thirty feet, the marks will be green, for the second thirty feet the marks will be yellow and for the next thirty feet, they will be red.  

Anchoring Smankering

Ken (being of the Captain type of sailor) and Gay (heretofore of the smile pretty and open the beer type of sailor) went out yesterday to practice anchoring.  Of course, the practice was all for Gay since Ken already knew what he was doing.  Before leaving the dock, Gay wanted to understand what she had to do.  Walking to the front of the boat she saw the anchor and mentally checked that box.  Settling down on the bow with some anchoring information purloined from the Uff Da's website (http://www.ayc.com/boats/Uff%20Da%202006.pdf) and the mallet and remote (with a dangling cord that was not attached anywhere) which Ken had handed her, Gay read something which, at that time seemed to say:

The anchor is controlled by some sort of _____ass.  And then there is this gypsy (or maybe it was a witch).  Somewhere there is an anchor locker (could she hid from the gypsy or witch in there?)  Pretty much anything you do could trip a breaker, break your ____ass or your real butt, damage the boat or, if you were lucky, maybe just throw you off the boat so that someone else had to do this.  Also there was something about a rode (or maybe it was a road)--could it make this all go away?

Okay, no speaka da English.  Go find Ken.  Ohh, Ken explains--the rode is anything connecting the anchor to the boat.  In our case 100 feet of really, really heavy chain and then an even longer length of rope (probably not called ropes on a boat because no ropes are called rope on a boat).   So, where is all that stuff because I just see the anchor on the prow and a little bit of chain that looks like it disappears into the forward head, but I have been in that head and I have not seen anything remotely resembling that in there (for that matter, not much in there remotely resembling a land-based bathroom either)?  Ohh, Ken explains, if you slide that little latch on the top of the bow (the front of the boat for all you boat-talk challenged people like me), it opens this little trap door and down there is the anchor locker.  So, I open that trap door, and there is a pretty big space there.  I probably could hide there with the chain and rope.  There is also a place to plug in the remote doohickey. 

Okay, back to my studies. 

So, next the instructions talk about how to lower and set the anchor.  They say (and this is a direct quote) "Control the speed of the chain running over the gypsy as the anchor is being lowered.  CAUTION: ALLOWING THE CHAIN TO RELEASE FREELY MAY CAUSE THE CHAIN TO JUMP FROM THE GYPSY" again probably causing some damage to multiple things.  Wow--picture that--a chain jumping away from a gypsy.  Back to the instructions--Once the anchor is set you need to set up the snubber.  Snubber--hmm--only me and Ken on the boat, so who to snub?  I will have to think about that.  If I snub Ken, then maybe he will throw me overboard since it is his boat.  The water temperature is no longer fun (although for my triathlon pals, it is 68 degrees and I know that is not really cold enough to whine about yet-right Celeste?).

Time for a translator.  Ken comes up to the bow and (rather patiently actually) sits down and points to the windlass, the rode, the gypsy, the pin I am to pound on with the mallet to release the anchor and shows me the snubber (a special hook that fits inside one of the links on the chain and is hooked to a rope--keeping in mind sailors don't use the words chain and rope).

Okay, Gay is finally willing to leave the dock! Oh wait, we need some signals.  Simple you might think--forward (both arms pointing straight up), left (10 o'clock), right (2 o'clock), stop (both arms straight out to the side of the body).  Hold on, how about back-up (how about hands on your real butt Ken suggests but we settle for hands on your neck with your elbows out--I kid you not).  So we get out into the clear in 15 feet of water.  Gay takes the mallet and the remote thingie with the dangling cord and wonders what happens if that goes overboard.  Not wanting to find out, she loosely hooks it around a forward cleat while she pounds out the pin.  Now what to do with the mallet?  Hmm--how about open a forward hatch and throw it on the bed in the forward cabin?   Open the locker.  Plug in the remote thingie (with only two buttons "up" and "down" working the remote was the easiest part of this job).   The remote seems to be the only thing on the boat not requiring a Y chromosome.

Keep in mind that Gay is only 3+ months post total knee replacement so kneeling is not really in the cards.  The boat is bobbing a little, but Ken managed to keep it really steady while Gay slowly worked through all these steps and now the anchor is somewhere in the water.  Gay cannot remember which signal is stop and which is reverse but Ken gets the message as she alternates between them. He does reverse and stop (in that order) and with a few more feet of anchor chain out, the anchor catches.  Yeah!! The boat is firmly anchored.  But now that snubbing thing.   Reach way out and stick that hook into the center of one of the links on the chain.  Now cleat off the rope part of the snubber.  Then let out a little more chain with that remote thingie to take the strain off the windlass.  Yeah!

Now what do we do?  Of course, we bring in the anchor.  Do all of the above in reverse order?  Not really, but you get the idea.

Will Gay ever get to Okracoke?

Today Patina was supposed to start a three or four day trip to Okracoke (on the Outer Banks).  Most people in this area talk about Okracoke in hallowed tones and Gay wants to know what that is all about.  She thinks is may be hard to beat Lookout Bight and Shakelford Banks  But, so far, the weather is not cooperating.  So, do we empty the boat's frig and freezer and move the food back to the condo in town (of course when we do, you know the weather will cooperate the next day and we will have to lug it all back to the boat) or leave it there (insuring the weather will not clear before Gay leaves for Denver next week). 

Last week, our friend from Chicago, Zip, came out for a few days and we took her out on her first-ever sail. And yes, she lives in downtown Chicago and has not sailed.  The next day we drove over to Emerald Isle and spent some time on the beach.  A must see if you are ever in the area.  They call that area the "Crystal Coast" because of the spectacular ocean front.

2009 Oriental Solo Sailboat Race

This weekend, under fairly heavy winds, was Oriental's Solo Sailboat Race. It was a 10 mile course that had to be navigated without crew. The winner was Henry Frazer (aka (to those of us at River Dunes) Beth Frazer's husband).  This photo was snapped immediately prior to the race start.

Ken watching the race in a t-shirt he found in Beaufort. Gay thinks it might disappear in the laundry!

Where are you from?

In Oriental, this question is asked frequently. In fact, in Oriental, strangers will walk right up to you and start a conversation, that often feels like someone is composing a dossier.  A friend said that his parent often used to answer the question with "I am here on a secret CIA mission."  That usually caused the inquisitor to move on rather quickly.

I supposed our lives are a little more complicated that most, but when someone starts with the "Where are you from line of questioning" and continues beyond polite conversation, it gets downright weird. 

Well, we sort of live in Denver, but Ken has been in Oriental at least as much as Denver for the past couple of years.  Gay, well she lives in Denver but has spent more time in other places (not Oriental) for the past several years. 

Sometimes the question gets asked "Where do you live?".  Then we get even more confused since we seem to go from place to place a lot.

But seriously, we are aliens from a distant galaxy sent here to infiltrate Oriental, NC.

Lesson Number 4231

Probably not really lesson number 4231--could be 5789 or 1098, but a really good lesson.  Never, never risk your body when docking a boat.  As we were pulling in from a morning sail yesterday, the wind was pushing us away from the slip.  With the great rigging in the slip, the boat was not in any danger of causing itself, the dock or other boats any harm.  But Gay, being of the long legs and long arms, stretched out mightily to reach the dock and was trapped with her feet on the dock and her hands on the rail (and her weight still on her arms). Faced with the prospect of a drop into the water, she managed to give one mighty heave and barely made it onto the dock.  The rest of the docking went off like clockwork.  Which led to the inevitable discussion-what would we have done if she had gone into the drink?  How could she keep from getting pushed between the boat and the dock and also stay out of the way of the prop?  Well, the answer seems to be--don't risk going in the water--that means never jump to the dock, stretch too far or.....  Bottom line, use a boat hook, wait until the helmsman can bring the boat closer to the slip.   Or in difficult conditions, if help is available, ask for it.  Heaven forbid, if it happens, make sure the engine is in neutral so the prop is not spinning.  If you are in the water, get out of the slip somehow--even go under the dock.  Then figure out how to get out of the water.  But get out of harms way first.  There are no ladders into the water at our slip--perhaps something that needs changed.

Lauren and the Boat: Mon, Oct 5, 2009

Lauren loves  the boat.  She wants to do all the things that adults do.  Captain Lauren at the helm.  Her favorite spots include the helm, the cockpit, the bow and the aft cabin.

Doing the dishes.  She loves to eat onboard.

Helping Gramps check the fresh water levels.

Lauren's Trip to Shakelford Banks: Sun, Oct 4

We took the ferry to Beaufort and met Will (http://www.offshorerafting.com/) for a trip out to Shakleford Banks on his high speed RHIB.  Lauren is almost ready to pass on marrying her dad and be Will's wife since he has 8 boats and a convertible.

Almost immediately we got to see and play with dolphins.  They seem to like the Beach Boys (with loud bass)!  They were so close to the boat at times that we felt like we could reach out and touch them.  There were several adults and at least one baby.

Then we saw wild ponies on the beach.  So much amazing wild life.

Then on to "Lauren's Island"

Finding sponges

So much to see.

Lauren & Josh Sail: Sat Oct 3, 2009

Lauren and Josh arrived last night and we went out for a sail today.  Lauren has taken to the boat and wants to learn everything about it.  She particularly loves the aft cabin and using the hatch to pass things back and forth from the cockpit.

Using binoculars to look for the channel markers. She was better at reading the numbers than Grandma.  What a relief for Gramps.

Eyeglasses Overboard: Fri Oct 2, 2009

Ken's brand new eyeglasses went overboard as he was scrubbing the deck.  Thankfully, Ralph from Oriental Dive was able to find them.  Big relief.

Back Home-Beaufort to River Dunes, Oct 1, 2009

Patina pulled back into her slip at River Dunes after covering 57 nm today. We left Beaufort Docks without the help of dockmaster Jeb (and regretted it) around 8:30, motored out to sea and put the sails up for a perfect beam reach to The Bight at Cape Lookout. Although the winds were light (4-7) Patina was able to cover the distance in short order.  Gay handled the helm for most of the day.

As we approached the entrance to the Bight, we were surrounded by 100's of cavorting dolphins. We dropped the jib and stayed around to play with them for almost an hour. This experience convinced us that Patina needs a video camera (add it to the list of things Patina needs--isn't that what "BOAT" means?--Bring Out Another Thousand?).

We went on into Lookout Bight. We debated spending the night there and motoring quickly back into River Dunes on Friday (we want to meet Josh and Lauren at the New Bern airport on Friday afternoon) but decided to leave the Bight around noon and head back to RD. Went along Shakleford Banks searching for wild ponies and were rewarded with the sight of 4 of them on the banks.  Back around Radio Island (why is it called that?), back under 2 bridges and through Adams Creek. More dolphins in Adams Creek. With light winds on the Neuse, we motored on home so we could pull in before dark. 

A photo of "Otto" at the helm for the last leg home------------------->

After docking and taking care of rudimentary necessities, we decided take-out from the Food Emporium was the best option for dinner and ran into Oriental and brought it back to the boat. (You might have noticed that Gay has not used the galley much lately--although that killer cup of coffee first thing in the morning is quite good).

River Dunes to Beaufort: Tues, Sept 29, 2009

Off to Beaufort. Weather finally promised several days of wonderful weather all the way from Oriental to Lookout. Took off from River Dunes around 11 hoping to dock in Beaufort when the tides and currents were most cooperative. Sailed across the Neuse to get to Adams Creek and enter the ICW. Saw Christiana III as she sailed back to River Dunes.

Dolphins were playing in the creek and we were enjoying the sight until the Neon Rainbow (Alan Jackson's boat) decided it was in a big hurry and motored around us. Motored through the ICW.

Ken was at the helm most of the trip and Gay, using all the chart reading skills she learned from Captain Jesse Edwards dutifully looked for markers and read the charts, monitoring lat and long. Probably not really necessary given the chart plotter but a real test for those skills, particularly closer to Beaufort.

Just before we entered Adams Creek, two very old fishing boats that had been in Oriental Harbor (Cong Tranh and Victoray) entered in front of us. As we approached the first bridge that we had to go under, they slowed way down and let us pass them. As we passed by, they appeared to have very little crew. Once we passed them, they fell in behind us and allowed Captain Ken to lead the way.

We could tell they were following us because they followed us as we momentarily took the wrong channel in a portion of the ICW above the 2nd bridge. They followed us as we turned around and got back on the correct channel. We went under the Morehead Bridge and were set to navigate our way around Radio Island and into the Beaufort Docks. The fishing boats headed off the other way.

The bridge never looks tall enough for the mast to clear, but with 52 feet of boat/mast above the water line and a bridge height of over 60 feet, you know you will clear it. 

With dockmaster Jeb's help, Ken docked the boat like a champ around 5. We were actually quite elated with our prowess and finished with an absolutely delightful dinner at Aqua's. Highly recommended to anyone eating in Beaufort (behind Clawsons).  So grateful to Captains Will Flannery and Jesse Edwards for all they did to train us to sail, help us with problems and encourage us over the past two years so we could be ready for today.

Oriental Women's Regatta, Sat, Sept 26, 2009

Annual Oriental Women's Regatta!
Weather was a bit challenging (swells as high as 4 feet and winds 25-30 with gusts up to 35) so all but three boats dropped out of the the race. Lucky enough to snag seats in the press boat captained by Will Flannery (high speed RHIB)(http://www.offshorerafting.com/) so had great fun chasing the boats and snapping photos. Gay vows that she will be in the race next year with Patina.

At evening soiree at River Dunes, Gay recruited Mary Haskins Gurganus to be on the Patina team for next year's race. Since neither Gay nor M.H. know much about sailing, should be interesting. Met many interesting folks that evening with many interesting boat stories.

Mission Postponed--Beaufort Trip: Frid, Sept 25, 2009

Scheduled to leave River Dunes between 9 and 10 sailing to Beaufort/Lookout NC with Christiana III, Christa and Hank Metzger. Weather promised rain most of the weekend in Beaufort (and we wanted to be out and about and not inside the boat dodging the rain) so, despite being packed and ready to go, we decided to postpone until the weather looked more promising. Christa and Hank took off and were safely docked in Beaufort enjoying a beer before the heavens opened up with their promised rains. Turned out to be many things happening in Oriental and River Dunes that made the weekend look fun. Bought tickets to the Vega String Quartet for Saturday night and made plans to watch the Women's Regatta on Saturday.