May 16, Day 325 – In Oriental

We woke up this morning not sure about what to do: stay put at the anchorage, move to a marina in Oriental, or head north and try to make it to Belhaven. We checked the weather forecast and it showed a chance of thunderstorms beginning in the early afternoon. We really didn’t want another long day – which Belhaven would have been – but weren’t sure we wanted to stay in the anchorage if a storm was coming. So, we opted to move the boat to Whittaker Pointe Marina. It’s a fairly new marina created with the concept of selling slips but, with the economy the way it is, they also have lots of empty docks which they offer to transients. They are a MTOA sponsor, so with our membership we got dockage at $1/ft. Not a bad rate. It’s very nice, with great views of the river, has a swimming pool and a big front deck with rocking chairs.

We moved the boat – a little over 2 miles – and settled in around 11:00. They had a courtesy van, so we signed it out and went into Oriental for lunch. We also went to Marine Consignment of Oriental and browsed through all the boat and nautical-related stuff for about an hour. Gerry found 3 or 4 items that he thought were good deals and which, he claimed, we needed. Back at the marina Linda did a couple of loads of laundry while reading and relaxing in the rocking chairs on the front porch of the marina clubhouse.

It rained a little in the early evening, but most of the storm went to the north of us. Didn’t even get enough rain to wash the boat off. We had dinner on board, worked on routes and the blog and then off to bed.

A shot of Monk's Vineyard at the dock

... and a shot of the marina clubhouse from the dock

There was a huge front porch with lots of rocking chairs. Linda tried one out for a few hours.

A view of the docks and river from the clubhouse

The pool

Inside the clubhouse

Took a shot of the harbor as we strolled through Oriental. Lots of fishing boats.

Stormy weather??? Looked threatening, but didn't get much rain