Oriental & Belhaven

Wednesday was a cloudy day as we set off to Oriental. By the time we reached the Oriental Marina the sun was shining again. Oriental is a small town but a thriving one that is known as the Carolina's Sailing Capital. It is a very friendly town catering to the needs of boaters. We ended up in a slip next to Mike & Sally who we met earlier when they stayed at St Johns Yacht Harbor and also at Heritage Plantation.

We met up with old friends Alan and Bev on their sailboat Dagny and met their traveling buddies Paul & Lori on their sailboat 2 Outragious. They had both just returned from 3 months in the Bahamas and were appropriately brown from their time in the sun.  We invited everyone to shared a lasagna dinner on board Drift Away. Here we all are from left to right; Bill, Bev, Paul, Lori, Sandy, Alan, and Jim, with Debbie and of course Abby in front.

On Thursday we cruised to Belhaven NC another small town and stayed at the town dock. We had a great dinner out at The Tavern at Jack's Neck. Great burgers and Bill had the Ahi Tuna which he said was excellent.  Sandy tried the shrimp and grits and also reported it was very good. We did a short walk around town after dinner and turned in early.  This boating is tough work and we were pooped.
There is a large lot next to the dock which made Abby very happy.  She could run and play without being on a leash.

We had a few mechanical issues today.  The port engine would not start when we left the dock at Oriental and after much very hot work in the engine room and use of jumper cables I was able to get it started and everything was good.  We ran for about two hours on one engine before we got it going though. Upon reflection there was only one old battery that I had not changed and I suspected it was the problem.  I called Advance Auto in Belhaven and they delivered the battery to the dock within half an hour.  What great service.  Bill and I wrestled the old one out and the new one in and we were up and running within another half hour.   I hope that's the end of that problem, it sure is hot working down there in the summer heat, and its only April.  The other issue was the Balmar voltage regulator and alternator for charging the 4 8D inverter batteries was not working.  There was no power to the regulator and it would not light up.  I remembered that Dennis and I had put a fuse in line and I was not able too find the fuse.  Fresher and more patient this morning I moved the tool box out of the way and the first thing I saw was the fuse holder.  When I opened it the fuse fell out into the bilge and once recovered and reinstalled everything was right again.  Very simple fix. One more project will be the cooling fan for the Generator.  It works but only when the switch is on for the generator to run in the engine room.  Not our usual way of running it.  So I will need to trace the wires and probably move the power wire for the fan to a different terminal.  Again small problems, it is a boat!!

We are having a great time and are planning our Chesapeake Bay visit for the next month.  So many places to see and visit.