Crew of Impetuous III saved by Fulcher's Seafood

Good Lord! What a day!

I can't believe Susan and I have already been in Oriental three months... wait a minute, it's only been three days. What happened? Oh, now I remember: We've spend money we had allocated to live three months in three days on maintenance expenses.

What's the old saw about the definition of "BOAT"?: "Break Out Another Thousand?"

Without the good graces and expertise of John Deaton and staff at Deaton Yacht Service, it would have probably been lots more. John has proven an advocate for cruisers on a budget, but damn! How many things can go wrong with one boat at one time? By Friday afternoon, Susan and I were cold, frustrated, and tired of cheese, sardines and Coca-Cola.

Enter our new best friend: Russell, at Garland Fulcher's Seafood Market on Hodges Street.

Tired of my bitchin', Susan sent me out - IN THE RAIN - to find something for dinner. Cruising the waterfront, I found an open-front plywood shack - Garland Fulcher's Seafood - open for business. I picked up wonderful local shrimp and fresh grouper, then returned, triumphant, to Impetuous III, where Susan threw together a fantastic jambalaya, with salad and fresh, hot bread, baked in our own ship's oven. Some things don't work worth a damn on Impetuous III, but the galley is an island of comfort and efficiency in Susan's capable and competent hands.

Russell, spotting me as a rank amateur, even gave me fishing advice, knowing full well I would probably cast my most efficient net at Fulcher's. Well, probably...

This is what Susan put on the table Friday night: Shrimp and grouper jambalaya with local North Carolina smoked-beef sausage, fresh green salad, hot, homemade (boatmade?) bread and simple, red table wine. Yep, this is what I came for.

By the way, that's the Johnson City Power Squadron's burgee, flying on the port side of the table. If someone from the Watauga Lake Sailing Club will forward me a burgee from that august group, we'll feature it in future posts.

Oriental Dragon Run - Chinese New Year With a Carolina Twist

While walking through the lovely little town of Oriental, NC, Thursday afternoon, Susan and I heard loud, enthusiastic drumming echoing through a waterfront neighborhood fronting the Neuse River. At first, we thought it might be a local garage band gearing up for the weekend (except the musicians were able to maintain a discernible rhythm). Tracking down the enthusiastic cacophony, we saw two dozen generally middle-aged participants, dancing around the back yard of a rather ordinary residence, leading a 40' Chinese dragon through its sinuous paces, accompanied by quartet of guys on conga and Celtic drums, with one erstwhile percussionist clanging enthusiastically on an empty industrial fire extinguisher (had a ring strangely resembling a Chinese gong).

It seems we had just run head-on into the dress rehearsal for Oriental's answer to Chinese New Year, the Dragon Run.

Actually, Oriental residents generally run the dragon twice on New Years Eve (that's occidental NYE, December 31), once at noon, once just preceding midnight, but this year, one of organizers claimed he was too tired to run the midnight dragon run, and since it was his dragon... well, you get the picture. Not to be deterred, or cheated out of their customary two-dragon run, local organizers ordered a second dragon all the way from China (which is not really a big deal; everything I wear is made in China, but, I digress...).

The new dragon was delivered recently, and rather than wait until next New Years Eve, practically everyone in town turned out to march the dragon up and down the Oriental waterfront, drummers drumming, local children waving brightly colored banners, the rank and file beating pots and pans, or just clapping and shouting as the dragon wove up and down through the throngs of young and young-at-heart, enthusiastically cheering the dragon to whatever end New Years dragons aspire.

What a fun town, even in the dead of winter! I think we've picked the right home port!