Tuesday,Oriental Wed, Beaufort NC-11-11

pics) (L)Our view in Beaufort and (R)our view in Oriental

We had a lovely night in Oriental, and as brief a stay as it was I enjoyed it.The showers provided towels and perfumie shampoo and lotion as well. There isn't a traffic light for 15 miles. There is no leash law so there are dogs everywhere. They all seem to get along though, which is nice. The Provisions store has some great prices and they offer free bike borrowing. Gary bought a hose so we can wash down the boat. It doesn't take long for the boat to get dirty. The
grocery is a short bike ride up Main street and on the way is an ATM. We all have new non-skid shoes. You've heard about slamming the barn door after the horse got out? Right.......

It's sunny and cool today. We are on our way to Beaufort NC.

While on our way we had an incident with some "gentlemen" on the "Destiny" . I should first mention that alot of the powerboats that wake us are driven by delivery captains. This means that for 1) its not their boat, and 2) they have a schedule to follow. Many of them don't care who they wake. For them it's the bottom line that's important. We'd gotten pretty seriously waked by these two boats and I got on the radio and said,"Thanks for the wake Jackass 1 and 2" Okay , I was a little cranky and my ribs were killin me. So.... we keep puttin along and up ahead we see one of the boats standing to in the middel of the channel. There was a little marina tucked in off to the side(that's where the other boat was) that offered fuel services. So when we passed the one boat, he kept his bow to us so we couldn't see where he hailed from. Gary expressed his displeasure in regard to his driving techniques and we motored on.

There were other boats coming up and Gary pulled off to let them pass. Anyway, Gary was being especially careful because of my ribs and was standing to outside the channel, when these 2 power boats come blasting toward our stern. The first one slowed down and gave us a slow pass, Gary waved and said, "thank you captain" letting bygones be bygones. The second boat slowed down and Gary was about to repeat the process when the boat started to approach us. They had words and then took off up the creek. For about the next 6 miles all you heard on the radio were the complaints of the people they had passed and waked. FINALLY the coast guard
got on the radio and told the "southbound power boat to slow down". As far as we know they did. A little too late for me though, my ribs were the worst yet, and I was finding it extremely painful to breathe. I had my left arm tucked up in and tight trying for relief. Gary was furious.

We motored on and I decided then that I needed to get looked at. So I'm in the back of the boat crying, clutching my ribs when we finally get to Beaufort. Brittny say's, "Dad look". There,...... all tucked in, snug as a bug in a slip.... are these 2 boats. The Beaufort Dock deck hands were very helpful and located a Dr in a private clinic (as opposed to an emergency room) who had xray services, they also had a car waiting for Gary to borrow to take me. I'm on Gary's right and he is walking me up the dock and on a little finger pier on Gary 's left is this guy in the middle of 6 other men yuckin it up. In a flash Gary busts through the crowd, gets in this guys face with two fingers inches from his nose and say's,"Are you the captain of that boat?" guy says,"yeah". People start backing off the finger pier and moving away, to watch from a distance. In the meantime I'm standing where he left me in agony. Gary continues," Let me tell you why I'm so pissed off buddy, you waked us pretty bad out there and my wife has broken ribs! ! !" His response was,"I was in my legal right to wake you. You were outside the channel." At that point I'd waited as long as I could and literally cried out for Gary to come on. He turned and left the guy standing there.

The Dr. was very nice and gave me some nice DRUGS for the pain. When we got back Leona and Bill had taken very good care of Brittany AND had dinner waiting for us. Spagetts and Ameataballs, with garlic bread and salad. You guys rule. Everyone is being very attentive and won't let me do a thing :-). YOu know how much I hate that!!