A Very Inconsiderate Boater

We left Beaufort, headed for the town dock at Oriental, NC, where boaters are allowed to stay for up to 48 hours. The town has a web cam, so we'd been tracking it, making sure that at least one of the boat was at the 48 hour mark and would be leaving, making room for us.

As we approached the dock, we could see that the guy who should be leaving was still at the pier. The boat on the other side had just arrived the day before, and had 24 hours more, and had a large sized catamaran that took up most of that side of the pier. We could easily fit behind the third day guy, as his boat was a smaller size(about 30 feet), and the pier's overall length was 55ft. We planned to ask him to move back, and tie up behind him. Our bow would stick out past the end or the pier, but that wouldn't be in anyone's way.

Well, as we approached the pier, I called out to the guy, asking him if he was leaving today. When he replied no, I asked him if he could move his boat back a bit, so we could tie up in front of him. Keep in mind, this guy was tied up smack in the center of a 55ft. pier, with his dinghy tied off at an angle, to the sea wall, behind it. The guy glanced behind his boat, and then told me that there wasn't room. He then went down into his boat. This did NOT sit well with Scott. We hovered around the pier, trying to figure out how we could fit ourselves there, without the guy moving up.

After a minute or so, small guy reappeared onto the pier. Scott put the boat in neutral, and went out onto the cockpit to yell to him. Scott yelled that it was a 48 hour pier, and that if he wasn't leaving, the least he could do was to move back and share some space. The man looked at us, turned, walked to his bike, and rode away!! We were livid!

Meanwhile, everyone milling around in earshot(which was quite a few, as it was a beautiful, warm day)was now watching to see what would happen next. We couldn't tie along the sea wall, as there were several small, day trip boaters tied there. Locals called out to us not to back down and not to give up. We circled a few more times, trying to figure out a way to get onto that pier, without blocking the water for others. Eventually, we had to abort, and give up on Oriental. We headed north, agreeing that karma would catch up with the most inconsiderable boater we'd encountered so far!

We traveled four more hours, and anchored just short of the Pamlico Sound. It was a quiet anchorage, and we enjoyed a great sunset and a quiet night on the water for a change. The shoreline is looking more familiar now, like that of Maryland's Eastern Shore. We're definitely getting closer to home! Here are just a few photos.