ORIENTAL, NC - POOLSIDE

Thursday, May 7th to Friday, May 8th, 2015

Day 276-277
Miles Traveled: 0
Total Miles Traveled: 3623


  Thursday was laundry and grocery shopping day.  We took advantage of the marina's courtesy van and went to the smallest WalMart we have ever seen.  It was actually called a WalMart Express.  Although small, it had everything that we needed.  We spent the rest of the day doing some trip planning and checking out the weather.  A large low pressure front was to our south and intensifying.  The weather predictions were "all over the map" (no pun intended).  Since the weather was so unsettled, we decided we would stay at least another day.  


  Friday we awoke with a new kind of weather alert on our phones - a Hurricane Statement.  The low pressure had developed into the first named storm of the 2015 season - Subtropical Storm Ana.  It appears that the worst of the storm will be south of us in northern South Carolina.  We felt very fortunate to be at River Dunes Marina.  This is the only "hurricane hole" marina in the state of North Carolina.  What is a "hurricane hole"?  It is a marina that is very well protected from wind and waves, and, for insurance purposes, an acceptable place for a boat to be during a hurricane.  The storm is excepted to make landfall in couple days and move north towards our location before heading back out to sea.  We had some rain and wind in the morning, but, the rest of the day was absolutely beautiful - sunny with nice breeze.  We took advantage of the great weather and the amenities the marina had to offer by relaxing pool side.

relaxing pool side

Dan floating in the pool overlooking Grace Harbor

  We had a very relaxing day, but, we were afraid this was the calm before the storm.