From Acorn To Arabella.
This week, the journey resumes as Arabella and crew continue to sail south through North Carolina, heading towards warmer waters.
A slower pace of life means an opportunity for some much-needed housekeeping. Steve tackles a clean-out of Arabella’s anchor locker from a quiet anchorage in Goose Creek, washing away the the silty mud they’ve been picking up along their journey south.
Bumping their way down the Intracoastal Waterway, Steve and Robin get served a heaping portion of Southern hospitality in the small town of Oriental, NC. There are 3,000 sailboats and 900 people in this quaint oceanside town—the perfect ratio of sailboats to humans, if you ask us. No wonder the locals refer to Oriental as a “Velcro town.”
Oriental got its name from a shipwreck. Decades ago, sailing steamer Oriental ran aground near Cape Hatteras, and the nameplate washed ashore in what used to be known as Smith’s Creek. The name “stuck”—back to the whole Velcro town thing—and Smith’s Creek became Oriental. The name “Oriental” led to a legacy of—what else—Chinese dragons. Dragons are everywhere in Oriental…
Steve’s college friend, Jeff, joins the adventure for a few days. They take a tour of Oriental’s Natural History Museum, which is filled with relics from the town’s past, and buy some fresh seafood to make crab cakes. The only crew member not interested in Jeff’s famous Maryland crab cakes is Akiva, who is more enamored by Oriental’s many dock cats.
After a few days, the “cool wooden boat” at the town dock had garnered quite a bit of attention, and Steve and Robin were approached about getting involved in the annual New Year’s Eve event, which—of course—involved a Chinese dragon run. They were also invited to participate in a sailing event with Bow to Stern Boating. They were honored to accept both invitations.
At Bow to Stern, Robin falls in love with the chonkiest bulldog of all time—and the official Morale Officer of the boatyard—Tug. Captain Jim and Captain Scott talk about their experiences living aboard their own sailboats, and give Steve and Robin a tour of their yard, showing off a diverse fleet of boats including lasers, LJs, Catalinas, Sabers, Cape Dorys, Optis, and more. Steve and Robin get to take a Cape Dory out into the Neuse River, experiencing the stark difference between their heavy, wooden beast of a sailboat and a small, light fiberglass sailboat. They were visited by a school of dolphins in the harbor, putting a cherry on top of a perfect day.
New Year’s Eve arrives. Steve climbs Arabella’s mast to help string up the “Croaker,” Oriental’s very apropos version of “the Ball.” Robin gets ready to dance in one of the Chinese dragons that will be run out of town, along with the bad luck of 2024. The crowd gathers, banging on pots and pans, and reaching out to touch the dragon for good luck. What a way to ring in the New Year!
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Acorn to Arabella started as a wooden boat building project in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve began the journey as an amateur wooden boat builder crafting a 38′ wooden sailboat in his backyard: designer William Atkin’s Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel’s gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and now sailing the boat—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that traditional wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project continues beyond the boat shop, as Steve and crew travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they’ve built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.
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