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SV Maris Stella at the town dock. Oriental’s public docks are open, with some caveats. The yellow tape indicates that visiting boats (boats coming from outside Oriental) must self isolate on their boats. Signs are posted showing businesses that will deliver to the docks.

1:44p Pamlico County has a COVID-19 task force. It needs a few good volunteers. Click here to read about the task force and how to help.

12:31p The IRS has created an online tool to help non-tax filers register for economic impact payments. Read the press release here.

12:21p There are lines of brown bags outside the Provision Company. Inside are herbs from Raindrop Ridge Farms. If you placed an order, they’re here.

To find your pick-up time, find the first letter of your last name:

Noon til 1p: A-B, 1 til 2p: C-D, 2 til 3p: E-J, 3 til 4p: K-M, 4 til 5p: N-R and 5 til 6p: S-Z.

Today’s Blood Drive at the Women’s Club of Oriental is full. Except for one appointment – a 5:30p slot for a Power Red donation. If you’d like to make that donation, click here. Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, no walk-up donations are allowed.

8:42a The Hope Regala (Hope Clinics annual fundraiser) is usually held at River Dunes, with a big tent. This year the event is adapting – it has gone virtual. Folks are embracing the new virtual event – over half of the $10k Golden Ticket Raffle have been sold. There’s only 200 tickets – your odds of winning the $10,000 are much better than Powerball. You can buy your ticket online – click here.

Sailors aboard the S/V Kestrel (home port Oriental) write in about the COVID-19 conditions in the Caribbean… and the Salty Dawg Sailing Association’s Homeward Bound Flotilla. Read their Letter to the Editor from Antigua here.

3:54p A fourth case of the coronavirus has been diagnosed in Pamlico County. The press release from Pamlico County Emergency Services is here.

Craven County now has 22 cases, Carteret County 20. There are now over 3,700 coronavirus cases in North Carolina. Click here to see the coronavirus statistics in North Carolina.

2:24p As of today there have been over 14,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the United States. There were over 1,800 yesterday alone.

But when someone you know is in those numbers, that brings it home that this is serious.

Ken Laser is Oriental’s resident architect. He and his wife Wendy Osserman have lived in Oriental for over a decade. On Tuesday Ken lost his brother Mark to COVID-19.

Mark Laser recently retired after a successful career as a medical doctor in CT. He was an experienced sailor. Mark and his wife Amy Knorr (also a physician) retired last year, with the dream of going cruising. They acquired a 45’ catamaran. Late last year they sailed it south, running offshore from Hampton, VA to Antigua in the Caribbean.

The dream of the cruising life had begun.

About a month ago, living aboard at Saint Martin, Mark became ill. Amy tended to him until it became clear he needed hospitalization. The hospital in Saint Martin didn’t have a ventilator. Mark was flown to Miami, and taken to a nearby hospital. As a coronavirus patient, Mark was put in isolation. Even his wife Amy couldn’t visit his room.

On Tuesday of this week, Mark Laser died of the coronavirus. He was 62.

This virus is real.

A fitting quote from Mark is today’s quote on TownDock.

12:05p Free eggs? Reader Susan Stephens writes in:

TownDock readers write in with thanks to folks working hard during these odd times.

10:10a The traditional Easter Egg Hunt can’t be done this year due to social distancing requirements. That hasn’t stopped Oriental United Methodist Church from figuring out a different way for the Egg Hunt to happen.

From Pastor Anne:

We are encouraging people to place an Easter egg picture in a window or other prominent place on their house, so that kids can ride or walk around and enjoy a virtual Easter Egg Hunt. Eggs can be drawn freehand or there are many coloring sheets available online. Get your eggs up by Saturday.
OUMC will put a “flower cross” out in front of the church Saturday, and we want to invite anyone who walks or rides that way to bring flowers from their yards and add them to the cross, for a hopeful sign of Spring and resurrection.

Is your church doing something different this year for Easter? Let us know. Send your Easter Egg info to info@towndock.net

10:08a Last night, Chris Daniels, Mac McWilliams, Rich Quin and Ken Belangia performed at Silos Open Mic Night online. If you missed it, you can catch it here. Along with the live performances, there were recorded tunes from Scott Finch and Susan DeCarlo.

Next week, Silos Open Mic starts a little later, at 7:00p. If you want to perform contact Chris Daniels at info@silosnc.com.

9:44a If you bought herbs from Raindrop Ridge Farms and the Inland Waterway Provision Company, tomorrow is pick-up day. A lot of herbs were ordered. In order to observe social distancing requirements, an alphabetical system has been devised.

To find your pick-up time, find the first letter of your last name:
Noon til 1p: A-B, 1 til 2p: C-D, 2 til 3p: E-J, 3 til 4p: K-M, 4 til 5p: N-R and 5 til 6p: S-Z.

All plants will be at the Provision Company on Hodges St. If you can’t make it during your time on Friday, the last chance for pickup is Saturday, 9-5:30p. Have questions? Call the Provision Company at 252-249-1797.

8:20a From Oriental Town Hall:

7:54a First a cooling storm will pass through, then this afternoon a forecast high near 80 today, but tomorrow cooler weather returns; low to mid 60s on Friday and Saturday. Friday night the low could get below 40.

Billy Flockhart at the Piglet has a request. If you are ordering groceries for curb-side pickup or delivery, email your request to orientalpigglywiggly@gmail.com.

The Piglet is open 7a – 8p 7 days a week. As you are coming in there is hand sanitizer for you to use near the entrance. Most shoppers are still coming in to the store, many with masks.

There is the option of both curbside pickup or home delivery. Curbside pick-up is the fastest way of the two options to get your groceries: you email your order to orientalpigglywiggly@gmail.com, then drive in and pick it up the next day.

Home deliveries have become so popular, that with one Piggly Wiggly delivery truck, orders are running two to three days behind. The Piglet has limited staff that can provide delivery.

To help keep the Piglet operating efficiently, Billy has asked that all curbside pickup and delivery orders are a minimum of $60.

5:54p Pamlico County has reported 3 known cases of coronavirus. As of today, all three cases have been deemed recovered. Read the Pamlico County Emergency Services press release here.

5:20p Open Mic Night is live starting at 5:30p. You’ll find it at this link.

Take-out is open and ready for you order at The Silos. Click silosnc.com to order or call 252-249-1050.

4:28p One of the biggest fundraisers of the year is still happening. Hope Regala, Hope Clinic’s annual fundraiser is going online, beginning May 6. Click here to read about what to expect, and how you can participate.

2:02p Andrea Bruce is currently in Oriental. She was a staff photographer for The Washington Post for 8 years, known for her wartime photos from Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House News Photographers Association named her Photographer of the Year four times.

Andrea is now a photographer for National Geographic. They have asked her to cover Pamlico County for the magazine – specifically the subject of unemployment as a result of COVID-19.

If you have become unemployed (or close to it) by the coronavirus situation, Andrea would like to talk to you. Email her at andrea@andreabruce.com.

1:07p With Spring comes mosquitos. And mosquito spraying. It begins again next Thursday. From Town Hall:

8:26a The Town Wide Yard Sale happens every year on the first weekend in May. This year, it would have been May 2. With the uncertainty of the coronavirus, that has also been cancelled.

Bulk waste collection – the annual white & brown goods pickup – will happen as scheduled on May 9. Set your unwanted appliances and large furniture out by the road before 7a for pickup. Click here to see what else will be picked up that day.

For an updated list of postponed and cancelled events, click here.

5:58p Monday night was the monthly Pamlico County Commissioners meeting… for the first time held online. Much of the meeting discussed how the county was responding to COVID-19. Here is the report.

3:46p Marker 5a was discovered recently onshore near Whittaker Point. It should be out on the newly dredged (and 8ft deep) Whittaker Creek Channel. Tom Jones and Jesse Burgess with the Town Of Oriental did the heavy lifting to recover it today. It will get cleaned up and then a diver will be called to re-install it.

(click photo for the big buoy view)

1:10p It’s BOGO Pizza today at The Silos (as it is every Tuesday). Buy one, get one free. Call 252-249-1050 to order for takeout.

Yesterday’s high reached 81… today it’s looking like we’ll stay in the mid 70s. Kinda hard not to like it out there. On the Neuse a lazy 5-10 knots this afternoon, freshening to 10-15 Wednesday.

12:37p There are now over 3,200 coronavirus cases in North Carolina. Craven and Carteret counties each have 18 cases. Pamlico County remains at 3 cases, but some projections suggest the number could grow significantly throughout this month.

A newly formed Pamlico County Coronavirus Task Force spoke at last night’s Pamlico County Commissioner’s meeting. A report and video from that meeting coming this afternoon.

Click here to see the updated NC coronavirus map, with cases by county. This map is updated with information throughout the day.

8:42a Last night brought a brief thunderstorm. The winds peaked quickly – the Oriental Weather Station recorded 32mph at 7:20p last night. The quall left about a half inch of rain.

The storm was captured by TownDock readers Fred & Cindy Rampey – here’s a view from the condos near the Oriental bridge:

4:52p No, it isn’t the new goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s Mr Piglet Billy Flockhart, in ultimate grocer virus-fighting gear:

(click photo for the big Billy view)

4:11p The Pamlico County monthly Board Of Commisioners meeting is tonight at 7p. The agenda is at this link. While it is a public meeting, people cannot physically attend due to COVID-19. Instead, the meeting with be done via Zoom. To attend the online meeting, you are required to register in advance. Here is the registration link.

2:04p There’s still just 3 coronavirus cases in Pamlico County, with one of those recovered. Neighboring Beaufort County has 9 reported cases, and Craven and Carteret each have 17 cases. Now over 2,900 cases in North Carolina.

Click here to see the NC coronavirus map, with cases by county.

1:25p A reader writes in that the recently passed CARES Act includes unemployment benefits that all may not be familiar with.

9:32a Today is the last day to put in an order for Dorita Boyd’s herbs. You have until 3p today to order.

Dorita runs Raindrop Ridge Farms and visits Oriental in April, selling her plants at the Saturday Farmer’s Market on Hodges St.

With markets shut down, Dorita (known locally as the Herb Lady) is selling her plants online with help from the Inland Waterway Provision Company.

You can see what’s available – then make your choices and order online at this link. Pickup day is Friday, April 10 at the Provision Company.

8:53a The Oriental In-Water Boat Show has been delayed until September, but the Boat Show burgees are here now. Find out more here.

6:46a Tuesday’s monthly Town Board meeting, set for tomorrow evening, is cancelled. Between now and their next meeting, May 5th, a public hearing will be set to for the acceptance of the revised Flood Plain Maps and the Revised Flood Prevention Ordinance.

For more information on that Flood Prevention Ordinance, click here. Information for the public hearing will be posted when available.

Chance of rain later this afternoon. High temps will be near 80 for the next few days.

10:30a Today’s Palm Sunday service at Oriental United Methodist Church is now online – click here.

8:01a Dave and his Sunday breakfast crew are in at M&Ms Cafe. Here’s the menu. There’s one wrong price on there – Dave says the Sausage & Gravy & Biscuits are just $6.95 (not 8.95). Breakfast operators are standing by at 252-249-2000.

6:40a Saturday’s high reached 70, and that is what Sunday has in store again. More clear & dry & sunny today, then Monday warms up to near 80 with a 50% chance of rain.

3:02p You can still order Raindrop Ridge Farms herb plants online. Now through Monday, order online at this link. Herb pickup will be April 10 at the Provision Company in Oriental.

9:31a There are long words for different ages. You know, like septuagenarian. That’s a person between 70 and 79. A person who is between 80 and 89 years old is an octogenarian…. between 90 and 99 years old is a nonagenarian.

If you get to 100 you’re a centenarian.

Oriental has a new nonagenarian today. Rolf Anselm is 90. His family lives all across the US. Due to COVID-19, they can’t visit. So Rolf’s daughter Tanja sent this along…

7:58a It got a tad chilly overnight – the low was 45. Nothin’ but sunshine today, high just into the mid 60s. The same Sunday and a bit warmer, look for a 70 degree high.

6:12p M&Ms latest dinner specials are now online.

3:44p COVID-19 is cancelling event after event. The Croaker Festival, scheduled for July 3-5, 2020 – has been cancelled this year.

While the Croaker sheds a tear, at least we can remember some recent Croaker Festivals:
• Croaker Festival 2019
• Croakerfest 2019 Fireworks
• Scenes From Croaker Festival 2018
• Croaker Festival 2016 Parade
• Croakerfest 2016

If you didn’t see it, check out the TownDock cover photo(s) from earlier today showing Drone Orville’s look at the Whittaker Creek Dredging Spoil site.

2:07p The Pamlico News will publish on April 8, but after that suspend for three weeks. Mary Frances Taylor with The Pamlico News writes in:

12:25p Pamlico County now has a third confirmed case of coronavirus. Read the Pamlico Emergency Management press release here.

The first case, reported Sunday March 29, has already recovered. You can check for cases by county in North Carolina by clicking here.

12:19p It seems ice cream has become a fave comfort food in these odd times – people have been buying it quicker than it could be restocked. But good news at The Pig – ice cream is back in stock today:

Billy Flockhart writes in:

8:03a There is a GoFundMe running for the workers at M&Ms Cafe. We’re told this is not for owner Dave or the restaurant, but for folks out of work. The link is here.
If you’d prefer to donate via check, make it out to M&Ms GoFundMe, and send to First Citizens Bank, 409 Broad St, Oriental, NC 28571.

7:40a Mornin’. That is one clear sky. Sunshine and 70 ahead today. Breezy though, 15 – 20 mph with gusts to 30.

All that sun can’t hurt. TownDock Labs ® believes UV rays help fight the virus. The CDC has not commented on our position.

TownDock is receiving a lot of email regarding cures and or things to do / not to do about the cornanvirus. They usually involve an email that has been forwarded several times, with the original email stating something to the effect that their best friends uncle of their aunt’s daughter has a cousin that is a nurse in Fargo, ND and that she has noticed that you should / shouldn’t take x pill for best results in fighting the virus.

We probably won’t be sharing these emails (except as entertainment).

A favorite rumor? That Town Hall was sprayed down this week by guys in hazmat suits… and that everyone at Town Hall is infected. Reality? Some brilliant conspiracy minded soul saw two guys wearing Tyvek suits (to avoid being covered head to toe in pollen) cutting grass and running weed wackers at Town Hall. The grass is lovely there.

Stay safe. Be nice. Wash your hands.

6:51p Restaurant menus and local biz schedules are here.

5:12p Some good news for your day. The person with the first positive coronavirus test in Pamlico County has recovered. Here is the press release from Pamlico County Emergency Services.

2:25p New Village Brewery is open to day from 3 – 6p. You order & pickup at the Beer Garden window. What’s on tap here.

At The Piglet fresh clams & mussels have arrived today.

11:28a There is a second case of coronavirus in Pamlico County. Here is the press release from Pamlico County Emergency Services. As with the 1st case, where in Pamlico County hasn’t been released to protect patient privacy.

10:05a There’s only 1 now 2 reported cases of coronavirus in Pamlico County. Seven have been reported in Craven County, and 15 in Carteret. There are now over 1,800 cases in North Carolina.

Most NC counties have more cases, and a few counties don’t have any. You can check out a state map of coronavirus cases here.

While you’re there, you can check out the daily count, and a breakdown of cases by age.

9:28a One of last night’s Open Mic Online participants played a different instrument: the piano. Scott Finch couldn’t make it out, so he recorded two tunes from his home.

You can watch Scott on the piano here, along with the video of last night’s live performance.

7:01a Clear skies today, and for a while. Today sunny and near 60, and then it just keeps on getting better. Friday & Saturday mid 60s, Sunday 70… Monday then warms up to the mid 70s.

PecanCam shows the clear morning view.

4:41p Dave Sargent is serving up tacos tonight at M&M’s. Your choice of beef, chicken, or chorizo. If you had your tacos on Tuesday, you can choose something from the specials or the full menu.

Over at the Silo’s, Open Mic Night Online starts at 5:30p.

4:24p Monday’s Special Meeting may have generated some confusion about visitors and self-isolation. There is now an example in the Special Meeting Summary of how the rules for visitors should work. Take a look here.

11:54a The dredging of Whittaker Creek channel was completed yesterday. The now deeper channel is open today.

In just over 11 days (the permit was received on March 19 around 4p), King Dredging dredged the entirety of the channel to a depth of 8 feet and to a width (in most places) of 90 feet. King told TownDock.net that a project like this would normally take 4-6 weeks. Working long hours and and through weekends, King Dredging completed the job, with one compromise. It would have taken several more days to make the channel 90 ft wide – days not available as CAMA mandated all dredging be complete by March 31.

Instead, for about 500 feet on either side of marker 3, the channel narrows to 50 feet. A green floating buoy will be deployed to mark the narrower area.

The entire length of the channel has been dredged to 8 ft. Whittaker Creek channel is open.

The Whittaker Creek channel is marked in gray. The blue line extending on either side of marker 3 shows where the channel narrows down to 50 ft wide.

9:51a How about some outdoor exercise, with lots of social distance? Kayaking fits that bill. Mark Fields with Bow To Stern Boating writes in:

Attention Locals… We, Bow to Stern Boating, had a great conversation with Diane Miller, Town Manager for The Town of Oriental on how we can help the locals i.e. Oriental area. We are offering the locals only, free Kayak use. Please use the current precautions on distancing, only local households can participate, and please use your own restroom facilities prior to arrival. If you would like to get out of the house and on the water, we are offering Kayaks to use free of charge. If you would like to make a donation for the youth sailing program we would gratefully accept but not expect. Just give us a call and let us know when you would like to go for a peaceful paddle on the creeks. 252-249-2424.

8:50a The Governor has signed an executive order stating that for the next 60 days, utilities cannot be turned off due to nonpayment:

Oriental’s water billing is complying with Governor Cooper’s order.

7:50a A wind shift has the ferry back in action. From Sue Kinner at Cherry Branch:

7:27a Overnight the peak wind was 31mph at 1:06a. Winds at this writing are about 15 – 20mph.

While this morning is clouds & rain, the sun is forecast to appear this afternoon. Today’s high just in the mid 50s. Thursday through Saturday sunny & mid 60s, with cool nights in the 40s. Sunday is forecast to warm up to 70.

6:40a The ferry is making just one more run from Minnesott this morning at 7a. From Sue Kinner at Cherry Branch:

Unfortunately the wind has pushed the Neuse River up into our basins. The water is so high that our Ferry had difficulty getting to and under the Minnesott Ramp. She is going to make the 7am departure from Minnesott, but that will be her LAST run until the River level drops significantly.

Winds on the Neuse are from the north at 20-25 knots, and gusts up to 35.

The Pamlico marine weather forecast has N winds at 25-30 knots, with gusts up to 50.

4:53p There is a GALE WARNING in effect, tonight through Wednesday morning on the Neuse. Northeast winds 20-25 knots tonight, with gusts to 35. Wednesday morning 25-25 knot north winds.

The Pamlico Sound’s forecast is another 5 to 10 knots higher.

The north and northeast winds will be pushing water levels higher.

4:15p It’s BOGO Pizza Night at The Silos. Buy one, get one free. Call 252-249-1050 to order for takeout. The dinner menu is at this link.

Those pizzas go through a 500+ degree oven before they are boxed for pickup.

1:26p Dorita Boyd (locally known as the “herb lady”) runs Raindrop Ridge Farms in Little Washington. Every April, she visits Oriental to sell her herbs at the Saturday Farmer’s Market on Hodges St. But this year the COVID-19 coronavirus has shut down outdoor markets and Dorita now has several thousand plants with no place to sell them.

The Inland Waterway Provision Company has stepped in to help. Now through next Monday, April 6, they’re taking online orders for Dorita’s Herbs.

Pickup day in Oriental is April 10, Good Friday. You can see what’s available – then make your choices and order online at this link.

Questions? Call the Provision Company at 252-249-1797.

12:23p Eileen Miles is a Board Member with Pamlico County Fishes and Loaves. She writes in:

8:27a Monday morning Oriental’s Town Board met to discuss how the Stay At Home order would be applied in Oriental. Here is the report on that meeting.

8:20a On Sunday afternoon Pamlico County issued a press release confirming the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 in the county.

Where in Pamlico County hasn’t been released. County Manager Tim Buck explained that HIPPA prohibits release of patient information, and that included location. Further, Manager Buck stated that the location information can be provided to 1st responders. The Pamlico County Health Department is conducting contact tracing and is notifying individuals that are believed to have been in close contact with the diagnosed individual.

Yesterday, effective at noon, Pamlico County government offices were closed to the public.

As of this morning, Pamlico County still has just 1 diagnosed case. Craven County has 6 cases reported. Carteret County 11. There are now over 1,300 1,500 in North Carolina.

8:12a After temps reaching into the 80s the past few days, today might seem almost cool. The overnight low was 57, and the thermometer isn’t expected to get beyond the low 60s today. Rain likely this afternoon.

You’ll see a video of the King Dredging barge in action above. TownDock crew hopes to add to that video with some mud views of the pipe at the other end. Today is the last day the dredging can be done – the CAMA permit says all work must be complete by midnight tonight. When complete, the channel should have a minimum 8 ft depth.

The dredging was made possible by both grant money and local donations. Here is the Dec 20 article about the funding that made it all happen.

4:14p The Town Board met in a special session for over an hour this morning to discuss NC Governor Cooper’s Stay At Home order.

The result of that meeting was added as an amendment to the Oriental State of Emergency declaration. Read a summary of this morning’s meeting here.

2:29p NC ferries will be on a reduced schedule. From the NC Department of Transportation:

Beginning Tuesday, the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry System will adopt a new set of schedules to respond to Governor Roy Cooper’s statewide stay at home order.

Cooper ordered people in North Carolina to stay at home from 5 p.m. Monday until April 29 to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The ferry schedules are being adjusted due to lower demand for travel while the stay at home order is in place.

The schedule for our local ferry, the Cherry Branch – Minnesott Beach Ferry, is:
From Cherry Branch: 6a, 8a, 10a, noon, 2p and 4p.
From Minnesott Beach: 7a, 9a, 11a, 1p, 3p and 5p.

Click here to view the schedule for all NC ferries.

10:24a Pamlico County government offices are closed to the public, except by appointment, as of noon today. If you are on the Pamlico County water system, disconnects for nonpayment, penalties, and interest are suspended until April 30.

The full press release is here.

9:42a A video of today’s meeting is available at this link. A summary of the meeting will be available later today on TownDock.

6:58a This morning’s Special Town Meeting is at 8a. It will be streamed live on TownDock.net, and posted for later viewing. Return here for the link.

Mayor Belangia, Town Manager Miller, and the Board of Commissioners will discuss Governor Roy Cooper’s latest executive order. A copy of the order, and an FAQ about the order are available to read here.

We’ll get a repeat of yesterday’s weather: partly cloudy and high near 79.