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Trawler Lillie Belle reflects at the Point Pride Seafood docks. Lillie Belle is 72 ft long, 115 tons. Now with a New Bern hailing port, the steel fishing vessel was built in 1978 in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

4:51p About another grand raised this week for the Whittaker Creek Dredging Fund. Now up to $80,565.

3:22p A food truck is parked @ New Village Brewery today, serving up dinner til 7p. It’s 3 Kings Food Truck out of New Bern. Click here for a look at the 3 Kings menu.

Also at the Brewery, they are debuting a new Oriental brewed beer. It’s “Chuck-Will’s-Widow Black IPA” – named after a bird you may not heard of before. Chuck-will’s-widow is native to the southeast (including eastern NC.) You don’t see them often, because the bird almost entirely nocturnal. Fittingly, this IPA is a dark one. Maybe you hear the “Chuck” at night. Here is what they sound like:

10:01a Dunkirk, 7:30p tonight @ The Old Theater. Click here to see a clip of the epic film.

7:56a A spring~ish day lands in January. You can thaw to sunshine & near 60. Saturday will be similar, but clouds arrive in the afternoon. Sunday, rain… we even may see thunderstorms.

You can stay busy in our fair village this weekend. Dunkirk shows at the Old Theater tonight. Salty Turtle Beers at the Brewery. Croakertown Coffee has brewing classes Saturday. A Navigation seminar at Town Hall and wine tastings @ Nautical Wheelers.

All the info is in What’s Happening.

8:09a Rabid Rabbit, the Morgan Out Island 41 set atop a dock at Oriental Harbor Marina by Hurricane Florence, has been fully repaired and was launched from Deaton Yacht Services yesterday. Owner Jud Gravel stopped by the Inland Waterway Provision Company one last time for spares and said he and his family were taking off and heading south for the rest of winter.

Rabid Rabbit made quite a sight in the aftermath of Florence. Bobby Cahoon Marine got some assistance lifting Rabid Rabbit from ‘A Dock’.

4:26p Oriental has three sailing clubs with different focuses re cruising & racing & socializing. But in the winter they work together to put on boating knowledge seminars. This Saturday January 19 the session is Navigation Refresher and Map Updates presented by Bow To Stern’s John Rahm. It’s at Town Hall from 9a-noon. The seminars are free.

There may be fog overnight and early Thursday. Tonight mid 30s, tomorrow’s high just 50, then warmer air Friday & Saturday and high near 60.

7:32a It might make you warmer. It’s a Flash Sale at Marsha’s Cottage… Marsha explains in Go Local.

6:54a Early yesterday morning Drakus, a Monk 47 Ketch, left town dock #2 and headed south toward Florida, aiming for the Bahamas. This sail is the culmination of an extensive refit by Doug and Anne Siddens. Initially, the timeline was two weeks. The only project – a bit of engine work.

But the more you work on a boat, the more you find to fix. And life happens in between. As more projects cropped up, Doug and Anne relied on the boatyards and craftsmen and women of Oriental to help them.

Their maiden voyage on Drakus began yesterday just before dawn, 14 years past the original launch date.

2:11p Nevada has its Burning Man. Oriental is getting Burning Dragon. Pamlico Arts Council is holding a Dragon Burn Saturday Feb 2 at The Red Rooster.

But first, the dragon must be created. You can help. From Pamlico Arts:

11:12a This Friday @ The Old Theater comes a movie that at first glance is a WW2 flick. But it’s more than that – its about an unparalleled accomplishment using small boats. Many were smaller than boats we see at the docks everyday. The movie is Dunkirk. Here’s a clip… with some of those boats:

More info at this link.

9:40a Oriental is a bird sanctuary, and today is the first day of the Winter Birding Class at Pamlico Community College. Though the PCC class takes place outside town limits, there are plenty of winter birds to be seen in town.

In January of last year, winter birds swarmed the tree outside the New Village Brewery. Take a look:

10:35a Cold. Damp. What lovely British weather.

37 cold degrees at this writing. It might get to 41. Tuesday warms to near 50, Wednesday beaming sunshine and mid 50s.

9:36a Both ferries are back up. From Sue Kinner:

7:28a Last Tuesday was Oriental’s first town meeting of 2019. Hurricane recovery projects were a key topic… here’s the report.

6:17a The ferry is on a one-boat schedule due to high waters. From Sue Kinner:

6:32p Ferry ramp fixed:

4:05p The Cherry Branch Ferry is down, and not due to weather:

6:58a Just a bit of rain overnight (about 2/10 of an inch). That slow rain is likely to hang around all day. It will be warmish, high near 60.

Dry and cooler (mid 40s) stuff returns Monday.

8:27a Sunrise this morning had some serious color going on. The view from South Ave – check it out:

click pic for the big sunrise view

7:58a Grinding. It comes in many types in town. But today you can learn more about the coffee type. It’s the ongoing series Brewing 101 at Croakertown Coffee. From Sally @ Croakertown:

There’s a lot of education in town today. As well as the grinding, there’s the furling & splicing… a free boating seminar 9a-noon at Town Hall.

But wait. There’s more. Turn those old Christmas cards still on your shelf into something useful. Gift boxes. How to today 1-2p at the Brewery. Even if you’re not good at it you can drink a beer.

But wait. One more. This is down the road a piece, in New Bern. A Ship Modeling Club starts today, 1p at Shop Class.

An OK day ahead. Mixed clouds & sun, getting cloudier this afternoon. High about 50.

2:10p A Food Truck is in town today, parked out in front of New Village Brewery. It’s the “Nest Cafe”… here & serving until about 7p.

11:02a We’ve had a few reader requests re finding recent videos. Please know that everything on TownDock gets archived – you can always find it using the search function in the upper left area of the home page.

But just to make it easy, here are links to some fave videos:

• Trawlers Miss Georgie & Capt Jeff – Drone View
• New Year’s Eve Dragon Runs
• Rabbid Rabbit & The Cranes – Time Lapse Video
• Heber & Ian Build A Boat

8:37a The overnight low hit 26. No ice on the duck pond though… wasn’t cold long enough. Sunshine and a not too balmy lower 40s today. Saturday high near 50. Sunday gets wet.

If you can tough out the cold, rather nice boating weather. On the Neuse 10-15 knots today, 5-10 Saturday.

8:34a Duck Pond Dragon repairs continue. Folks have dropped all sorts of glass by. Well, almost all sorts. Still needed, yellow and dark red glass. Here’s a close up of the Dragon to see the colors:

If you have a bottle or whatever glass to donate that is close to these colors, drop it off at TownDock World Headquarters, 412 South Water St. A galvanized wash basin at the base of the stairs is patiently waiting.

8:21a There’s a boat on Whittaker Creek that is slowwwwly sinking. If this is your boat, you may want to pay your vessel a visit:

click image for the big view

12:10p Tonight a calendar makes a debut. It’s the Pamlico County Arts Council’s 2019 Students’ Arts Calendar. You’re invited to a Calendar Release Party at the Pamlico Public Library from 5 – 7p tonight. The calendar was done by Pamlico students. You can view the work on display and meet the student artists.

click image for larger view

Also tonight, Will Martin @ The Old Theater. Martin presents a tribute to great songwriters of the past 50+ years – from Dean Martin, Billy Joel and Elton John, to Manilow and McCartney. Tickets $22, available in Oriental at Nautical Wheelers. Doors open at 7p, show starts at 7:30p. Check at the box office at 7:15. For more information, call 252-617-2125.

7:52a It didn’t quite get to freezing… overnight low hit 33. Tonight it will though… forecast low of 25.

3:04p Find that warm hat. Clear skies and a low tonight near 30, Thursday’s high just near 40… Thursday night temps dip to the mid 20s.

This cold front comes with a breeze. On the Neuse 20-25 knot winds tonight & Thursday.

This week’s specials at The Pig are now online.

11:10a M&Ms Cafe starts up Taco night tonight (and then every Wednesday.) Three Tacos, $6.95, fish or chicken. Draft beer $1.50. Starts Wednesdays at 4p until closing.

This note sent in today from Pamlico County Fishes & Loaves:

8:28a At last night’s town meeting, Commissioners discussed the bid for work on the pier at Lou Mac park and the progression of work at South Ave, and set the agenda for the Quarterly Meeting on Jan 31 which will focus on South Ave and surrounding projects.

Public Works for the town has already repaired the railing on Hodges St and the railing along parts of South Ave and the boardwalk in Lou Mac park. The story on last night’s meeting is coming.

10:58a Today’s home page pic is a video… flying above & around fishing trawlers Capt Jeff & Miss Georgie. If you’re looking to share the link – use this link here.

10:54a Duck Pond Dragon repair work continues (see below.) Lots of bottles have been dropped off. We have all the green / blue / brown needed. Glass colors still needed: Red, yellow, orange. Got such a bottle? Drop it off at TownDock.net headquarters, 412 South Water St. A galvanized wash tub is at the base of the porch stairs… put those pretty bottles there.

9:27a There’s a Town Board Meeting tonight at Town Hall at 7p. Tonight, there is a Public Hearing for a Special Use Permit (SUP) for a short-term rental at 807 Midyette St. The Planning Board discussed the application at their last two meetings and approved the application.

You can view tonight’s agenda here.

8:51a Today will be the second warmest day of the year. So far (it got to 77 on the 1st.) Almost t-shirt stuff… high near 70. Then cool is coming, temps below freezing Wednesday night.

Thank you readers… there is already a pile of bottles that have been dropped off for the Duck Pond Dragon (see below.)

2:40p The Duck Pond Dragon has been AWOL since Hurricane Florence. The Dragon dragged (honest, no draggy pun intended) during the storm… and ended up displaced on Hodges Street. The head was broken off but alongside the dragon. The tail was broken off and nowhere to be found. TownDock crew took the battered remains home for safe-keeping until a repair crew could be found.

Art Halpern and Ken Laser have agreed to bring the Dragon back to as-new condition. Part of the Dragon design is a “skin” of glass. The Dragon’s designer/creator Gary Gresko took glass bottles of many colors, broke them, and then glued the shards on to create the beautiful effect. Like this:

click Dragon for the big view

This is where you come in. Wanted: Glass bottles in many colors. Green. Red. Blue. Yellow. Whataya got? Just drop them off at TownDock World Headquarters, downtown at 412 South Water St…. bravely go down the gravel driveway. You’ll find a galvanized wash tub at the base of the porch stairs. Put your donated bottles in there.

You’re a good village human.

• The Dragon was originally launched in 2004.
• Dragon Repaired in 2012

1:15p The Pamlico Music Society has two shows this week at The Old Theater – both by vocalist Will Martin. The 33 year old New Zealand-born stylist sings like a 1940s / 50s crooner. He sings covers from all eras… here is a sample:

Will Martin plays two nights, Wednesday & Thursday. Wednesday Martin serves up both the music and stories of the late Dean Martin. Thursday is “Timeless,” a tribute to great songwriters of the past 50+ years. Tickets at Nautical Wheelers or online at this link.

8:10a Anxiety. Opportunity? It’s the first Monday of 2019. Sunshine but just mid 50s today, Tuesday warms up to almost 70.

The first Town Meeting of 2019 is Tuesday night, 7p @ Town Hall.