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riental may be accustomed to large fishing trawlers, which dock at the two fish houses on the harbor. But large pleasure yachts still draw attention, as was the case for harbor watchers on Sunday morning as the 84 ft MV Far Niente came in to view.

The MV “Far Niente” from Naples Florida in profile Sunday morning as it backed up in Oriental’s harbor to get to the Oriental Marina’s fuel dock. “Far Niente” translates from Italian to “doing nothing.”

“Far Niente” out of Naples, Florida came for fuel at one of the slips at the Oriental Marina’s fuel dock. The fuel dock is adjacent to Oriental’s new Town Dock, which opened this spring. There, a visiting boat — a Rival sailboat, named Waimangu – was tied up.

As Far Niente backed up to the Oriental Marina’s fuel dock, the crew of the Irish-flagged sailboat Waimangu kept a close watch. The Rival sailboat was tied up to Oriental’s new Town Dock adjacent to the Marina’s fuel dock.

The crew of the Irish-flagged sailboat kept a close watch as the larger Far Niente slipped in and then loomed just a few feet away.

Tied up to Oriental’s new Town Dock, the crew of the S/V Waimangu puts out fenders as the much larger M/V Far Niente ties up to the Oriental Marina’s fuel dock Sunday morning.

The crew of Waimangu had been planning to leave the new Town Dock but said they’d wait the hour it was estimated to take the larger boat to fuel up rather than try to maneuver around it.

Tight quarters. The Far Niente at right at the Oriental Marina fuel dock, and Waimangu at left at Oriental’s second Town Dock.

Far Niente at right at one of the slips owned by Oriental Marina for its fuel dock. At left, a small boat and the Irish-flagged sailing vessel Waimangu tied up to the new Town Dock.

In this instance, the boat at the fuel dock was the beamier one — at 22 feet wide. On a related note, there has been discussion by the Town Board about limiting the beam (width) of boats that could stay at the new Town Dock’s slips in order to allow enough room for passageway. Initially, there was a proposal to not allow catmarans there, but the ultimate regulation may instead just address width.

Posted Tuesday June 17, 2014 by Melinda Penkava

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