It’s been absolutely perfect in Vandemere these last two weeks. The warm afternoons with such blue water, sparkling in the sunlight could calm even the most ragged soul. I think fall is the best time to be cruising here in North Carolina. Waking up to a crisp morning and a nice cup of coffee with all those wonderful fall hues dancing on the water is worth waiting through the balmy nights of August.
Wildlife is very active now too.
Yesterday a huge buck stopped right in the center of Shell Castle Drive. He looked very healthy, with his honey colored coat glistening in the sun and wasn’t afraid of me in the least. Of course my camera was in the car parked a ways away and he had wandered into the forest by the time I was able to get to it. Some of the oldtimers have told me, that in Vandemere Creek, fishing has been the best in years. Speckled Trout, flounder, Red Drum all in record size and number. Yum.

There is one Port Vandemere family that is anticipating the arrival of next fall, when they will hopefully be finishing their home on lot 18. I spoke with Mark, who found me doing some weed eating by the clubhouse site, a few days ago and we took a walk to his homesite.

We began by walking down his newly built driveway, which curves around to the water.

Standing by the waters edge looking back at the pleasing forested setting where it will stand we talked about how gorgeous it was right now and when most people were putting their boats on the hard for the winter, we were in our prime sailing season.

The home will have a view of Vandemere Creek from 3 sides and even at the garage level the view is lovely. The first floor living area will be surrounded by water and the second they will probably be able to see around to the bend in the creek, with all the masts of the marina salt and peppering the skyline.

Building a home is not easy and with it, so many decisions to be made, is a stressful time for a family. But as he stood on the burm of packed sand that would be home and stared out at the water, looking at his new dock where the boat would be, he laughed, it is so worth it.

I was surprised when we arrived at Port Vandemere, after being away exhibiting at the boat shows, how much has happened and I made a list of few things that need to be done. Port Vandemere is alive with dump trucks and dozers. Our little community is starting to take shape somewhat ‘vertically’ with the addition of more docks and a its first home.
First of all I’d like to spotlight the newest construction since it highlights a part of our community that is somewhat hidden.
Now I’ve been calling the little creek that extends into the property going in front of lot 41,40,39,38 and 27,28,39 and 30 a canal. But that isn’t exactly correct. I googled canal and found that word only used for a man made body of water and our little creek is natural. So I need to call it something else, but for now how about the ’small creek’. Nevertheless it has been somewhat hard to see unless you are in a boat but it is quiet picturesque. Although not something you could keep a large boat in, it is perfect for all manner of water appreciation, for launching kayaks, maybe even sailing out on a sunfish or small skiff into Vandemere Creek proper. Most of the exploration I have done in this creek has been either in a kayak or our friend’s 21 foot skiff.

Don and Mary Prowant had a vision when they bought lot 40 of a home where they could appreciate the water.
The dock that they built, on the ’small creek’, will be perfect for morning coffee, a drink with friends, or just taking a moment soak in the beauty of Vandemere Creek. They could even commute, via their dinghy, to Luff Affair in her slip at the Marina.

The Port Vandemere K-9 correspondents check out the new dock. I think it meets their approval.

They have built a nice landing below the dock to get in and out of boats, a great idea.

Our ‘little creek’ extends pretty far back into the property and provides bountiful hues of gold and green, and great way to observe birds and wildlife.

We have had an exciting few weeks on our journey between boat shows. The lack of internet cafes has limited my ability to share the details more as they happen, but I found one now! It closes in 20 minutes so I’ll be quick.

On the Marina: the final environmental assessment paperwork was submitted this week by our consultant after CAMA came up with a few more things. He feels very positive that it will be turned around fairly quickly so we can continue to plan for the first docks to go in possibly in January.

The Clubhouse: More progress was made on the permit for our foundation and driveway, so approval should be in short order.

On our journey, we had a great time anchoring out with Mark and Deb from lot 18 in Greenport NY over last weekend. When I get more time I’ll post some photos and our meet up and of the Maritime Festival over that weekend. They showed us their house plans and have since made arrangements to get started with construction.

The coffee shop is closing, I’ll post more as soon as I can.

It’s been a marathon these last two weeks, the journey, setup, show and take down, but all agree that the effort was well rewarded. We have met some wonderful people, seen some familiar faces and got a nice opportunity getting to know a few of our owners a little better.

There were discussions around the office over the last few months about wether or not Newport RI would be a good show for Port Vandemere;that it might be too far away. It seems as though, from all the people we met, not only have they heard of us, or been following the blog, but are actively shopping for property with us or with others in our area.

Here are a few comments we heard again and again.

* Port Vandemere would be a great place to winter their boat, and themselves due to its 12 month season and proximity to even warmer cruising grounds.
*There seems to be a shortage of marina slips, property values and taxes are very high around New England, our new slips and low NC taxes are still a great value.
*Some own boat slips and property in Florida, making the annual fall pilgrimage south. But due to high taxes and skyrocketing insurance rates they are looking to sell their slips there but still maintain a winter residence somewhere that has a temperate climate. Again, Port Vandemere seems to fit.
* Lastly we met some real ‘world cruisers’ that are looking for a new home base somewhere half way between New England and the Bahamas, or ports farther south. More importantly a marina that can take boats with mast heights above the 65′ ICW limitation. Using Ocracoke Inlet makes our well protected marina accessible to these vessels.

The input and comments from everyone at the show, reassured us that our community and marina will have a buzz of activity, and a comradery among neighbors. Oriental all ready has the reputation of being a laid back, active community of interesting and genuinely nice people and it seems Port Vandemere will be just the same.

And one last observation as far as boating goes, we have it pretty good in North Carolina. Now we may not have 100 feet of water under the keel or sweeping cliffs but the weather is nice, most of the time, our winds are fairly consistent and breezy, we have uncrowded anchorages, pristine beaches, very historic and charming small towns, and affordable prices. Time and time again we heard cruisers tell stories of how enjoyable a stop in Oriental was on their way through the ICW.
We look forward to meeting more of you at the upcoming Annapolis Boat Show.

I’d like to thank Pete and his wife for stopping in on Saturday, we really enjoyed the conversation and hope to see you again soon.

Before I get to the story about our journey north here are a few updates.
On the Construction Front:
Our main contractor Hardy Construction is preparing to move equipment back to Port Vandemere to start the final phase of construction and start on the grading of what will be our first home in Port Vandemere on lot 18. John Hardy and crew will be trimming the road and doing some hydro seeding.

The final construction plans for the clubhouse were finished last week and we were able to send those out for pricing. Hopefully I can announce the time table and contractor for this in the next update.

Journey to Newport
As you can take from the title, we made it to Newport, and all in one piece. Early Tuesday Morning almost two weeks ago now we went out the channel at Pecan Grove Marina, in front of the office, and headed north. And after waiting out TS Hanna in Portsmouth, VA, Sunday we sailed out the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay for our 3 day passage to Newport. Unfortunately that was the last bit of sailing we did for almost 60 hours, since a strong High settle in over us and produced calm winds and seas.
Wednesday morning, one fuel stop in Block Island and a wicked cold front later, we were happily bobbing on a mooring in Newport’s inner harbor.
Pictures of the Voyage:

The ‘Mobile Office’. During most of the ICW transit I was single handing while Bret kept the phone lines lit up.

We stopped one evening at Coinjock Marina just before heading up the Virginia Cut Canal. I have heard many things about this place but found it to be very pleasant and an easy in and out. It had a great little cafe and full bar, plus a pretty good bowl of Maryland crab soup for less than $5.

It was very busy on the last leg of the ICW, I like to call it ‘running the bridges’. With the right planning we hit all of them just about right and made it to Portsmouth about 4pm.

After TS Hanna passed us by we headed offshore into a ‘dead calm’. Even though there was a nice swell left over from Hanna and Ike much further south, the 5 to 8 foot waves were gentle and glassy.

Tuesday morning the on the VHF the NOAA forecast for a strong cold front to pass over us. There were warnings all along the NY and NJ shores for sever T-storms and strong winds. We stowed things,’ the laser printer’ and put away the office, took the sails down and waited. Waiting is always the worst part. We were almost to Montauk, NY when it finally hit us around 2pm, about 25 miles offshore but by that time it had lost much of its energy. We had only 25knts of wind and a lot of rain. I did manage to sail for a few hours!

The storm clouds were amazingly beautiful and somewhat unnerving. Although the storm had lost much of its punch the clouds were still trying produce havoc. A few times we saw waterspouts try to form and just a few hundred feet above the mast.

By mid afternoon the winds again decided to die, but the seas were big and sloppy. I was forced to cut on the motor again and burn some of our dwindling supply of fuel. We decided to make for Block Island that evening and refuel before heading to Newport.
We arrived about 10:00 pm and tied up to the fuel dock. Now I have made landfall in unfamiliar harbors at night, but I really try not to. This time I had to cross my fingers that the chart plotter was right and make a go of it. With no wind and an outgoing tide and the fuel gage pegged on empty plus a reassurance from the dock master that it was an easy channel we went for it. It wasn’t a walk in the park but I picked my way through the moored boats and safely tied to the fuel dock. Only the next morning did I see the utter mine field we had come through and on leaving the channel the rocks just outside the rather small channel markers. Lucy again, good chart plotter!

The next day we finally had a great sail arriving in Newport around lunch. For those of you from this part of the world I’d like to say how beautiful it really is. For someone used to sailing the uncrowded waters and gunkholes of the Carolinas, sailing into Newport was a real treat for us. So many boats, beautiful homes and landscapes! There is a buzz about the harbor and so much to do and see.

After catching the (almost) last available mooring in the inner harbor we set up our booth for the show.

Hope to see you at the Newport International Boat Show!

You don’t want to hear about my technology issues but after several hours on hold they have been resolved and I’m blogging again.
Here are some promised photos of the new office.

Our new office is much more than just a place to work, I want it also to be a place you feel comfortible visiting when you are down for a visit or to meet with builders etc. While the clubhouse is under construction this fall, feel free to use our new office as a gathering place. We have space for up to a 45′ boat and a nice king suite downstairs you are welcome to use. So far we’ve gotten rave reviews of the space as it give a little taste of what life is like in this area.

Our back porch overlooking Pecan Grove Marina to the right and the Village of Oriental has one of the best views in town.

The front has two entrances, Thomas has the main sales office upstairs with our offices downstairs.

The Sales office has a coastal theme and is surrounded with windows overlooking the river and marina.

Its almost that time of year again, when the nights get cooler and less humid and we head north for the fall boat shows. Last year’s Annapolis MD Sailboat show was a super sucess so we decided to try Newport RI this year along with the Annapolis sail show again and then adding the second power/trawler show after that. This year we have decided to make it a little more interesting, since I’ve decided we are going to sail there…
Our sales/office force will stay at home for this one, in the nice new office, and we will go at as genuinely as possible. I was thinking late one evening that what better way to represent to folks that our community was designed and built by real sailors ‘I use that term loosely’ since at least 50% of the time the iron jib is on, than to sail there (or motor) ourselves. So if you spot the wayward boat from Oriental NC just dinghy over and say Hi. If the boat looks a little low in the waterline its from all the gadgets we have onboard to stay connected to the office and our engineers. Computers, printer/scanner, monitors, cell phone boosters, so many wires!!!
It does help that some of our best business partners are also avid sailors. So business can be conducted in the stangest locations and the oddest hours, as some of them will be heading up with us or stopping in for a visit along the way.
We’ll be on our way in about 3 weeks for the Newport RI show. I’ve calculated it to take 4.5 days from Oriental offshore, depending on weather we should arrive a few days early for the show with enough time to set up our booth, and prepare for the long hours ahead.
If you would like to attend any of the shows, just call the office or e-mail and I can get free tickets, I will have them waiting at will call.

On the construction front, the plans for the clubhouse are almost completed and ground breaking is getting a little closer. The marina permit is going well, we’ve met all the conditions from the Department of Water Quality and are ready to submit the updated findings. But its always hurry up and wait. So much of our day in and day out tasks are pen and paper develpment. Doing a project this size, and its by no means large, and with this many regulations, uses alot of paper and isn’t evident until the very end when the roads are paved and the docks are in. Just because things look the same ‘on site’ dosn’t mean a lot has not happened behind the scenes. For those of you that are engineers, you know what I mean.
With most of this next round of ‘paper development’ completed all we will be waiting for is our contractors to put us in their schedules and by the time we return the ‘on site’ will look a whole lot different.

And then there is my tardiness on updated the website. Just hang in there, I’m working… All the new marketing materials I’ve created, banners etc. for the boat shows are based on our new look. We’re developing and testing everything ‘offline’ first, and will go live with the new site once all the bugs have been worked out.
So check back, i’ll take some n

Its been a labor intensive weekend as we moved into our new office, 547 Oriental Road, basically we are just accross the bridge directly beside Pecan Grove Marina. From our humble beginnings, a dusty rutted road and overgrown piece of property, small cramped office space and big dreams. Now that so many of you are sharing the dream, the muddy rutted roads are a distant memory, the first docks lightly float on Vandemere Creek, and many of you are imagining your new spot along the North Carolina Coast we wanted to give you a place to visit while all is being realized. I’m going to let it be a suprise but I think you’ll be pleased. Of course there a few sore backs, more furnature to move, my living room looks rather empty as things get raided to decorate the new space.
More details and photos to come.

I took a few nice photos a few weekends ago. We found a wonderful place to eat that greatly needs more patrons. The sandbar restaurant/marina/tiki bar on Town Creek in Beaufort. I like a good bargin and this place is a diamond in the ruff. The food was excellent, reasonibly priced and the view and atmsphere perfect for a lazy summer evening. Talking to the waitress I learned that business had been slow for most of the waterfront establishments and for the Sandbar, tucked away off the beaten path, even more so. When you come down, take time to check it out. By water just turn left before the Beaufort Bridge, by land 232 W Beaufort Rd # A
Beaufort, NC 28516
(252) 504-7263
Sandbar Restaurant
The view from our table
Dinner view from Restaurant
Town Creek Marina seen from the water, perfect setting…
Town Creek Marina

It is a rather hot last day of July yet so far the summer has been kind to us rarely pushing us into the 90’s. My comitment to ride my bike everywhere in town has me showing up a little disheveled to appointments, but feeling good for it none the less. Of course we are still driving to New Bern, although a long ride might be nice in the fall, usually filling our days full to make the trip worth while. We’ve gotten a lot done this week. From getting the clubhouse construction plans nearing completeion, talking materials with Stuart Hardy, and trying to nail down a start date for ground breaking. Jack, is going to start the landscaping plan for our common areas, so that we can install as soon as the fall cools things down a bit. Roger has been working on and should have completed the comments for the marina permit, having it back on CAMA’s collective desks next week. Our electrical specs are finished and I had a meeting with Sound Marine Wednesday, to go over the final estimates and budgets for the docks.
One of our new helpers, Frank is actually out at the property as I wright this, doing some much needed mowing. We are lucky, and have had a good bit of rain, but things have really grown fast!
One of our neighbors is going quickly on his construction permits and rumor has it that they will be staking the house off next week.