Oh, Mama, can this really be the end - to be stuck in Oriental with those Beaufort Blues again...

Yes, Noel is now an official hurricane, and we are just slightly south of Cape Hatteras. No going any further until the big boy blows out. What in the world to do? Two nights ago we had a lovely music party on Bill and Caroline's boat. Clearly we were having some fun. Yesterday they took their boat out for a day sail. The opportunity to sail their gorgeous 40 foot Pacific Seacraft was too much for both Wayne and Claude, and they were delighted to take turns at the wheel. Scratch that. Wayne was delighted to take a turn at the helm. Claude pouted and whined when he had to turn it over, and demanded a St. Pauli Girl as compensation. A couple of St. Pauli Girls later, il ne fasait plus la guele. It was sunny, breezy (10-15 knots) and nice yesterday afternoon, and I broke my self-imposed rule of NEVER going for a "pleasure" sail again. Knowing that we would be at the marina for a few more days, I figured what the heck, why be a party-pooper. I felt no need to demonstrate my lack of prowess at the helm, but Caroline was the real helmsman that day, bringing that big boat into the slip like a pro. Caroline and I took a trot to the grocery store, and on the way back what do we see but Claude behind the wheel of a Lotus! One of the local gents we met at the Tiki Bar took a liking to Claude and somehow that bugger managed to convince the guy to let him drive his racecar. We are still trying to comprehend how he gets people to do these things. Claude rocketed out of town from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds (according to his own account). We were happy to see him arrive safely back, as this British racecar has the steering on the right and therefore a left-handed stick shift. The evening came to a blissful close as we shared a potluck dinner under the stars on the deck of the Oriental Marina. Our other friend Rich on the Kelly Rae joined us - you can still see his boat on the towndock harborcam. Do check it out if you get a chance. You will see that the water is steadily rising and has now obliterated the road in front of The Bean. We can still step out onto the dock finger next to our boat, but this will almost certainly be underwater by the end of tonight. We were lucky to have made it to this very safe hurricane hole just as Noel decided to play hardball. We took borrowed bikes to the grocery store this morning, and are probably tucked in for the rest of today and tomorrow. It does not look like we'll make Beaufort before Sunday at the earliest. Rich thinks he is going to Beaufort tomorrow to catch a weather window to make the crossing to Bermuda on Sunday. This sounds like certain death, or at the very least a suicide wish to me, but what do I know? I am glad to have reservations for tomorrow night as well as tonight, and so many new good friends with whom we can share this storm experience.