Oriental and New Bern, NC

[endoftheroad]

I hear cruisers regarding this area to be a great place to stop for a while as the locals are cruiser friendly but when I Google Earth it seems like the docks are long suggesting shallow water.

Is the economy active enough there for people like me that may want to stay a bit to raise the kitty?

Any opinions of the area?

[Maren]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

I hear cruisers regarding this area to be a great place to stop for a while as the locals are cruiser friendly but when I Google Earth it seems like the docks are long suggesting shallow water.

Is the economy active enough there for people like me that may want to stay a bit to raise the kitty?

Any opinions of the area?

I suppose that depends on what you do. And yes, the Pamlico sound area is pretty shallow overall. This will give you the charts

[Tempest245]

Check out orientals online site The Town Dock www.TownDock.net

They have ads for jobs, marinas, home rentals etc. It's a popular stop for ICW transits.

I passed it by last time I was through there, stopping at Ocracoke instead, But I would like to visit as well. I've heard that Edenton is a nice stop on the Abermarle.
Both are on my to see list.

Regards,

Tempest

[camaraderie]

Not much in either place work wise right now. Do you hav some special skills that might be in demand?

[endoftheroad]

We are a house painting couple.
We did great in Key West for several years, did well even in difficult places like Wilson, NC and have been fine here in Asheville. But we need to get back to the water very soon and surround ourselves with sailboats for a future purchase.

We are eyeballing the coast of Caroline.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

We are a house painting couple.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from this and I know good painters are often difficult to find, but painting seems to be an optional expense when times are hard.

I would think the larger coastal areas like Wilmington, Elizabeth City or even the Outer Banks either right before or after tourist season, would be best bet for you. But a larger town anywhere is probably better than a smaller one for work. Good luck.

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by Maren

I'm not trying to dissuade you from this and I know good painters are often difficult to find, but painting seems to be an optional expense when times are hard.

I would think the larger coastal areas like Wilmington, Elizabeth City or even the Outer Banks either right before or after tourist season, would be best bet for you. But a larger town anywhere is probably better than a smaller one for work. Good luck.

I'm so glad I didn't take your advice 17 years ago or I would have fallen flat on my face. All you need is to find 2 or 3 customers everytime we move and we are busy. Painting is everywhere and not everyone is poor and hurting from the economy. Our current job is a hotel with 172 rooms. I much prefer houses for $10,000 that only committs us to 3 weeks or so.

People love to talk about hard times, kind of like religion and the end of the world.

But, thanks for wishing me "good luck".

Don't get me wrong, I am not offended and appreciate your opinion.

[endoftheroad]

Please don't anyone get me wrong, when I mentioned the $10,000 paint job I was referring in my mind to a recent house where it was actually a paint job for $11,200 and the homeowner told me that my price was almost "half the amount of his other lowest bid".
I told him, "I know, write me a check for $2500 up front", and he did, he was a realtor/developer and I continued for a few more of his projects till we moved away from the area.
We used bicycles for transportation.
Gotta love that bag of brushes.

Just had to make it clear that I didn't hit some old lady for that price.

He loved the work and the price.