The winds died down overnight and we left Morehead City at 6:30 with a beautiful sunrise and calm waters.
Breathtaking skies over Morehead City
We've been cruising thru eastern North Carolina's intracoastal waterway this beautiful Sunday passing neat beach towns, low sand dunes (compared to the biggies on Lake Michigan), and dolphins frolicking along Catrina. Apparently these little rascals are camera shy or perhaps the photographer is not quick enough???
Just a little ole beach house with matching lighthouse along the way
The Tar Heel state has the largest expanse of inland waters on the Eastern seaboard. Much of the shore remains undeveloped retaining its natural charm.
So as we were cruising along, all of a sudden (around 11:10 AM), we hit bottom and went aground with a very sandy bottom Yikes....sand is better than rocks; however, how are we going to get free? We have insurance with both Sea Tow and Tow Boat US, but the latter was closer to come to our rescue, so within 20 minutes the guy came and worked his magic (tied Catrina's stern to his boat with first a long line and revved up his 2 big engines stirring up mud and sand to make a well) He then shortened the rope 2 more times. He did the same thing with the bow and finally, we were free and he pulled us to deeper water. The big concern was low tide and we could've been “stuck” till 8 AM tomorrow morning! After it was all over and done, the tow boat captain said he wasn't sure he was going to free us with 2 hulls! So, that cost us about 2 hours! UGH! But we are safe, Catrina appears to be ok and tomorrow is a brand new day! We are not ready for any more adventures!!!!! Mark was in the channel when this happened.....he had just dodged a crab pot, but all happened so fast and amazing how many calls we heard over the radio throughout the day asking for tows. In fact, our captain had just freed another boat an hour earlier. Thank goodness the towing insurance provides full coverage....the captain said this was around a $1,000 job.
Our Rescue Angel
Tonight we are in Wrightsville Beach, NC – arrived here at 4:00 and good to get off the boat and walk and stretch our legs! We went 78 miles today. Coming into this area, the homes (mansions) just blew us away with their size and splendor. They looked more like hotels – lots of $$$ around these parts!
The dock hand recommended some restaurants and pizza sounded good – so off to The Mellow Mushroom where we sat outside (YES!!!!) and VERY good pizza it was!
One more tidbit on the Dismal Swamp – the water color is unlike anything I've seen – a coppery, rusty, caramel color? Some boats end up with the “ditch or ICW mustache” cause it leaves a discoloration on the hull due to tannic acid in the water!
Yesterday I finished reading “Killing Lincoln” - excellent book that both Mark and I would highly recommend. That's the latest from the “Adventuresome Nomads”!!!
1 comment:
Pat: Glad you were fortunate in having the tow boat so close and came to tow you so quick. You could have been there all day just waiting for help. Happy cruising and yes hopefully no more adventures of the kind you experienced on Sunday. JudyB
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