Today we plan for a 75 mile leg to Southport, N.C. Up again at 5:30 to start my routine to prepare for the day. Engine fluids, checking equipment operation, belts, bilges etc. Shortly after 7:00 we set off. Definitely warmer but still in my hoodie as we start the day. The sailboat that came in after us left 30 or 40 minutes before us in the dark. Good luck with that. I need daylight to feel comfortable on this trip. We see a group of dolphins swimming around the boat. Good omen for the day….
We see the sailboat ahead and are slowly closing the distance between us down the cut when suddenly we see his boat crosswise in the channel and apparently stopped. As we approach it appears odd.
The sailboat hails us and informs us that he is hard aground and is asking for a tow off the bottom…..that’s ok. I’ve had training for this, I can help. THIS WAS MY FIRST BIG MISTAKE OF THE DAY.
Before I really analyzed the situation, we approached the sailboat to take a line. I twisted the boat around in front of the sailboat, took the line and started forward. Nothing, I mean we weren’t moving…we were grounded on the same sandbar. So, two decent sized boats laying crosswise in the channel motionless and to make matters worse, we were blocking the view of the temporary channel markers from the south bound traffic.
This was Browns Inlet. A direct connection of the Atlantic Ocean to the intercostal waterway. Storms wash sand in and out of these openings and drastically change the shape of the channel. The Coast Guard created an “s” shaped channel to the west side waterway which our sailboat friend missed and so did I because I was going to help me out.
The tide was rising and has a range of almost 3 feet so we knew we just needed to wait it out and ok it took 3 hours before we could work ourselves off so Southport was out of the question and we had to settle for Wrightsville Beach and the Dockside Marina. I don’t recommend the marina….. Their shore facilities are locked when the bar is closed…
