Adams Creek, NC to Topsail Sound, NC

Sunday, 25 October 2015

We departed our anchorage in Adams Creek before daylight, determined to make a high mileage day.  I wanted to get the boat south to a good place for me to drive to spend a couple of days with my Dad.

We bucked a head current until Morehead City.

Camp LeJeune had told us there would be no live firing today, and there were a lot of small boats fishing through that area.  We went around a 50' vessel that was turned sideways to the current, resting on a sandbar by 61A, where a helmsman had (I'm guessing) misread the markers, and failed to heed the temporary markers.

Knowing that everyone makes mistakes, and hating to leave a fellow cruiser stranded, I called him on the radio on a couple of different channels, but, got no answer.  After I'd gone another mile, I just couldn't shake the bad feeling I had of leaving the boat stranded, and called again.  That time he answered, and I went back and towed them off.  

Fortunately, there was a good Samaritan on a small boat to bring us a towline.  They had been trying for some time to get the vessel off.  Folks who know me, know that I'm inclined to be blunt when giving instructions (but not misunderstood!) After dodging the good Samaritan boat, who thought it was necessary that he help me pull, I told him the way he could help the most was to stand clear.  One look from Ellen told me I'd been a little too blunt.  The guy was only trying to help.

I called the boat over, and said the way they could help me most was for one to come aboard the MERCY, and give me a hand with the lines. After a few minutes, I discovered the one who'd come aboard was the hired delivery captain of the stranded vessel.  The owner was onboard.  Uh oh.  I never asked who had been at the helm.

We towed the boat off, and the good Samaritan boat returned the delivery captain to the vessel to begin the process of getting the sand out of the strainers and jets.  I towed them to the east until I had enough room to make a swing to tow them in the direction we had all been headed originally, and we wiggled around the villain sandbar.

And through the swing bridge.

Finally, I made sure they could manuever on the one engine they had cleared out (their port engine) well enough to make two stbd turns into Mile Hammock anchorage.

They passed us later that afternoon, running well.  We caught them by the next bridge.  I felt like the tortoise and the hare.  We went through the bridge, and a little further down to anchor for the night in Topsail Sound.