December 29, 2024
0635 OhNo raises anchor to a choir of “Peace Like a River” sung by Popcorn and Swabs
0730 Swabs at helm; Pisces is passed by one fishing vessel
0758 Popcorn briefs our land bound correspondent, code name LandLubber
0840 Chocolate chip and banana pancakes for breakfast!
0900 Popcorn at helm. Albino pelican sighting.
0920 Pisces hits 7 knots under full sail!
1000 Pisces overtakes S/V Sailors Delight on Goose Creek. Bald eagle spotted in a tree.
1045 Swabs on watch, navigates under bridge for the first time! Popcorn and OhNo work on screecher halyard tension at the bow of boat. Popcorn attempts to alert Swabs there are shrimp boats ahead by trying to communicate via charades. Pisces passes Coast Guard Station Hoboken.
1120 Swabs studies 101 textbook, attempts to get Landlubber to purchases an updated iPhone so they can see our location.
Approx. 1230 starboard engine suddenly stops on the Nuese River. Chaos ensues: Popcorn yelling, Swabs cleaning, our main resource in a life threatening situation, our $3,000 life raft, nearly slides off the stern as Pisces is rocked by heavy winds, waves and lack of steerage due to being down an engine. Pisces is in an unfortunate position with a lee shoal a few hundred yards to starboard side and winds pushing her closer to shoal.
1315 With Popcorn and Swabs at helm, OhNo investigates starboard engine shut down. OhNo is unable to resolve the issues but there appears to be a lot of air in the fuel system.
1400 OhNo hails TowBoat US for a tow into the town of Oriental, NC
1443 TowBoat “Captain Ralph” arrives on scene. First bridle attempt to attach Pisces to TowBoat fails because bridal is too short for our beam.
1455 Successful bridal attachment of Pisces to TowBoat and we are under tow at 6 knots towards Oriental
1548 Pisces is expertly towed into town dock with volunteers appearing to catch our lines and also take our photo because its a ridiculous scene. We meet our dock neighbors Steve and Robin of Acorn to Arabella!
1700 Crew enjoys hot showers at Oriental Town Marina. Popcorn has sea legs.
1800 Dinner
1848 Leave for anonymous recovery meeting in the rain
1900 magical meeting where we meet many “old salts”
2030 Return to boat, realize the shrimp boat directly behind Pisces has two giant wooden eagles on the bow overlooking our boat
2100 Lights Out