Day Twelve - Friday, 30 November

Well we were aground again...this time at anchor. We pulled into Mile Hammock last night and anchorage was deserted except for one other boat. We had plenty of room in this large, well-protected anchor basin, the wind was calm and the water was flat. We lowered the anchor into more than 7 feet of water, let out more than 50' of chain, snubbed the anchor rode and went below. Sometime around 3:00 AM, the anchor alarm went off, so we got up checked the anchor and the anchorage. All was well, the wind and water were calm and our boat hadn't moved, so we went back to bed. By 6:00 AM, the wind was 20-25 knots from the NE and we were in 2.5 feet of water. Sometime between 3 and 6:00 AM, the anchor dragged when the wind shifted and grew stronger and we ended up being blown back toward the shallow end of the anchorage, aground at low tide. As if to reinforce our predicament, a small boat came into the anchorage and a fisherman jumped out of the boat and began wading toward us.

Woody Sherrod called and opened the conversation with a question: "You're aground, aren't you?" and "I'll be right over!" Within a few minutes, Woody dinghied up and made a few depth soundings with his portable depth sounder. We were only a few feet from 7 feet of water, so with Woody pushing on Windreka's bow with his dinghy and me at Windreka's throttle working the engine gear shift and throttle and our bow thruster, we managed to get off the shelf and floating again. Within minutes we were on our way again and the rest of the day was without incident.

A short time after we left the Mile Hammock anchorage, the sun came out and Sarah was almost able to get her full daily dose of sunshine. We were relaxing and enjoying the morning sunshine as we were motoring along in the vicinity of the New River Inlet. Suddenly we ran into pods of dolphins that would approach Windreka and swim alongside of her in pairs or singles. It's always a thrill to encounter these wild sea creatures in their natural habitat and have them swimming along beside our boat as if we were old friends

By 2:30 PM we were at anchor in the Wrightsville Beach anchorage and making plans for grocery shopping, a run to West Marine, and dinner with friends Marily and Allan DeWall who own a condominium here between the anchorage and the ocean.

Sunrise at Wrightsville Beach...................................................................................and sunset!