What started out as a beautiful day sailing on a changing scenic river cruise turned into an unplanned adventure. About two miles out Jim ran aground while avoiding fish traps in the center of the channel. He tried to get off the shoal for several minutes until it seemed we were burying the keel even deeper! Soon the bow thruster stopped working. It was time to call Tow Boat US. I made the call and help was on the way. Meanwhile Jim got back on the helm and tried the bow thruster again. It had just gotten hot. So it was still working. As he made a few more attempts to get off the shoal, a rather large motor yacht approached. Jim called the captain on the radio and asked him to throw a wake so the waves would heel us over and hopefully release the keel from the mud. Usually it's terribly unsportsmanlike to throw a wake near a sailboat because the sailboat starts rocking. But this was exactly what we needed. A huge wave produced a trough which Al Di La slipped into and heeled over nicely. A few tries and we broke free!! Called the rescue service to cancel, and we were ready to continue our trip. We cautiously made our way to the Albemerle Sound and battled waves across to the Alligator River Marina and a little bit of solitude to end the day.
Jim rinsed the boat and we headed to the small, homey restaurant. Dad's southern fried chicken, their specialty, was good. I had NC BBQ. And Jim ordered a burger. They kept asking Dad if he liked the fried chicken.
The air was chilly so we didn't sit out in the cockpit.