A heart-stopping moment thrust itself upon Puffin this morning in the Alligator-Pungo Canal.

We were preparing to pass an oncoming tug and barge and had worked our way over to the side of the canal in good time. Shortly before we were to pass port side to, I disengaged the autopilot as I like to do in a passing situation. This time the steering felt funny as I tried to edge Puffin a little closer to the embankment. It seemed to steer easily only to port; not good, since that would put us to close to the barge. I quickly re-engaged the autopilot to stay away from the oncoming barge, now only 300-400 feet away, but at least safely to Puffin's port.) However, within seconds, Puffin came to an abrupt stop, not slip-slidin' to a gradual stop as she has done on a previous occasion or two with mud and sand.

Puffin is now clearly hard aground on one of the many submerged stumps that line both sides of this canal. This is a new experience. I try reverse - nothing. Engaging the bow thruster does nothing. I mean there is no movement at all. Puffin is sitting like she's in a cradle on the hard. As the barge and tug slide by to port (*), I wonder if Puffin can shake free using the tug's wake, but I don't see much wake astern.

As the tug itself passed us, Puffin suddenly, within seconds, listed to port by several inches. An out-of-body feeling slips through my brain. What just happened and why? I'm beginning to think we'll need a crane to get poor Puffin afloat again.

While ruminating on this new condition I notice what almost looks like a standing wave perhaps a foot or so high trailing astern each side of the tug. (It looks a little strange - it is just a single waveform.) As it bears down on us, I prepare to try to move the boat again. Before I move the controls, Puffin suddenly floats level again and I notice the bow move slightly. I actuate the thruster and the bow moves slightly to port. That's all I need to put Puffin in forward gear and apply power. We wiggle forward inching toward the center of the canal and now Puffin is free.

As my heart slowly returned to idle, I reflected on this new and unsettling experience and realized that this barge and tug with its many-thousand hp engine is probably over 200 feet long, 50 feet wide and draws eight feet. It is moving smartly in a canal that is perhaps 300 feet wide or less and 12 feet deep. With its wide blunt bow, it is forcing water ahead of it and to the sides. Behind the bow it is actually lowering the water level it a few inches, with its huge displacement and that's why Puffin briefly listed while aground as the tug passed by. The stern wave behind it that finally freed us was water rushing from behind the tug to fill the void.

With regard to why the steering seemed jammed earlier I can only speculate that a small stick may have been jammed in the rudder opening, momentarily.

A more rewarding moment in the Alligator-Pungo Canal occurred about 20 minutes later when Nancy spotted two deer swimming across the canal with just their heads and big ears poking out of the water. What a treat! All's well that ends well.
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(*) Note to land-bound friends: Virtually all barges on the ICW are pushed from behind by tugs that are tightly secured to them and essentially act like one very large boat.