Captain Gina is recruiting for a new crew !

Coinjock N.C. to Beaufort N.C. 10:00 AM 614 hours
Since our trip down to Beaufort was a relatively short one compared to what we had just been thru, we left at a leisurely 10 AM after securing our booty from the coinjock office. We wanted to go the course of the Pungo River where the water is as black as coffee but we opted to go the way of Pamlico sound since the weather was fair and the time would be much shorter. We never experienced anything like this, the deepest point was 20 or so feet and most was around 14 feet for as far as you could see in any direction for hours on end at 22 knots cruising. The other crazy thing was the water temperature was 87 degrees in the begining of June ! So the course across Pamlico was fairly straightforward despite the numerous very shallow areas that abound. Unlike Pamlico, the Jersey coast tossed stuff all about the cabins and Captain Gina was afforded the luxury of recovering from the disaster in the forward state room after our high sea adventure there.
Several hours later we finally crossed the sound and entered the channel to head down to Beaufort roughly 35 miles away. Much of this trip was uneventful except for the nasty rainshower we picked up on radar and decided to slow down until it passed. Once it cleared we steamed full speed ahead for Beaufort. Following our trusty brandy new Maptech charting software on our computer we changed our course to head directly towards Beaufort. Something wasn't right and in the blink of an eye the Mary E came to an abrupt stop. We ran aground. Bothh engines stalled ! Dazed and confused we assessed our situation. Looking around we're wondering how can this be ? We're following the course we had so carefully plotted that morning. Furthermore we had just passed a red green marker and had made our way to port as we intended by our route. Yet, we were fast aground. Right around that time we noticed a tow boat u.s. milling about in front of us.I checked to see if I had my card and I did so we hailed him on the radio. He assisted us in pulling us off the bar. We limped to port a very dejected crew only to discover sometime later that this is a regular occurrence. Let me explain, After we landed at Beaufort docks, tow boat guy says .."oh, that happens all the time !" "that channel has been non existent for years but hasn't been removed from the charts." Hmmm. Licking our wounds we head to the dockmasters office to check in. While waiting we happened to notice a chart on the wall ... guess what that channel is not recomended it has been silted in for years, anyone going north would know this but anyone coming south .. well let's just say they should at least remove the red green marker and leave it at that. Seems rather funny that tow boat should have happened to be in the area and the dive master as well as the prop shop were alll ready to cure our disaster. We never made a phone call. Like we mentioned before this is a regular occurrence. Fortunately the tow boat charges $658 was fully covered by Tow Boat coverage. How much damage and the cost for the running gear is a painful but sobering thought. Just about 9:30 at night we barely secured dinner and had a couple of rum drinks to melt our worries away.