Grounded sailboat near Oregon Inlet removed from Pea Island shoreline
A sailboat that ran aground just south of Oregon Inlet in early November has been successfully removed from the Pea Island shoreline as of Friday, December 15.
The vessel – named the Monolow Captain – was grounded on the night of November 5, 2023, approximately one mile south of the Basnight Bridge.
Six members of the Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue (CBFR) as well as representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service responded to the incident, and no injuries occurred during the original grounding.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (which manages the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge), coordinated with the owner of the vessel to remove it from the beach, and to take care of any hazardous materials that needed to be cleaned up.
The removal took several days of careful efforts, which included cutting a temporary breach in the dune line to move the 30-foot-long sailboat closer to N.C. Highway 12.
Per Sam Walker of Wobx.com, who was at the scene, the vessel was transported off the island at approximately 1:39 p.m. on Friday and the temporary breach in the dune line had already been restored at the time of the removal.
