Sailboat sinks off Outer Banks and is quickly buried by shifting sands, NC photos show
A 51-foot sailing sloop is now nothing more than a mast sticking out of North Carolina’s Ocracoke Inlet after it fell victim to the treacherous Outer Banks currents, photos show.
“Sadly, the Graveyard of the Atlantic claims another vessel,” the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum wrote in a Nov. 7 Facebook post.
“The shifting shoals have quickly covered the vessel with sand. Her mast and spreaders are all that remain to be seen.”
There are conflicting reports on when the boat ran aground , but the crew “made it safely to shore” without injuries, WCTI reports.
The boat was identified as a WASA Atlantic 51 Sloop by Phillips Boatworks.
“The vessel was motoring southbound to Florida on the ocean side of Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke when they ran aground near Ocracoke Inlet after experiencing electrical and mechanical failures aboard,” the site reported.
“It took less than 24 hours for the boat to become fully covered in sand and totally under the water. Salvage attempts were abandoned when the weather became tougher than originally forecast.”
It is one of at least two boats that have grounded along the Outer Banks in recent days.
On Nov. 5, a sailboat ran aground at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, according to state officials. “Refuge staff are coordinating with Coast Guard and the vessel’s owner and working on plans to remove the boat,” officials told McClatchy News in an email on Nov. 7.
Waters around North Carolina’s Outer Banks are called the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” due to the thousands of shipwrecks in the region.
Most fell victim to two strong currents that collide off Cape Hatteras, creating rough surf and constantly shifting shoals, the National Park Service reports.
“The cold-water Labrador Current from the north and the warm Gulf Stream from the south converge just offshore from the cape,” park service officials say.
“Ordinarily, following this course would not lead to trouble but the storms common to the region can make it a dangerous practice. Devastating hurricanes and dreaded nor’easters overwhelm ships with raging winds and heavy seas or drive them ashore to be battered apart by the pounding surf.”
SOS strobe light leads rescuers to divers who vanished in Atlantic off North Carolina
‘Mystery shipwreck’ identified 91 years after it exploded off NC coast, explorers say
Historic WWII shipwrecks off North Carolina attracting invasive lionfish, NOAA finds
