Scary

We decided to spend another day in Beaufort and travel with Francine and Wayne for a while.  Thursday, May 3, we took the dinghy across to an island that is part of the Rachel Carson Preserve.  We wandered a while and were getting ready to return to the boat when we met a young man on the beach with about 40 sand dollars in a plastic bag.  He showed us the path to the shore of Bird Shoal and told us there were many more.  We got in about another hour walk but, alas, no sand dollars for us.

Back at the marina, we started to prepare lunch when John noticed smoke along the opposite shore from the marina.  A small, anchored sailboat was on fire.  Here, the mast is toppling:

 Two Coast Guard boats arrived quickly:

Towboat US and the local fire department fight the fire:

 The boat burned to the water line and sank in about 20 minutes.  The owner was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

On a much more peaceful note, the moon is as close to the earth tonight as it will be this year: