Why would the captain of the Spirit of Nantucket deliberately run his ship aground on the Intercoastal Waterway near Pungo.  To keep it from sinking of course.  The ship was sailing from Alexandra to Charleston, SC when it started taking on water near Pungo.  The ship struck something and started taking on water.  The captain immediately took action and ran the ship aground.  There were about 66 people on board.  the Coast Guard took all the passengers to Virginia Beach where they got in a bit more sight seeing then they had anticipated.