about noon
Indeed , the lieutenant depended more upon the moral force of official authority to overawe the pirates than upon any real force of arms or men . He never believed , until the very last moment , that the pirates would show any real fight . It is very possible that they might not have done so had they not thought that the lieutenant had actually no legal right supporting him in his attack upon them in North Carolina waters . It was about noon when anchor was hoisted , and , with the schooner leading , both vessels ran slowly in before a light wind that had begun to blow toward midday . In each vessel a man stood in the bows , sounding continually with lead and line . As they slowly opened up the harbor within the inlet , they could see the pirate sloop lying about three miles away . There was a boat just putting off from it to the shore .