Shortly after Bonnet resumed command, a bumboat's crew told him that Blackbeard was moored in Ocracoke Inlet. Bonnet set sail at once to hunt down his treacherous ex-confederate, but could not find him, and Bonnet never met Blackbeard again. Although Bonnet apparently never discarded his hopes of reaching St. Thomas and getting his letter of marque, two pressing problems now tempted him back into piracy. First, Blackbeard had stolen the food and supplies he and his men needed to subsist (one pirate testified at his trial that no more than ten or eleven barrels remained aboard the "Revenge"). Second, St. Thomas was now in the midst of the Atlantic hurricane season, which would last until autumn. However, returning to freebooting meant nullifying Bonnet's pardon.