Sailboat Loses Another Bout With Jetty

[btrayfors]

What? S/V Morning Dew all over again?

Yep. Seems like lotsa folks try to drive their sailboats right through the Charleston jetty, like the infamous Morning Dew.

This one was a 63' Cheoy Lee sailboat. Luckily, no one was injured.

> Local News: Sailboat sinks after crashing into jetty - Charleston.net
>
> Sailboat Ryota Hits Charleston Jetties and Sinks | beaufortgazette.com

Bill

[sailaway21]

My reaction can probably be anticipated well enough for me to remain silent. Otherwise, a very expensive mistake.

[xort]

I don't know what the charlseton jetty looks like. Is it submerged, awash?
since thas has happened a few times perhaps it is time for some additional markers regardless of fault

[davidpm]

Chart 11518

Chart says it is partially submerged at mean high water

[Rockter]

Is this it?....

YouTube - Charleston Jetties and Morris Island

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by xort

I don't know what the charlseton jetty looks like. Is it submerged, awash?
since thas has happened a few times perhaps it is time for some additional markers regardless of fault

Originally Posted by davidpm

Chart 11518

Chart says it is partially submerged at mean high water

XORT,

I haven't seen it in person, but davidpm's note confirms that it's not much different from many other similar jetties, in that it is submerged or at best awash at high tide. Most such jetties have markers at their seaward end, but not along the length of the jetty between shore and the seaward end.

For those relatively new to sailing who might be unfamiliar with the tragic Morning Dew incident, here's a link:

BoatUS.com - Seaworthy Magazine

[davidpm]

Also goggle earth shows just a faint line. Around hear in LI'S this is very very common.

[sailboy21]

At high tide and low light it is very hard to see those jetties. Can be one of the more frightening harbor entrances, especially when a good tide is running. Visibility isn't the only challenge. Rumor was part of the reason the sub base was removed from Chas was that surfaced submarines could find themselves in a real predicament in that channel should anything unexpected happen. I think they were built back in the 1800's sometime...

Pop Quiz,
Find the jetty in this picture:



Find ALL of it. This picture was taken mid channel.

If that was too easy for you find it in this picture:

[CalebD]

Thanks for finding the chart (#11518) David. I had a good look at those breakwaters in both the video and on the chart. There is another channel that enters the breakwaters on the south side much closer to shore near a 'submerged jetty' that they might have been trying to find but it is obviously too early to even speculate (per Swat) how these folks ruined a boat roughly valued at $600K because they had no $40 paper charts of the area and were using either a chart plotter or intuition instead. Most likely they would have been heading south but we will have to wait for more of the sordid details.
Another free resource these folks could have used is the Coastal Pilot downloads that give the mariner a detailed description of each inlet.
It sounds like they put a pretty sizable hole in the boat and gave up the idea of trying to fother it (v. t. 1. To stop (a leak in a ship at sea) by drawing under its bottom a thrummed sail, so that the pressure of the water may force it into the crack.)
Quite sad for the owners but good business for the salvors.

[Valiente]

Yes, that tactic is expressed in one of my favourite nautical terms: "to fother a sail".

Rotten luck or bad seamanship or both, but pardon me if I smell a smoking chartplotter somewhere in this mix.