Running Aground

[norsearayder]

along time ago in a faraway land [casco bay]early seventies we were sailing a1912 motor sailer on the inside of green island ledge.my bro jim an i were co capitans on this 40 foot relic ...being overly imbibed at that time we got out a crate and had his 4 year old son helming the rig.We hit a ledge hard!!! jim and i jumped for the wheel,jim trying to go hard a starbard to jam her on the reef before we sank,i was trying to port her back into deep water...we struggled with it and in the melay ,the ship VESTA ran up and over the ledge and we continued on...no real damage so if your ever on the inside of outer green give it a wide berth>>>>rayder

[cpntodd]

Sailing dog - I was at the helm and had my Garmin 276C right in front of me. I was overconfident in where I was and wasn't watching the chart.

Cpntodd

[reganwieland]

While heading out the channel of Saginaw Bay's Kawkawlin River one morning in our Hunter 23, I watched as some fool in a 16' jet-boat came roaring along the shoreline with throttle wide open. What he didn't realize (and was too... well, I'll say "inexperienced" and leave it at that) was that he had managed to get all the way to the middle of a huge sandbar which lays along the northern edge of the channel. Despite only drawing maybe 6" of water while on plane, he finally rubbed bottom, came off plane and found himself hard aground 500 yards from the nearest water that was any more than 1 foot deep.

After a nice day of sailing, we returned to find our intrepid boater with two jet-skis attached to his bow by two lengths of line long enough that they could remain in deep water. As they roared and spewed water everywhere tugging as hard as they could, the skipper would grasp the transom of his jet-boat and heave as hard as he could. The boat would move maybe a foot if he was lucky. He'd reposition himself, heave again, and on and on and on. In 6 hours he'd made it almost halfway back to deep water.

Despite his obvious unfamiliarity with the shoreline, you'd a thought the seagulls all STANDING along his course would'a tipped him off...

[topgun77]

Last summer my wife and I went aground twice during five weeks in British Columbia. First we were exiting Roche Harbor on an outgoing tide and eased into sandy bottom. My first reaction was let's do a 180 and get back out of here which I did. Still stuck! I put the engine in full ahead and began moving my tiller from hard a port to hard a starboard. This technique succeeded by cork screwing my keel through the sand until it released from the bottom.

The second grounding was at the a marina in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, WA. After arriving after dusk we tied up just behind several power boats from our Tacoma Yacht Club. I awoke the next morning and stepped off the boat realizing the distance down was farther than it should have been. Stuck again! I used the same technique and after ten minutes we came free. Another sandy bottom.

Jim Copeland
Tacoma
SV Skyhook

[sailingdog]

I think this statement applies to about 99.9999% of all groundings

Originally Posted by cpntodd

I was overconfident in where I was and wasn't watching the chart.

[cjackson]

I was given a hand held depth sounder for Christmas... what a great little tool. Down here (FL) there are many changes in the sandy channels and just because you got into your favorite gunk hole last spring, doesn't mean you can do it now. We will anchor off, dinghy in and take soundings of all those places we're not sure of.

In the past we had to 'sail by braille' and just watch the sounder and wait for the bump. Some of our favorite spots, we've been down to 0.1 feet on the sounder... Nerves of steel...

Happy sailing!

SV/MrMac

[sailingdog]

I wonder if this jet-boat had an anchor aboard... I kind of doubt it, but if he had one and even a manual windlass, he probably could have kedged off the sandbar with a lot less trouble than using two jetskis and standing in the water.

Originally Posted by reganwieland

While heading out the channel of Saginaw Bay's Kawkawlin River one morning in our Hunter 23, I watched as some fool in a 16' jet-boat came roaring along the shoreline with throttle wide open. What he didn't realize (and was too... well, I'll say "inexperienced" and leave it at that) was that he had managed to get all the way to the middle of a huge sandbar which lays along the northern edge of the channel. Despite only drawing maybe 6" of water while on plane, he finally rubbed bottom, came off plane and found himself hard aground 500 yards from the nearest water that was any more than 1 foot deep.

After a nice day of sailing, we returned to find our intrepid boater with two jet-skis attached to his bow by two lengths of line long enough that they could remain in deep water. As they roared and spewed water everywhere tugging as hard as they could, the skipper would grasp the transom of his jet-boat and heave as hard as he could. The boat would move maybe a foot if he was lucky. He'd reposition himself, heave again, and on and on and on. In 6 hours he'd made it almost halfway back to deep water.

Despite his obvious unfamiliarity with the shoreline, you'd a thought the seagulls all STANDING along his course would'a tipped him off...

[chipahoy]

Wow !!! Finally something that I'm good at. I've had lots of experience. I have owned a Downeast 32 for 10 years or so and I have lost count jhow many times I've been aground but have always gotten off either myself or with help. The worst......since I have a cutaway full keel I went up on a sandbar, thinking it will just settle and level off.......wrong, I just stayed there even the prop was out of the water, I got off that time using the winches and another anchor, wiggling myself back and forth. After 2 great circle loops from Lake Superior down the rivers and back up to the great lakes via New York if you love adventure you will go aground and it is not the end of the world, many times I've had to wait for high tide to move and times I didn't but wished I did.

Scotty

[sailortjk1]

Scotty/chipahoy,
There is another thread entitled "Would I be insane"
The original poster from that thread could use your expertise.
You might want to help them out.

[millerman40]

No shortage of running aground for me. I've only been sailing for a couple of years on a prairie lake and was all proud of my accommplishment of learning to sail. Did everything by the book .....So, of course, my girlfriend and I decided to take her parents for a sail around the lake. I wasn't in the water sailing more than 30 minutes when I rounded the point from our bay, where the yacht club is, and sailed too close to the shore, grounding on a sandbar that I knew about. Now that is embarrassing. I had everyone stand on the port side and I put the boat in reverse to pull off. Thank God it was a sunny and relatively calm day. Minor event but my red face didn't think so.

Yes Mr. and Mrs. So and So, I'm going to sail around the world with your daughter and everything will be fine. What an adventure it will be........riiiiiiiiiight.