[camaraderie]

Hey all...thought this would be of some interest. Yesterday we had a group of 3 young guys who had just bought a 1980's vintage 35' sailboat pull into the marina after dark and hoping to leave today for points south.
Well the day broke as predicted with storm conditions offshore and full gale here with gusts to storm force...and of course the young guys decided to leave on their journey. 5 minutes later as they got out of the channel...they turned back and it took four of us to get them tied off to a dock with their 1/4 inch docklines.
So the wind dies down a bit around 4:30 PM as dusk was approaching and they decide to leave again near dark to head down the narrow channels and into the Pamlico sound. Where they planned to end up tonight god only knows. Mind you the gale warnings remain up THROUGH tomorrow night and if you look at the NWS Morehead city radar you can see what is still to come.

Anyway...to make a long story short...I got a call a little while ago that they are hard aground and called SeaTow for a rescue about 5 miles south of here. Sea Tow tolld them it is too rough to go out tonight and to put out an anchor and hang in there till morning. I am a friend and he will take off at first light for the rescue in conditions that will remain gale force and I will join him to lend a hand. Hope they are OK through the night but I'm sure they will have learned a lesson (an expensive one at that) or two by morning. Will keep you posted on the adventure. Oh yeah...the forecast:

...GALE WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST THURSDAY...

THE GALE WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST THURSDAY.

LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING SOUTH OF THE AREA WILL MOVE NORTH
TONIGHT...THEN STALL NORTHEAST OF THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
NIGHT. THE LOW WILL GRADUALLY MOVE EAST OF THE AREA ON THURSDAY. THE
LOW WILL PRODUCE STRONG WINDS OVER THE AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY
NIGHT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A GALE WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 34 TO 47 KNOTS ARE IMMINENT OR
OCCURRING. OPERATING A VESSEL IN GALE CONDITIONS REQUIRES
EXPERIENCE AND PROPERLY EQUIPPED VESSELS. IT IS HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED THAT MARINERS WITHOUT THE PROPER EXPERIENCE SEEK SAFE
HARBOR PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF GALE CONDITIONS.

 

[Giulietta]

God bless you Cam....

Give them directions to Sailnet, so we can bash them live....

 

[jrd22]

Should be fun, or at least interesting Cam. I'm betting they get themselves off somehow and don't let SeaTow know.

I hope the worst of the winds bypass Oriental SC. My son and daughter in law are living in the new boat on the hard with the chainplates out and the mast held up with halyards.

 

[Faster]

Hope all goes well, for you and for them too.. but it doesn't sound like they really had their act together, does it?

 

[labatt]

Is the name of their boat "Darwin"?

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Like you said sea tow doesn't come cheap! I think they'll learn quick!

-Spencer

 

[CalebD]

Well, it is a good excuse to go out and practice your surveyor/salvage skills. Enjoy your time on the water before it gets cold down there.

 

[sailingdog]

Have fun Cam... remember your foul weather gear...

So the wind dies down a bit around 4:30 PM as dusk was approaching and they decide to leave again near dark to head down the narrow channels and into the Pamlico sound. Where they planned to end up tonight god only knows. Mind you the gale warnings remain up THROUGH tomorrow night and if you look at the NWS Morehead city radar you can see what is still to come.

Anyway...to make a long story short...I got a call a little while ago that they are hard aground and called SeaTow for a rescue about 5 miles south of here. Sea Tow tolld them it is too rough to go out tonight and to put out an anchor and hang in there till morning.

WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS??? Hard aground in gale conditions is not going to be a whole lot of fun. Especially if the boat is heeled over from it... or pounding in the waves...

 

[Delirious]

Be careful out there Camaraderie

 

[camaraderie]

Hi Guys! I'm Baaaack!!
Got up at 6am and headed out in steady 30 kts. gusting to 45 out of the northeast. The waves weren't big due to the shallow water but it was a steep chop and the rain was coming sideways and we were taking lots of water over the bow but we were snug and safe in the cuddy cabin.
We arrived on the scene about 7 miles south of us directly SW of the Bodie Island lighthous on this chart:http://xpda.com/nauticalcharts/12205_5 ROANOKE ISLAND & OREGON INLET INSET 1.png

The boat (a Tartan 37) with 3 aboard was hard aground to the west of marker #1 and on the beach of the small island there. Capn' Stu set and anchor and we backed down on the Tartan and threw the hawser to the crew and they put their lines through the eye and we hauled. Their lines parted twice under the strain so we sent them a bridle we had which stood up to the strain. It took an hour of steady pulling but she finally came free but snapped her rudder in the process (ouch!). She was really a salvage job but we got her off as a standard tow trying to give the guys a break.
We then towed her to port for repairs without event but into the teeth of the wind and chop. Got some coffee and fuel and motored back to the docks arriving at noon. Six hours total time and a nice adventure for me.
Talking to the owner of the boat...it is apparent that when they had places to be and when the wind let up a bit yesterday afternoon they decided to make a run for it ignoring the fact that gale warnings were posted through today. They were running under job and motor when they lost the engine and were blown quickly out of the narrow channel. Had they immediately deployed their anchor they could have possibly avoided being driven so hard ashore...but it was dark and things happened quickly. They simply should not have left the dock. They were very nice guys and I felt sorry for them after a long night on the beach but they had a very expensive lesson this morning.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Why you're regular "Coastie" material, that's what you are...

 

[JohnRPollard]

Cam,

That sounds like a nice half-day adventure! Fun outing for you, but a hard lesson for them.

 

[sailingdog]

Any photos?? Video?? Yeah, remote internet rubbernecking... horrible ain't it...

Ignoring a gale warning isn't too bright... they could have easily gotten killed... did they even think about that... probably...most of the night. I wonder if the insurance company will pay out or not... this might be considered negligence on the owner's part. Too bad the boat had to pay the price... I happen to like the Tartan 37.

Too many people don't think of a good anchor as safety gear... I know I've used an anchor several times to keep a boat in one spot rather than letting her drift back and get into more trouble.

 

[Delirious]

Good work!

Talking to the owner of the boat...it is apparent that when they had places to be . . .

Sometimes the most dangerous thing to have aboard a sailboat is an itenerary. Worse than gasoline or a firearm.

 

[djodenda]

Cam:

Thanks for taking care of fellow sailors, even though they made poor choices.

An expensive lesson that they are unlikely to forget, I expect.

David

 

[bubb2]

Good on You, Cam

 

[RXBOT]

Give them credit

At least they called seatow and stuck with the boat. They didn't call the coast guard to lift them off.

 

[tweitz]

Nice work, Cam. Just curious, what boat did you guys go out on for the rescue. Sounds like it was quite seaworthy.

 

[smackdaddy]

Soooo - I'm wondering...should we call in SAR for Cam? He's mighty quiet.

 

[T34C]

If the boat was that hard aground, did anyone try setting a kedge to a halyard to try and heal her a bit before dragging it off the beach? Was anything done to lessen the strain on the boat while hauling her off?