Lessons Learned After Running Aground . . .

[evm1024]

I have never run aground. But I do tend to anchor with my keel every now and then.

-_Ethan

[w1651]

Never trust the chart. Bad chart! Bad! Use the depth finder and the chart to find the channel. Charts are maps made by evil people that watch and laugh when you don't use your depth finder in the bay, cove, or talk to the locals.
And always, always, always, keep the galley stocked you may be there a while. Not that I know personally but I have been called a liar on this exact subject. Something about being aground in 18 feet of water. According to the blasted chart of course! CHARTS ARE BAD!!!BAD!!!

[capecuddy]

I grounded in a falling tide twice in the last month. Lessons:

1. When you run aground, engine to neutral, trim up but keep in water or shut down engine.
2. Don't rely on any one nav source....know your charts in advance but watch the darn water for "funny" signs of low depth or shoals
3. Call harbormasters for help before your marina or tow company. They are often extremely helpful and quick (and free).
4. Keep your Kindle or a book in your pack...and water and snacks (nuts are especially good).
5. Get proficient with your anchor and lines.
6. Register for an MMSI number and give it to the USCG and harbormaster where you ground. Keep your Harbormaster and Coast Guard station phone numbers handy if you are in cell coverage. Make sure they have yours!
7. Be prepared for returning home at night (first time, no spotlight....had one for second.) I had personally recorded waypoints for all cans/nuns all the way home....learn to use your radar in sunny daylight so you are ready for dark and foggy.
8. When you approach an area that "makes you a little nervous" <you know what I mean> SLOW DOWN!! Also stay focused...easy to ground when u r distracted.
9. Seals can put on quite a show! They are great companions and seem to enjoy the human attention.
10. Keep a short hose for doing a reverse flush even with raw water washdown if your outboard has gulped up sand.
11. Have a 12V to mini USB charger for your cell phone.
12. have flashlights and spare batteries
13. Have a spare line or two in case.
14. Patience....enjoy the quiet and solitude....it will make you a more careful captain in the future.
15. Check that bilge for water before you let the help go.
16. Keep an eye on engine temp if you ingested sand into your engine.
17. Be extra careful in falling tides and remember that the new moon causes astronomically low tides (both my groundings on new moon days.)

[bigpuff]

i just sat on the botttem with the tide on the ebb dropping the miss,s off at a jetty.a trick i learned (a long time ago)is to use the motor in full ahead at the same time turning the wheel hard over to port,nutrel then full astern with the wheel hard over to starburd,the boat(keeler)should in 6 or 7 times wiggle her saelf off.not to good for the cooling water impeller but has worked for me.

[rrranch]

I'm guessing you are in corpus Christi by your user name. I learned the hard way 3 times that charts of this area suck! The last time we were in the icw dead in the middle of it and were running in 12 feet under our keel over by aransas pass and the bottom came up suddenly and grabbed us. Thankfully an idiot motor yachter blew by and rocked us off it. Over by Lydia ann channel is really bad too for sailboats. You better know the area you are in around here then expect it to change. A neighbor of ours last week ran aground I heard then was stuck for half a day with nearly a hundred boats going by and not offering to help. When he finally did get off a storm had rolled in and he was sailing back and lost his mast in the water. Rigging was way too old. He saved the mast and it's now sitting on the dock next to his boat. I know he wasn't happy.

[Aussie Sealady]

I once ran aground in a channel in a dinghy!!!
Sloppy muddy bottom.
Was able to row into deeper water, outboard could not handle the mud.
Was not game to get out with feet as could have sunk to the centre of the earth.

After getting free and talking to locals was told........

"Everyone knows there is a speed hump there!!!!"

For Aussie's the speed hump is near the 3rd port marker in the Western Channel between Spectacle Island and the mainland when driving north to Newcastle from Sydney crossing the Hawkesbury River. East of the road.

Yes near the patch that can be dry at low tide. That whole area of Mooney Mooney Creek's bottom cannot be trusted. It moves and the charts don't keep up.

[boatman61]

It happens....
Bilge keelers are great... just put the kettle on and look like you meant to....
Fin keeler.... to busy running round stowing stuff before she falls over...

[Dkdoyle]

Water can be quite shallow in our channels in the winter at low tide. I use a depth sounder and gps. I start to grind my teeth as it read 4 or 5 ft. It wii shallow too fast for the depth sounder to do you much good.

[capecuddy]

Hey 5 feet sounds good for a lot of Chatham (MA) inlet and Pleasant bay channels where 3 feet at low tide on the marked channel is not unusual.

[GorillaToast]

Originally Posted by capttman

One thing about going aground is that it can confirm that your depth finder is accurate..

...if you set your keel offset correctly. I never knew mine was wrong until I ran aground in 9.5' with 5' of draft.

It's "-" not "+".

[Curmudgeon]

Get Seatow (or a comparable service). Keep a few good books on board for when you run aground at low tide.

[cantxsailor]

I got the BoatUS towing added to my regular membership just in case something went bad on a weekend trip last year.

Guess what? It did. I was following a bunch of old tracks on my chart plotter when the depth sounder went from 2.8ft(under the keel) to flashing which means, apparently, you are now aground, quicker than I could react.

I was about 100ft from the Houston Ship Channel hung up on an oyster shell dumping ground that I had passed over at least 4 times before. Of course those times were not after the wind had been from the north for a week, blowing all the water out of Galveston Bay.

The worst part was every time a ship went by it would suck all the water away and the boat would lay hard over on her side. Then that water would come rolling back in as a black, stinking, standing wave about 4' tall.

My dear wife, who has never been aground before, was pretty scared. When the second wave came in I got her into a life jacket which I think freaked her out even more.

I tried everything I could think of to get free but only managed to get the boat turned so the cockpit faced away from the incoming waves. That was a help but not much.

After a short call to BoatUS explaining where I was and the situation they had a towboat on the way. 30min later the towboat arrived and in about 5min had us free.

If I had had my dinghy I could have kedged off no problem but I didn't have it.

The tow would have cost $650 but was "no charge" with $125 unlimited towing I had purchased a couple of weeks earlier.

My dear wife still makes snide comments about me being scared because I made her put on her jacket and I also put on mine. I have tried to explain to her that it's my responsibility to make sure all passengers are safe and in an emergency that means in a jacket.

Next time I may just check to see if her life insurance premiums are paid up and skip the harassment............. ..............m

[Dkdoyle]

Yup already have seatow. Luckily i have not had to use them.