Here's a few things I learned after going aground yesterday.
- Spend the extra time to make sure you don't run aground, it's worth it. Think twice act once.
- Act slow, only go as fast as the crisis requires. I was stuck in calm shallow
water, things weren't getting any worse, I didn't need to be anywhere, why was I in a hurry to get unstuck?
- Use the opportunity. That would halve been the perfect place to clean the prop and scrub the bottom. The
water was chest deep and the bottom was nice and sandy. I was kicking myself later when trying to clean the prop while swimming in deeper water.
- A well set
anchor will hold more pressure than you can put on it. I set the
anchor a ways out then wrapped the line around a
winch. The anchor held even after I couldn't turn the
winch any more.
- Have a plan for when the
boat is freed. "Grabbing the swim latter as the
boat goes by" should NOT be part of the plan. Things start to happen very fast and it helps to be prepared
- Watching your boat sail away while still in the water is not very fun. It can also turn a decent swimmer into a floundering mess. Luckily the anchor held or you wouldn't be reading this post.