Another one: aground at ponce inlet and rescued

[Siberian Sea]

Part of the problem is the advent of modern electronics. Today we see less and less really skilled sailors having been replaced with folks whom just look at some digital chart with their position flashing upon it and this is how they find their way around. You would be surprised at how many out there cannot even do a simple line splice so the very idea of proper navigation seems fare beyond their skill sets.

[Iron E]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Now the power boats are doing better than we are lol

No they're not

Originally Posted by nightowle

Even though we're in an age where fact is dead. Anecdotal evidence is still a poor substitute for actual statistics, me thinks.

This 100%.

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by phorvati

St Johns inlet can be impassable under certain conditions for small craft.

and not so small craft. i have seen standing tidal waves there .. big enough to swamp a 35 boat easy. maybe you get lucky and go thru them. maybe not.

[sailorboy1]

Been through the Ponce inlet numerous times and haven't had any problems. Just don't cut the corners. But I can see it as pretty dangerous in conditions of high wind blowing into a ebb current. Not that that is any different than the "good" inlets and the worst time I have had in Florida is the Miami channel.

So the poor guy who is the subject of this thread could be any of us but for the grace of god and luck

[OneBoatman]

The average sailboat draws roughly double what the same size powerboat draws and is considerably less maneuverable. Storms move the sand bars around all year round and so just because you are in the designated channel doesn't necessarily mean you won't run aground. The Coast Guard even though they are aware of such shoaling they can't monitor and react to every channel to insure it meets the charted depth with the ever-shifting sand. At times where there is clear trend and persistent shoaling they will relocate the channel but in many cases it's not frequently enough to ensure stated depths are met. Dredging and attention is pretty much limited to the harbors with significant commercial activity.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by mindsofman

For some reason,this last 6-12 months have seen
More groundings ,sinkings , maydays,Pan Pans and TowBoat
Calls for ages,,maybe even going back prior to GPS..
If one notes , more than 50% of these accidents involve
Folks 65 and older . Some of these elder couples have
Even had a " Professional " captain aboard..
???????
Another side effect of the COVID Vaccine maybe ???

I think you are right that the vaccine is causally associated with running aground. Because if you are over 65 and didn't get the vaccine you are more likely to be dead. And dead people don't run aground.

[OneBoatman]

Maybe it's just that some people feel closer to home when they're aground.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by mindsofman

For some reason,this last 6-12 months have seen
More groundings ,sinkings , maydays,Pan Pans and TowBoat
Calls for ages,,maybe even going back prior to GPS..
If one notes , more than 50% of these accidents involve
Folks 65 and older . Some of these elder couples have
Even had a " Professional " captain aboard..
???????
Another side effect of the COVID Vaccine maybe ???

Can you quotes actual NUMBERS proving you assertion of more accidents? Or is this just made up based on how many news articles you read? And of course there are a LOT more boats than there were "before GPS" so you have to do it per mile actually driven by the boats, or it is meaningless.

Bad thinking draws bad conclusions. Or maybe the lack of logic in your post is a result of low level paranoia caused by a latent COVID infection common amoung those who avoid vaccines. (I just made that last bit up, but it has just as much logic behind it...)

[Enfant Du Vent]

Too much belief in electronics:
Some years ago I was crewing on a 49' Hinckley with the owner and his sidekick, who had very little sailing experience--but was a whiz at electronics. (Not only a ham operator, but was licensed to build ham radios.)
It was after dark and we were motoring into Newport, R.I. The "sidekick" was down below manning the radar and calling out to me how many hundred yards it was to the next buoy. When he said it's about 200 yards ahead, I suggested he should come up and take a look off our port stern quarter.



We had just pasted said buoy about 5 minutes earlier!

[tkeithlu]

Chill, guys. We've got a "be nice" rule. I'm having to weed out the rude ones.

[flyingfin]

There are only a few inlets on the East Coast that one can enter at night. Ponce, St Aug, Boca, Stuart should never be used in darkness unless you have extensive, recent daytime experience running those inlets.


And even during daytime, if you are newbie to that inlet, it is always best to wait for a local vessel to blaze the trail for you.


I recall seeing a marker buoy in St Aug high and dry on a sandbar at mid-tide

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by lestersails

I think you are right that the vaccine is causally associated with running aground. Because if you are over 65 and didn't get the vaccine you are more likely to be dead. And dead people don't run aground.

New study shows some can drink bleach.
A new study shows that people, who do not possess common sense, instead, possess the ability to drink bleach.
The name, for this newly discovered ability, is called "natural selection".

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by flyingfin

There are only a few inlets on the East Coast that one can enter at night. Ponce, St Aug, Boca, Stuart should never be used in darkness unless you have extensive, recent daytime experience running those inlets.

I came the St Augustine inlet the other day at 2am. In was an emergency and I had to do it. I had done it before, but that was around 7 years ago and I did circles till dawn so I could see the route by watching the fishing boats in the morning and it was a twisty confusing route. So I was really worried the other day, but it now a very straight route and starting between the first set of red/green buoys and the red/white buoy it is single straight course in that never came close to anything less than 20' water. Hardest thing was not confusing the ICW buoys with the channel buoys and that one of the greens wasn't lit.

[team karst]

Is Jupiter Inlet a "no-go" for all here?? Even when calm?

[Kettlewell]

I consider Jupiter to be a calm weather only inlet for shallow draft boats with local knowledge. The Waterway Guide says the following:

Overview: Fair weather inlet only. With any swell, mariners should divert to another inlet. The inlet is considered impassable in a northeast swell of any size and is cited by the USCG as “not navigable without local knowledge.”

Cautions & Hazards: This inlet channel is unsafe for all but small boats with local knowledge and very shallow draft. The mouth of the inlet has strong currents, eddies, turbulence and breaking seas over sandbars that extend from the south side of the inlet offshore towards the northeast. The average tidal range is 2.5 feet.

Shoals also flank the east edge of the channel south from green daybeacon “57” to the Jupiter Island (CR 707) Bridge (hail as the “707 Bridge”) at Mile 1004.1. The bridge has a 25-foot closed vertical clearance and opens on signal. If your vessel is lightly powered, mind the swift current here while waiting for the bridge. Contact the bridgetender prior to your arrival and allow for the set of the current passing through.

https://www.waterwayguide.com/nav-al...aution-jupiter