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Chotu · 15-12-2023, 16:50

we used to be the ones with seamanship. what happened? ever boat washing up is a sailboat

https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Rele...er-near-ponce/

Kettlewell · 15-12-2023, 16:53

Most of those Florida east coast inlets are really nasty in even moderately bad conditions. Very easy to get confused on the poorly marked approaches too.

Chotu · 15-12-2023, 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Most of those Florida east coast inlets are really nasty in even moderately bad conditions. Very easy to get confused on the poorly marked approaches too.

I guess. I go in and out of these all the time. They don’t seem like a big deal. But even if they are a big deal, what happened?

people who sail used to have a reputation for being a little bit more careful. Now the power boats are doing better than we are lol

psk125 · 15-12-2023, 17:19

Power boats don't draw as much as sailboats so they squeak by in spots that snag sailboat keels.

Chotu · 15-12-2023, 17:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by psk125

Power boats don't draw as much as sailboats so they squeak by in spots that snag sailboat keels.

That’s why?

all sailboats and no power boats are washing up on beaches to the tune of like 8 of them so far this fall and it’s because power boats are making the same mistakes in seamanship but getting lucky enough to squeak by the shorelines these boats are all washing up on?

it used to be that the average sailor was more careful than the average power boater but the tables seem to have turned all of a sudden.

rslifkin · 15-12-2023, 19:11

I think to some extent sailors travel in more challenging places, weather, conditions, etc. than many powerboaters do. And a challenging inlet is likely easier to screw up in a deeper draft, low power sailboat than in a decently capable (read: not open bow) powerboat.

nightowle · 15-12-2023, 19:41

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

Bowdrie · 15-12-2023, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chotu

it used to be that the average sailor was more careful than the average power boater but the tables seem to have turned all of a sudden.

I don't think that it's all antidotal, but there has been a shift in boating/sailing.
Not that long ago most sailboats had little engines with not much more than an eggbeater prop, the engines were "auxiliary" power used to get you in/out of a slip or maneuver in/out of an anchorage.
People became "sailors" by starting out in small boats and building the skills to actually "sail", and they learned a few basic rules. Things like not getting too close to land and not to put all their faith in an engine, or even the most basic idea of not leaving the dock without having an anchor ready to be deployed within moments.
How many of these "accidents" do we see where the rig/sails are in good condition, but an engine/electronics issue causes the loss of the boat?
Don't many of these accidents seem to occur at night?
A screen filled with icons gives lots of information, but it doesn't teach seamanship or imbue someone with situational awareness.

SV Confianza · 15-12-2023, 20:54

I’ll admit it. If it’s where I think it is, I have also run aground there.

There is a sandbar that has moved significantly of the past couple of years, and multiple times. All of the charts are wrong, including our fancy sonar charts. If you try to head into the cut through after the inlet north, you have to head way more south than the charts or even the community edits show, then cut north right before you hit land. The charts say you’ve got 0 ft but you have 10 if you take the right path. We come in here every year to visit family.

I hit the bar last year at 2am taking the same path I had a year earlier. Luckily I was inching along knowing how shifty it is there. Was able to back off it without much trouble.

I’m anchored a few miles north of the inlet. It has been very stormy here the past few days. I can see how someone who even had been here before would run aground and get pushed on the bar.

Tin Tin · 15-12-2023, 22:41

Don't like that inlet, it is the only one where we have touched bottom and had to reverse off (on a Cat) , we were well inside the charted channel and between a red and green beacon. We only hit at about 2 knots as I did not like the color of the water we were headed into, this was the south channel inside the inlet.

Cheyne · 16-12-2023, 04:04

You have missing markers and shifting sand. It looks nice and open, but on a nice day you will see power boaters out at the sand bar walking around on it just inside of the green markers. Then add in the weather that night it is one of the last entrances I would have wanted to attempt. Our buddy boat touch bottom there and wasn’t quick enough to back off with his Leopard 46. He had to wait for high tide to be off.