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Old 18-06-2019, 07:44   #16
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

I was just about to come into the inlet from a day sail off of St. Augustine when I heard the frantic mayday call on the VHF. The County Fire/Rescue boat was out there doing training maneuvers, and were quick to respond along with a few other fishing boats. The fishing boats couldn't get close enough to really help due to the shallow water and chop. This was while the tide was rushing out, against the wind causing a lot of disturbance and steep waves in the inlet. The boat was well South of the markers, in an obvious spot that you wouldn't want to be.

We were about a mile away and watched the whole thing through the binoculars. It was very sad and eerie to watch how fast the boat sank and then capsized. Once capsized, it did not sink any further but could not right itself up, from what we could see it looked like the keel was ripped off. The people were picked up from the water very quickly by the Fire/Rescue boat.

The strangest part was after the capsize and rescue, no one attended the boat which was now floating into the inlet, with many boats coming and going at high speed with the threat of hitting it. Coast Guard came, circled it a few times, then sped off. The official/coast guard radio warnings for the sunken boat in the middle of the inlet did not come for another 30+ minutes, after other boats began to call on the radio warning about the obstacle. I thought it was a strange response, or lack thereof from the officials after the personnel rescue.

All in all it was a sad thing to see, I don't know what happened but whatever caused the hole in the boat, it sank very very quickly...much faster than I would expect. Attached is a picture from our view of it.
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Old 18-06-2019, 07:52   #17
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

That looks to be in some SERIOUSLY shallow water.
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Old 18-06-2019, 08:02   #18
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Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

Quote:
Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3 View Post
That looks to be in some SERIOUSLY shallow water.


I bet it got shallow fast, very fast.
My theory is they were traveling out, with an outgoing tide, so they were making 5 kts or so, but with the tide likely at least 7 kts, and hit what amounts to a wall of sand, with the keel only.

Only a theory of course. I did the same thing on delivery of our boat, without the serious consequences of course. All it takes is a moment of stupidity, not paying attention to Nav cause your paying attention to guests etc.
Mine was due to never having been there before and being too reliant on charts, that didn’t show the temporary small bouy’s, and just inexperience.
We hit so hard, we literally bounced off, there was no going aground.

Mine was the St Lucie inlet, early morning staring at the rising Sun.
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Old 18-06-2019, 08:09   #19
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

I always thought 'capsize' meant overturn, as in upside down, but what do I know?

Anyway, for anyone interested in guessing, here's a picture of the boat, screen-shotted from the video.

Looks to me like the keel fell off...
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Old 18-06-2019, 08:13   #20
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

We will find out, that boat will be recovered, they aren’t going to let it block the channel, and we have I’m sure several members in St Augustine
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Old 18-06-2019, 08:38   #21
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

I must have bad eyes or I missed something. Where is a pic showing the boat with a missing keel? Several posters think the keel fell off. I don’t see evidence. Would it be possible that an engine failure combined with current and wind pushed them out of the channel onto a sand bar which tipped her over and flooded her?
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Old 18-06-2019, 08:48   #22
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

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Originally Posted by category4jay View Post
I must have bad eyes or I missed something. Where is a pic showing the boat with a missing keel? Several posters think the keel fell off. I don’t see evidence. Would it be possible that an engine failure combined with current and wind pushed them out of the channel onto a sand bar which tipped her over and flooded her?
I watched this happen (see first post on this page). When I passed the boat after the capsize I could not see a keel attached to it.

I watched it sink and ultimately tip over, it was upright before the water level got to the deck, then capsized, then stayed floating on its side. If a keel was attached, I imagine it would not be fully on its side like it was.

Still all speculation, but from seeing it in person I can only imagine the keel was torn off by hitting hard on the shoals.
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Old 18-06-2019, 09:00   #23
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

I have been thru' the St. Augustine inlet many times...it's a doozy....no question....
I have nearly become another statistic there myself, having hit a sandbar in the area and only a strong wind/wave saved my arse that day as it lifted me off the sandbar.
It's not really well marked, because the channel shifts all the time.
In addition, there are various and sundry beach renourishment programs in the area which affect the channel.
Wind direction , ie, a strong nor-easter, can also play havoc with the channel.
The shoals extend offshore quite a bit.
Usually, but not always, the shallow portions are quickly identified, by the short steep waves.
Right inside the inlet the main channel, the channel can be deep one day and shallow the next as their are shifting sand bars inside the inlet as well.
The outside channel has a ziz-zag pattern. The USCG tries to keep marker buoys out there, but there is no telling from one day to the next.

There is no way in hell to sail out that channel, unless you have perfect wind conditions, you have to motor out and in.

There is a cut/narrow channel on the south side, immediately inside the inlet. Like the main channel, use caution here. Sometimes, the deeper water is outside the markers.

St. Augustine is a favorite place for yachties to visit, so there is usually a lot of boat traffic here. A useful hint is to watch where other boats go.
I like to pick a transit time near low tide/incoming high tide, so that in the event of a grounding, there is a substantial tidal difference there, sufficient to lift you out of trouble.

The place could use a jetty, but that is probably dreaming on my part.

The next inlet north is J'ville, which is a well marked deep ship channel. If you are coming in from offshore, this would be my pick.
To the south, the next inlet is Ponce/Daytona, but like St. Augustine, can also be tricky.
Going north from Daytona on the ICW one must also pass by Matanzas inlet, another area beset by moving sand bars in the ICW.

All in all,not a happy place for a sailboat with a 6' draft.
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Old 18-06-2019, 09:15   #24
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

Quote:
Originally Posted by category4jay View Post
I must have bad eyes or I missed something. Where is a pic showing the boat with a missing keel? Several posters think the keel fell off. I don’t see evidence. Would it be possible that an engine failure combined with current and wind pushed them out of the channel onto a sand bar which tipped her over and flooded her?
Without going too much into the mechanics of it, in the following pictures you can, perhaps, see the reasoning.

The boat was said to be 35 feet long, which would roughly give a beam of at least 10 feet (likely 11-12). The boat appears to be still floating, but even if resting on the bottom, the depth of the water is at least about 8 feet. if the keel were still attached, the weight of it suspended at least 5 feet off the bottom by the hull sides would cant the hull, lifting the mast out of the water.


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Old 18-06-2019, 09:20   #25
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

The St. Augustine Inlet is one of several on the US East coast that are not charted by NOAA. So you have to carefully following buoyage. I've attached a Google Earth screen capture to which I've added the channel marks from the latest version of the USCG List of Lights. Solid icons are lights, hollow icons are daymarks.
So although it is not charted the channel is pretty straight. Still I generally avoid it and definitely would not enter from sea on an ebb tide and an easterly wind. I have only used this inlet once, at slack tide in settle day light weather.

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Old 18-06-2019, 09:22   #26
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

Most folks don't know this but the inlet in its current form didn't even exist until they removed a barrier island. In the old days, the "inlet" was set in a north/south direction outside of the existing Anastasia island until it opened to the sea. Mother nature keeps trying to return the inlet back to its natural form and the Port Authority has considered letting the inlet go free and let it do what it was doing before.

https://www.visitstaugustine.com/his...p?map=Bew_1783
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Old 18-06-2019, 09:37   #27
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

Inlet was dredged one year ago. I’m not an expert, but have been in and out numerous times since then including at night with a 7 ft draft. I have not seen less than 13 ft. Some of the bouys are a bit spaced apart and its well known to be a fair weather inlet with shoals on both sides essentially all the way out. It appears the coast guard gentleman being interviewed suggests that they were slightly south of the channel when they hit? There must not be much room to stray, but it’s not awful by any stretch in fair weather. For me, I like conditions of 15-20 kts to sail in, so I’m still working out myself when to predict the inlet to be non-navigable. Obviously, wouldn’t do it with those winds and an opposing current.
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Old 18-06-2019, 10:30   #28
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

The poster above who saw the event take place answers most our questions. Thanks for the post.

The inlet has a poor reputation bc of changing conditions and shifting shoals, but currently is a good fair weather inlet since being dredged last year, imo. Inlet can and does rage in the aforementioned scenarios, but in acceptable conditions there is plenty of water for my 7ft draft. All and all it’s a reasonable inlet for most cruisers,.
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Old 18-06-2019, 11:12   #29
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

We grounded there in 2012... $22,000 in damage. It wasn't the initial impact with the sand that caused the problem, it was the hour we spent rising and then dropping back onto the hard sand with each passing breaker... the mast was like a wet noodle with each impact!

Multiple mistakes were made:

1) We were coming in close to sunset with the sun in our eyes.
2) We typically follow in other boats when going into an uncharted port, but since the sun was going down, didn't want to wait for another boat to show up (Being in a hurry never works out)
3) We thought we were being cautious by calling Seatow for directions, but he was vague and we didn't press him for more information. (We are now more aggressive about information if unsure)
4) The dog legged buoy was off station (3 miles south) because of Hurricane Sandy. (We learned to be more cautious after major weather events)
5) Our 4:1 adjustable genoa car bounced forward on the track and the now loose line looped in the water... this wrapped the prop and fouled the engine. (This was just a freak accident and I'm not sure how to prevent that from ever happening)
6) Before entering, we both said that maybe we should just continuing on to the next port. But we were tired from an overnight and just wanted to get the anchor down. (We've learned to trust our gut when something doesn't feel right)

We were the second boat that week to ground, and two more - including a mega yacht, went aground later in the same 7 day period. The marinas were busy with work that month!

In the end, we popped some fiberglass tabbing on the bulkhead and furniture on the port side. We also bent the rudder, bent the prop shaft, blew the transmission, and lost the anchor. The insurance company had us drop the keel and mast to inspect from damage, so that was part of the expense too, but there weren't issues from the accident found there.

It's was a hard learning experience, but it could have ended just like this boat if it weren't for a bit of luck.

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Old 18-06-2019, 15:11   #30
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Re: Capsized in the St Augustine Inlet

The current position of the channel markers for the St Augustine inlet are in the USCG light list and sometimes listed on the Ports web site. It makes a lot of sense to plot these on a chartplotter before entering. The markers are moved around to deal with the moving sand bars fairly often. The channel marks are not large and when they are setup with a dogleg it is very easy to visually skip one marker and assume the next one you see is the next mark to head to. Much less likely to do this when you have the chartplotter hints.
We entered the inlet a few days after Matts incident. It was difficult to spot all the small markers in the chop as they ate spread over a fair area. A large power boat with a delivery skipper put it on the bar a few days latter.
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