Grounded the boat on an unmarked shoal that appeared after Hurricane Matthew last weekend on the Beaufort River near Parris Island MCRD.
I was hard aground on a falling tide and by the time Towboat US got there it was too late to try getting her off so just had to wait until the tide came back in and re-floated us (we had a 9 foot tide that day). I was hard aground on a sand shoal but the grounding itself felt more like "sliding into second and coming up a foot short."
I have a 4'10 wing keel and my rudder is just a little shorter than the keel (not much). The picture shows the boat careened over at the lowest tide (about 18 inches on the port side), about 30 inches deep on the starboard side (must have been on the slope of the shoal). It looks like I rotated parallel with the shoal after the grounding. There were only small waves (less than 1 foot) as the tide came in and not a lot of "pounding" as we sat there waiting for the boat to come upright. It didn't even scuff the brand new Awlgrip paint on the port side. I was expecting it to look like someone took sandpaper to the paint but you can't tell it even was laying on the "sandpaper."
After we floated free we motored back to the mooring (with my tail between my legs) and tied up. When motoring back everything seemed to be normal with no effects noted. The rudder moved freely from lock to lock, did not flutter or seem to be loose, and held straight and true on course. There was no water coming into the bilge. I inspected the fiberglass rudder post (fiberglass "tube" that extends from the hull up to the top of the rudder inside the boat) and there are no cracks on evidence of damage from viewing on the inside. The Maxprop worked perfectly and I was able to get to the normal speeds for the rpm that I normally see and there was no vibration in the shaft while motoring. I have a PSS drip-less shaft seal and it is not leaking.
I'm having a diver check it out as soon as he can get there. I'll have him look for any cracks or signs of damage at the keel to hull joint and where the rudder post goes into the hull and general condition of the rudder. Anything else I should have him look for? I don't see a need to have it hauled unless the diver sees something untoward.
I was hard aground on a falling tide and by the time Towboat US got there it was too late to try getting her off so just had to wait until the tide came back in and re-floated us (we had a 9 foot tide that day). I was hard aground on a sand shoal but the grounding itself felt more like "sliding into second and coming up a foot short."
I have a 4'10 wing keel and my rudder is just a little shorter than the keel (not much). The picture shows the boat careened over at the lowest tide (about 18 inches on the port side), about 30 inches deep on the starboard side (must have been on the slope of the shoal). It looks like I rotated parallel with the shoal after the grounding. There were only small waves (less than 1 foot) as the tide came in and not a lot of "pounding" as we sat there waiting for the boat to come upright. It didn't even scuff the brand new Awlgrip paint on the port side. I was expecting it to look like someone took sandpaper to the paint but you can't tell it even was laying on the "sandpaper."
After we floated free we motored back to the mooring (with my tail between my legs) and tied up. When motoring back everything seemed to be normal with no effects noted. The rudder moved freely from lock to lock, did not flutter or seem to be loose, and held straight and true on course. There was no water coming into the bilge. I inspected the fiberglass rudder post (fiberglass "tube" that extends from the hull up to the top of the rudder inside the boat) and there are no cracks on evidence of damage from viewing on the inside. The Maxprop worked perfectly and I was able to get to the normal speeds for the rpm that I normally see and there was no vibration in the shaft while motoring. I have a PSS drip-less shaft seal and it is not leaking.
I'm having a diver check it out as soon as he can get there. I'll have him look for any cracks or signs of damage at the keel to hull joint and where the rudder post goes into the hull and general condition of the rudder. Anything else I should have him look for? I don't see a need to have it hauled unless the diver sees something untoward.
