when freeing a grounded sailing vessel i prefer to tow from their spinnaker halyard.
ever tried that?
ever tried that?
grounded vessel
- Thread starter jon hansen
- Start date
That lets you heel the grounded vessel so it can be powered off whatever it is stuck on. Used a RHIB to heel a Navy 44 that had run aground leaving St Michaels MD enroute to Annapolis.
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Never had an imposed heel alone free a sailboat. Heel + kedging anchor gets the job done. And you have to be heading toward deep water too! 
I AGREE WITH GUNNI,
If IN FLAT WATER & AGROUND ON SOFT BOTTOM, USING THE MAIN HALYARD TO TILT THE BOAT SLIGHTLY SOMEWHAT, WILL PITCH THE KEEL OFF & HOPEFULLY ALLOW FOR AN EASY FLOAT-OFF.
Sorry for the caps, I forgot TO click THEM OFF......
If IN FLAT WATER & AGROUND ON SOFT BOTTOM, USING THE MAIN HALYARD TO TILT THE BOAT SLIGHTLY SOMEWHAT, WILL PITCH THE KEEL OFF & HOPEFULLY ALLOW FOR AN EASY FLOAT-OFF.
Sorry for the caps, I forgot TO click THEM OFF......
i have towed , maybe 10 times, sailboats, off the hard, with no other lines or engine involved, using just the spinnaker halyard attached to another long line such as my anchor rode. has always gone well. scuffing sure, nothing more
Just do it better than in this thread https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/un-grounding.187147/
Yup. that possibility was my first thought also. my spin halyard block is 20" above the side stay attach point. that kind of side pull would not end well for me either.
I love swing keels
wing keels tend to dig in if you induce heel. I've heard that and never intend to find out if it's true.
I pulled the Candian deputy Prime Minister off the rocks many years ago using a halyard to heel the boat. Usually the tow boat just provides heeling moment and the stricken vessel powers off.
I was always a bit hesitant to use the engine in lieu of a kedge. The thought of pulling a wad of mud into my heat exchanger gives me pause. Don't ask for a tow from a powerboater unless they look like they know how to operate a boat, the crabbers just flip you the bird. Sailboats don't have enough power to tow...so it off to set the kedge, then if needed a halyard tied to the dink. Then we start the show and the crowd of lookie-lou boaters assemble. I refer to the Catalina's as "Chesapeake Two-bottom plows", think you have to have spent some time down on the farm to get that