E
Ed
Well, in the tradition started by John, confession tradition that is, I managed to drive MYST into a submerged rock jetty last Thurs while on our way to Beaufort NC...Those of you that have been in and out of the Beaufort area are familiar with the one off the point of Radio Island... We were following another boat, and yes Rick, I do realise that I shouldn't follow another boat, but when they draw more than you do, well, you get the idea...We must have gotten set a bit, as the tide was still running in, and it does scream through there...Bottom line, as we motor sailed through, we clipped the jetty pretty had, before we could get the pressure off the staysail, we spun and knocked the rudder, cables off the stearing quadrant, and the rudder jammed...Now no steering...Got the staysail dowsed, the hook down..Cuaght so had that the sampson post snapped slam off...But it caught and we staed off the rocks and the "LST" ramp that is on the end of the island...For those of you that don't know, they load LST's off this island for Med Floats, as well as other deployments...Wendy got on the radio and called Sea Tow, who was on the scene in about 15 mins..They passed us a line, took the strain and allowed us to get all the chain and the 35 lb Delta back aboard...Then he moved us further out to gain some working room and got us in a hip tow...We attempted to use the emergency tiller, bu had found the rudder was trully jammed hard..He towed us to the same slip we were headed for over at the Beaufort Town docks...We spent the next couple of hours, untill dark, trying to get the rudder back into the "down" position...The guy that discovered the "Queen Ann's Revenge" Black Beard's ship, was helpfull with loaning us the scuba gear we needed...As well as the come alongs...We tried the chain, come along trick for several hours before we decided that we were wasting our time and air....Sooooo, we made arrangements to haul out on Tues...And get the friendly Sea Tow bubbas to take us over there...On time, proffessional, etc...Got us out of the slip..and docked us at the yard's gas dock until the travel lift was ready for us (we were almost an hour early)..The slid us in the travel lift slip as easy as pie.. Turns out they would have aken us back down to the yard we normally use (a day's tow) if we had asked earlier, and got it arranged...All for the price of the membership...So far the only investment I have ever made that returned 3:1 on my investment...So, am I a dumb shit? Yep...But I'm not the only one....There were SEVEN boats that wacked that same structure over the time we were there..2 of them in excess of 55 ft, and professionally crewed....The marks in that area have been changed 3 times that I know of, twice in the last week alone...Not an excuse, but does drop my dumb factor a bit...All in all, a learning experience...We might not have done everthing right, but hat we did do after hitting was on the mark, and done fast enough to preclude any further damage... No leaks, and no other damage, other than a gouge in the keel and possibly a replacement rudder if it can't be fixed...Will find out today..Ed S/V MYST
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