We witnessed via VHF the unfortunate grounding of a sailboat in the Edisto channel near Charleston yesterday. The boat was 30 ft with a 6'9" draft. The name was Sugar Magnolia. I assume it was a sailboat. It grounded hard just past low on a rising tide. As the tide rose the boat was pushed further onto the shoal. It started taking on water and the 3 aboard eventually asked to be removed from the vessel by the CG helo. The weather conditions although cold were fine. Clear cloudless sky with moderate wind from the east. There was a ground swell outside but nothing huge.
I later check my chart notes for this channel and it clearly states that the channel is seldom used because of the large shifting shoals. The Charleston channel is only about 15 miles to the North and it was mid morning when the grounding occurred.
It did not seem like the crew attempted any self recovery by putting out an anchor to either kedge themselves off or just to keep them from being washed further up on the shore. They did finally put out the anchor before abandoning ship.
Hopefully everyone is safe and they can rescue the boat today. It is another clear sunny day here.
I later check my chart notes for this channel and it clearly states that the channel is seldom used because of the large shifting shoals. The Charleston channel is only about 15 miles to the North and it was mid morning when the grounding occurred.
It did not seem like the crew attempted any self recovery by putting out an anchor to either kedge themselves off or just to keep them from being washed further up on the shore. They did finally put out the anchor before abandoning ship.
Hopefully everyone is safe and they can rescue the boat today. It is another clear sunny day here.
this may be the news on the net 
