Let me be clear just because I wasn't on the wheel doesn't mean any of this couldn't have happened if I was. So we started out a week ago yesterday to sail round Delmarva. I have been up and down the river at least five times in the more than six years I have owned her.
The first time the mistakes were mine but they were all no harm no foul kind of things, though clearly by luck much more than skill. This trip we were going to do it all right had the charts, multiple GPS, had studied the channels new the tides. Well she beat us yet again.
After a magnificent sail up the Chesapeake, with a wind that kept us near hull speed much of the time we entered the C&D. As we approached Chesapeake City we had two choices anchor for the night and have to wait till 11 AM to get the same tide results or go through. No one was tired so we decided I'd take the first off watch and we would continue on. We were setup to exit the canal about 1:45 minutes before the tide changed. Wind had been good all night so we went for it. About 1:30 minutes later our number three person is down below screaming get up. Number two is not sure where the channel is. I got up dressed and made my way up. Perhaps if I had come up in my skivys. This would have turned out differently but the 5 minutes or so it took to dress might have made the difference. Don't get me wrong, I am not modest, I have known these people nearly 42 years there is t much of me they haven't seen but it was cold. So I get up by the time I can figure out where we are we are a ground and no amount of engine will budge us even though the GPS says the deep water is less than 150 feet away.
Since we went aground just after high tide it meant we would have a long day till the tide came back. We watched as the water receded and ultimately left us on a beach. Then the water slowly return and with help from Boat US we got off a little sooner than we would have if we had to wait for the few minutes the tide would be high enough to lift us off..
So this up till now is just a grounding perhaps more spectacular than most , I have never been on dry ground before other than a haul and we were before it was all over. But with some hours of day light we struck off to Lewes Delaware. Yes I know Cape May is pretty, yes I know we have been in the harbor many times and we know it and could have anchored without any difficulty but we didn't. So after fighting wind square waves a tide going against us when we were most tired we found ourselves approaching Lewes. Number tow was at the helm, I had just come up from my off watch and once again we could find no marks that made sense. Perhaps we should have studied the chart more, perhaps someone with better night vision should have been at the wheel. Unfortunately none of that was true and we smacked the breakwater, which is unlit for much of its length. We also had not payed enough attention to who would be return and who leaving and so we misinterpreted two of six marks in 9 sq miles of ocean.
Our Charubini's are tanks and while we did damage we didn't sink despite hitting the wall at 2 to 3 knots.
There is moe to this story but I will cut to the chase, if you go into unfamiliar waters at night, don't count on your understanding of the chart matching the reality of the scene. Second never just plot a line to a mark assuming you will know the mark when you see it, always have its lat and lang on paper so you can check when you should have been at it.
We were fortunate nothing more than some glass will be needed, our boats are strong where we punched the hole, about a foot above the waterline on the bow it is over an inch thick. We are here to tell this tale because of our incredibly strong very good old boat.
The first time the mistakes were mine but they were all no harm no foul kind of things, though clearly by luck much more than skill. This trip we were going to do it all right had the charts, multiple GPS, had studied the channels new the tides. Well she beat us yet again.
After a magnificent sail up the Chesapeake, with a wind that kept us near hull speed much of the time we entered the C&D. As we approached Chesapeake City we had two choices anchor for the night and have to wait till 11 AM to get the same tide results or go through. No one was tired so we decided I'd take the first off watch and we would continue on. We were setup to exit the canal about 1:45 minutes before the tide changed. Wind had been good all night so we went for it. About 1:30 minutes later our number three person is down below screaming get up. Number two is not sure where the channel is. I got up dressed and made my way up. Perhaps if I had come up in my skivys. This would have turned out differently but the 5 minutes or so it took to dress might have made the difference. Don't get me wrong, I am not modest, I have known these people nearly 42 years there is t much of me they haven't seen but it was cold. So I get up by the time I can figure out where we are we are a ground and no amount of engine will budge us even though the GPS says the deep water is less than 150 feet away.
Since we went aground just after high tide it meant we would have a long day till the tide came back. We watched as the water receded and ultimately left us on a beach. Then the water slowly return and with help from Boat US we got off a little sooner than we would have if we had to wait for the few minutes the tide would be high enough to lift us off..
So this up till now is just a grounding perhaps more spectacular than most , I have never been on dry ground before other than a haul and we were before it was all over. But with some hours of day light we struck off to Lewes Delaware. Yes I know Cape May is pretty, yes I know we have been in the harbor many times and we know it and could have anchored without any difficulty but we didn't. So after fighting wind square waves a tide going against us when we were most tired we found ourselves approaching Lewes. Number tow was at the helm, I had just come up from my off watch and once again we could find no marks that made sense. Perhaps we should have studied the chart more, perhaps someone with better night vision should have been at the wheel. Unfortunately none of that was true and we smacked the breakwater, which is unlit for much of its length. We also had not payed enough attention to who would be return and who leaving and so we misinterpreted two of six marks in 9 sq miles of ocean.
Our Charubini's are tanks and while we did damage we didn't sink despite hitting the wall at 2 to 3 knots.
There is moe to this story but I will cut to the chase, if you go into unfamiliar waters at night, don't count on your understanding of the chart matching the reality of the scene. Second never just plot a line to a mark assuming you will know the mark when you see it, always have its lat and lang on paper so you can check when you should have been at it.
We were fortunate nothing more than some glass will be needed, our boats are strong where we punched the hole, about a foot above the waterline on the bow it is over an inch thick. We are here to tell this tale because of our incredibly strong very good old boat.
