There's some truth to the old saying that if you haven't gone aground you probably don't leave your slip much. No matter how much you try to avoid it, it is inevitable that you will run aground now and then. The boat rises a bit or hobby-horses and then comes to a sudden stop, and that awful feeling hits you in the stomach.... Whether you are gunkholing in a a shallow bay or simply not giving adequate attention to your depth finder and charts, going aground seems to be a normal and routine part of sailing. Hopefully, these instances have occurred where the bottom is friendly sand or mud, not rocks. Perhaps the most important part of running aground is how you deal with the situation. Do you immediately throw the engine in reverse and try to back off? If under sail, do you try to tack this way or that in order to free the keel? Do you send the mate out on the boom to heel the boat and try to break it free? Have you ever had to row out an anchor and kedge off a bar? If you are really stuck and nothing seems to work to get the boat ungrounded, did you call for a tow? What has been your experiences with going aground and how have you dealt with it? Tell us about your grounding escapades and then take the Quick Quiz on the homepage. (Topic and quiz by Warren Milberg
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all of the above
The first time I ran aground was on an Islander 32 in the Bahamas, en route across the banks to Walker Cay, as crew, and I happened to be on the sw/phone at the time (skipper's fault!). My first cruise.
He tried whipping around and using the engine, which did not work, and I was assigned to go overboard with an anchor on my shoulder, walk out to heel the boat so we could attempt to kedge off. *yks At about the time I had the anchor set, the BASR volunteers showed up in a large power boat, attached a strong tow line to the bow, and dragged us off. No damage. No charges. No sweat. ;D Next time was on a chartered Island Packet 31 near Boca Grande Florida. Ran into a sandbar coming into an anchorage. My written directions said stay 50 feet off the mangroves, but it should have been 50 YARDS. I was not having success with engine, when a friendly cruiser came along in his dinghy, put the bow against my bow, and pushed me around to the point my engine got us off. Local knowledge and local help. No damage. I have had three power boats in Florida through the years and ran aground all the time in those. So I'd get out and shove. Sanders
The first time I ran aground was on an Islander 32 in the Bahamas, en route across the banks to Walker Cay, as crew, and I happened to be on the sw/phone at the time (skipper's fault!). My first cruise.
He tried whipping around and using the engine, which did not work, and I was assigned to go overboard with an anchor on my shoulder, walk out to heel the boat so we could attempt to kedge off. *yks At about the time I had the anchor set, the BASR volunteers showed up in a large power boat, attached a strong tow line to the bow, and dragged us off. No damage. No charges. No sweat. ;D Next time was on a chartered Island Packet 31 near Boca Grande Florida. Ran into a sandbar coming into an anchorage. My written directions said stay 50 feet off the mangroves, but it should have been 50 YARDS. I was not having success with engine, when a friendly cruiser came along in his dinghy, put the bow against my bow, and pushed me around to the point my engine got us off. Local knowledge and local help. No damage. I have had three power boats in Florida through the years and ran aground all the time in those. So I'd get out and shove. SandersO'Day 25 Centerboard Aground
My O'Day 25 is a centerboard model. The keel trunk is a bit shorter than the rudder, so when it runs aground, it's the rudder that hits the mud (or rocks), the centerboard simply slides up into the trunk. There's a point on the south side of the entrance to our marina that goes way out from the bank. It's caught a few sailors, so being new to the lake, I'm not surprised it caught me. We were stuck pretty good, then it occurred to me that if we moved weight to the front of the boat, the rudder would likely pull out. I told my wife to move forward to shift the weight so the rudder would pull out, then it occurred to me that I was just about to really mess up worse than running aground. I quickly changed my order, and told her to take the tiller, while I moved forward to shift weight so the rudder would pull free... I did, it did, and away we went.
My O'Day 25 is a centerboard model. The keel trunk is a bit shorter than the rudder, so when it runs aground, it's the rudder that hits the mud (or rocks), the centerboard simply slides up into the trunk. There's a point on the south side of the entrance to our marina that goes way out from the bank. It's caught a few sailors, so being new to the lake, I'm not surprised it caught me. We were stuck pretty good, then it occurred to me that if we moved weight to the front of the boat, the rudder would likely pull out. I told my wife to move forward to shift the weight so the rudder would pull out, then it occurred to me that I was just about to really mess up worse than running aground. I quickly changed my order, and told her to take the tiller, while I moved forward to shift weight so the rudder would pull free... I did, it did, and away we went.
LOL!
Herb, that's funny! And you definitely made the right decision to go forward yourself! Otherwise, you may have found yourself without a sailing partner...or worse! Jack
Herb, that's funny! And you definitely made the right decision to go forward yourself! Otherwise, you may have found yourself without a sailing partner...or worse! Jack
7 foot draft Bahamas =:{
First trip to the Bahamas, we had been motoring into a stiff headwind all day. Finally we turned a corner near Umbrella Cay, put the wind on our beam, raised all the sails, and killed the motor. It was great to finally be sailing, 7 knots, heeled about 35deg headed...BAM! We stopped. We found one of those "shifting shoals". Despite all our efforts...kedging, dinghy tug, ect. we wers stuck fast- and it was already high tide. Eventually we hailed a local with a 200hp outboard and a fellow cruiser hooked his dink to a halyard. Between the 2 of them we broke free. The best part though is that we made friends with the cruisers who helped us off, it turned out they had been down there for 2 years and had the place wired so we all stuck together for another 2 weeks and had a killer trip. Looking back, running aground was the best thing we did on that trip. Otherwise we would have missed all kinds of stuff!
First trip to the Bahamas, we had been motoring into a stiff headwind all day. Finally we turned a corner near Umbrella Cay, put the wind on our beam, raised all the sails, and killed the motor. It was great to finally be sailing, 7 knots, heeled about 35deg headed...BAM! We stopped. We found one of those "shifting shoals". Despite all our efforts...kedging, dinghy tug, ect. we wers stuck fast- and it was already high tide. Eventually we hailed a local with a 200hp outboard and a fellow cruiser hooked his dink to a halyard. Between the 2 of them we broke free. The best part though is that we made friends with the cruisers who helped us off, it turned out they had been down there for 2 years and had the place wired so we all stuck together for another 2 weeks and had a killer trip. Looking back, running aground was the best thing we did on that trip. Otherwise we would have missed all kinds of stuff!
My most recent grounding
was at Sand Island, just off Dauphin Island, where the bottom goes from 12 feet to 4 feet in a boat length. I tried to get out and push off, tried to swim out with an anchor, tried to motor off . . . nothing worked. Luckily, there was a large powerboat nearby, and as they were leaving, they gave us a pull, and freed us from the sandbar.
was at Sand Island, just off Dauphin Island, where the bottom goes from 12 feet to 4 feet in a boat length. I tried to get out and push off, tried to swim out with an anchor, tried to motor off . . . nothing worked. Luckily, there was a large powerboat nearby, and as they were leaving, they gave us a pull, and freed us from the sandbar.
Memorial Day Weekend Mishap
Plans were to leave work early, get in the boat, and go about 3 to 4 hours to get to a marina near where the rest of my family was spending Memorial Day 2004 Weekend. As in many "disasters", many things had to go wrong to cause this failure: 1) Left work later than planned, burning precious daylight 2) Forgot backup flashlight 3) Brand new fresh out of the box searchlight not tested and found during journey to not work. 4) My compass was not lighted. Our trip was in the wide open well charted waters of Tampa Bay, but then we had to turn south and enter Intercoastal. I discovered there were many different channels in this area all with flashing markers, and I think I got the correct one. However, the channel went a certain distance then bore off in another direction. Plus, the water on each side of the channel was about 2 feet or less. I didn't get very far into the channel when I felt the boat come to a sudden stop and heard the sickening sound of splintering fiberglass. I tried to motor off, but we were stuck tight. I was not happy about being stuck near a channel at night, as I was concerned about some low draft powerboat flying along at night plowing into me. I tried to put the shark warnings out of my mind ("Avoid swimming at night") as I jumped off the boat to see if I could figure out what to do. I felt my fiberglass centerboard and found it had been crunched and deformed from the grounding. It was bent and broken and could not be pulled up the centerboard slot. I held my breath, got under the boat, lifted it up a bit to get the centerboard aligned with the slot, and was able to pull the centerboard up through the slot and get us free. I called my wife and let her know we were not going to make it that night, got an extensive lecture about what an idiot I was and how unsafe I was (I hate it when she's right!), and decided to get back to our home port. We had a nice following wind and a pretty full moon, so going back home was not too bad until about 3:00 am or so when the moon set. I couldn't see my compass, and my home port was behind a bend in the shoreline. I hugged the shoreline until my depthmeter(the only lighted instrument on the boat!) told me I was too close, then I steered away. Finally, about 4:30 or so in the morning, I saw the faint light of my home port channel marker. It was so dark at that time that I still had to sweat running into the unlit channel markers on my way in, but I finally made it to my slip about 5:30 am. I slept for a couple of hours, then drove down and slept some more. I came back to check the boat a couple of days later and had about 6 to 9 inches of water. Ran the bilge pump on a semi-daily basis until the weekend when I pulled the boat out and repaired the damage. In the weeks after that , I threw out the compass that came with the boat and get a nice expensive lighted compass - worth every penny. I learned to make sure all my hardware works well before I go off on any journey. I have also moved the boat closer to the area where we often weekend to reduce the potential for long night voyages into unknown waters. I have become obsessive compulsive about flashlights, having bought a 4 pack over the weekend, but other than that, I bear no other permanant ill effects from my stupidity.
Plans were to leave work early, get in the boat, and go about 3 to 4 hours to get to a marina near where the rest of my family was spending Memorial Day 2004 Weekend. As in many "disasters", many things had to go wrong to cause this failure: 1) Left work later than planned, burning precious daylight 2) Forgot backup flashlight 3) Brand new fresh out of the box searchlight not tested and found during journey to not work. 4) My compass was not lighted. Our trip was in the wide open well charted waters of Tampa Bay, but then we had to turn south and enter Intercoastal. I discovered there were many different channels in this area all with flashing markers, and I think I got the correct one. However, the channel went a certain distance then bore off in another direction. Plus, the water on each side of the channel was about 2 feet or less. I didn't get very far into the channel when I felt the boat come to a sudden stop and heard the sickening sound of splintering fiberglass. I tried to motor off, but we were stuck tight. I was not happy about being stuck near a channel at night, as I was concerned about some low draft powerboat flying along at night plowing into me. I tried to put the shark warnings out of my mind ("Avoid swimming at night") as I jumped off the boat to see if I could figure out what to do. I felt my fiberglass centerboard and found it had been crunched and deformed from the grounding. It was bent and broken and could not be pulled up the centerboard slot. I held my breath, got under the boat, lifted it up a bit to get the centerboard aligned with the slot, and was able to pull the centerboard up through the slot and get us free. I called my wife and let her know we were not going to make it that night, got an extensive lecture about what an idiot I was and how unsafe I was (I hate it when she's right!), and decided to get back to our home port. We had a nice following wind and a pretty full moon, so going back home was not too bad until about 3:00 am or so when the moon set. I couldn't see my compass, and my home port was behind a bend in the shoreline. I hugged the shoreline until my depthmeter(the only lighted instrument on the boat!) told me I was too close, then I steered away. Finally, about 4:30 or so in the morning, I saw the faint light of my home port channel marker. It was so dark at that time that I still had to sweat running into the unlit channel markers on my way in, but I finally made it to my slip about 5:30 am. I slept for a couple of hours, then drove down and slept some more. I came back to check the boat a couple of days later and had about 6 to 9 inches of water. Ran the bilge pump on a semi-daily basis until the weekend when I pulled the boat out and repaired the damage. In the weeks after that , I threw out the compass that came with the boat and get a nice expensive lighted compass - worth every penny. I learned to make sure all my hardware works well before I go off on any journey. I have also moved the boat closer to the area where we often weekend to reduce the potential for long night voyages into unknown waters. I have become obsessive compulsive about flashlights, having bought a 4 pack over the weekend, but other than that, I bear no other permanant ill effects from my stupidity.
Grounding NOT a Requirement?
I always assumed that grounding was a requirement on overnight trips. So, I now always plan my anchorage arrivals for low-tide... get grounded...wait a while...clean the hull, etc... Just have to make sure you don't get pushed further up onto higher ground as the tide comes in!
I always assumed that grounding was a requirement on overnight trips. So, I now always plan my anchorage arrivals for low-tide... get grounded...wait a while...clean the hull, etc... Just have to make sure you don't get pushed further up onto higher ground as the tide comes in!
Weekend Before Last
I ran aground the weekend before last while motoring. I'd forgotten to turn on my depth finder alarm and stuck it in the mud, which is a very common occurrence in my home waters of the California Delta. Fortunately, it's always soft mud so the groundings are relatively benign. Sometimes a quick 180 will get me out of trouble, but I turned to port when I should have turned to starboard, which stuck me all the more. To make things worse, it was high tide. After unsuccessfully trying to motor off, I went over the side while my crew manned the helm. I was able (after about 20 minutes of trying) to swing the bow in the right direction and we were able to motor off with the next big power boat wake.
I ran aground the weekend before last while motoring. I'd forgotten to turn on my depth finder alarm and stuck it in the mud, which is a very common occurrence in my home waters of the California Delta. Fortunately, it's always soft mud so the groundings are relatively benign. Sometimes a quick 180 will get me out of trouble, but I turned to port when I should have turned to starboard, which stuck me all the more. To make things worse, it was high tide. After unsuccessfully trying to motor off, I went over the side while my crew manned the helm. I was able (after about 20 minutes of trying) to swing the bow in the right direction and we were able to motor off with the next big power boat wake.
Textbook reading proves helpful
Leaving Hay Bay off Long Reach, Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario on our Tayana 37 I paid not enough attention to the shore on port while on starboard tack in very light wind. When it was time to come about --- nothing happened. We had simply, slowly, without as much of a slight shudder --- stopped on the soft bottom... We radioed for assistance and of course got the Canadian Coast Guard asking concerned questions about danger to life and property. As small sailboat with outboard motor showed up and a small police boat, within minutes. The sailboat was too small to help. The police boat tried to pull the bow over toward deeper water, but it being a small boat itself, it was not up to the task. Final solution(my textbook reading to the rescue) was to lead the halyard from the top of the mast abeam to the motorboat which then pulled our boat sideways. It freed us up almost instantly and I motored backward to deeper water. Embarassing, of course...
Leaving Hay Bay off Long Reach, Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario on our Tayana 37 I paid not enough attention to the shore on port while on starboard tack in very light wind. When it was time to come about --- nothing happened. We had simply, slowly, without as much of a slight shudder --- stopped on the soft bottom... We radioed for assistance and of course got the Canadian Coast Guard asking concerned questions about danger to life and property. As small sailboat with outboard motor showed up and a small police boat, within minutes. The sailboat was too small to help. The police boat tried to pull the bow over toward deeper water, but it being a small boat itself, it was not up to the task. Final solution(my textbook reading to the rescue) was to lead the halyard from the top of the mast abeam to the motorboat which then pulled our boat sideways. It freed us up almost instantly and I motored backward to deeper water. Embarassing, of course...
OK, OK, OK Aground on maiden voyage...
On the maiden voyage of my new H216 I ran aground approximately 12 seconds after casting off! Sigh... Talk about developing a quick case of uptightness! Actually it was pretty funny, non-damaging, and a real embarrassment. I trailer sail. For the maiden voyage, a buddy and I went to the local small Lake Oroville Forebay to "test it out". The wind was perpendicular to the dock, I did not have a motor, and we had a nice 10-12 mph wind. Cool. As with my old Geary 18 dinghy, I planned on "sailing backwards" until I had steerage way then turn and scream off. I've sailed my Geary backwards many, many times. I planned on sailing backwards then head off to the starboard. My crew cast off, jumped on board, and the silly boat IMMEDIATELY bore off to port! Toward the shore and shallow water. After about 10 feet I simply ran aground. Luckily a couple of my sailing club co-members were hanging around and rescued me and dragged me back to the dock to try again...meanwhile rolling on the ground laughing their butts off! Second try I told my buddy to kick the bow to starboard then jump aboard and everything went fine. I have since found out that the H216 does not want to sail backwards...it wants to head down immediately. I presume because of the light weight and the relative amount of extra freeboard in the bow. No big deal if you know what the boat wants to do. So, beat that! 12 seconds and 10 feet...on the first try no less!
On the maiden voyage of my new H216 I ran aground approximately 12 seconds after casting off! Sigh... Talk about developing a quick case of uptightness! Actually it was pretty funny, non-damaging, and a real embarrassment. I trailer sail. For the maiden voyage, a buddy and I went to the local small Lake Oroville Forebay to "test it out". The wind was perpendicular to the dock, I did not have a motor, and we had a nice 10-12 mph wind. Cool. As with my old Geary 18 dinghy, I planned on "sailing backwards" until I had steerage way then turn and scream off. I've sailed my Geary backwards many, many times. I planned on sailing backwards then head off to the starboard. My crew cast off, jumped on board, and the silly boat IMMEDIATELY bore off to port! Toward the shore and shallow water. After about 10 feet I simply ran aground. Luckily a couple of my sailing club co-members were hanging around and rescued me and dragged me back to the dock to try again...meanwhile rolling on the ground laughing their butts off! Second try I told my buddy to kick the bow to starboard then jump aboard and everything went fine. I have since found out that the H216 does not want to sail backwards...it wants to head down immediately. I presume because of the light weight and the relative amount of extra freeboard in the bow. No big deal if you know what the boat wants to do. So, beat that! 12 seconds and 10 feet...on the first try no less!
Why don't they make-----
Being well past my 70th birthday and loosing a bit of my hearing, I can no longer hear any of most all marine alarms. It would seem to me that the manufacturers would design equipment with alarms loud enough and at lower frequencies so that they cannot be ignored or drowned out by a little motor noise. Fortunately, I've not run aground in the last 30 years or so but it has not been because I had an alarm go off to warn me. Knowing I can't hear them very well has made me a lot more careful I guess.
Being well past my 70th birthday and loosing a bit of my hearing, I can no longer hear any of most all marine alarms. It would seem to me that the manufacturers would design equipment with alarms loud enough and at lower frequencies so that they cannot be ignored or drowned out by a little motor noise. Fortunately, I've not run aground in the last 30 years or so but it has not been because I had an alarm go off to warn me. Knowing I can't hear them very well has made me a lot more careful I guess.
Swinger
My first time aground, I was out on my own in a Catalina 22, and had only sailed (with others) about 5 times. A couple freighters were coming into the port right as I was attempting to go out, tacking upwind. I sail out of a large marina just off of a medium bay behind a breakwall. Just before the opening in the breakwall, there is another small bay, and a public boat ramp leads into it. I tacked (between the freighters...) into that small bay to get more distance on that tack, and to get out of the way. Turns out, just past the boat ramp, things get real shallow. There was no bump (winds were light). I just couldn't tack, and everytime I would turn, I would somehow end up turning back around the other way and I was getting upset at my poor ability to tack alone in light winds (and with just one sail up). Finally I realized I was probably aground, let go of the tiller, and cranked the swing keel up. Immediately I moved and then stopped again. I cranked more and away I went. Some days, it pays to be a swinger! A couple weeks later, in high winds (25 knots) and waves, I chose to sail inside the breakwall. Another sailer saw me going back and forth and decided against going out past the breakwall too. Problem was, he didn't know where that shallow area was. And he didn't have a swing keel. And a power boat could not get him off. The coast guard eventually helped him off. If only there were more swingers in the sailing world!
My first time aground, I was out on my own in a Catalina 22, and had only sailed (with others) about 5 times. A couple freighters were coming into the port right as I was attempting to go out, tacking upwind. I sail out of a large marina just off of a medium bay behind a breakwall. Just before the opening in the breakwall, there is another small bay, and a public boat ramp leads into it. I tacked (between the freighters...) into that small bay to get more distance on that tack, and to get out of the way. Turns out, just past the boat ramp, things get real shallow. There was no bump (winds were light). I just couldn't tack, and everytime I would turn, I would somehow end up turning back around the other way and I was getting upset at my poor ability to tack alone in light winds (and with just one sail up). Finally I realized I was probably aground, let go of the tiller, and cranked the swing keel up. Immediately I moved and then stopped again. I cranked more and away I went. Some days, it pays to be a swinger! A couple weeks later, in high winds (25 knots) and waves, I chose to sail inside the breakwall. Another sailer saw me going back and forth and decided against going out past the breakwall too. Problem was, he didn't know where that shallow area was. And he didn't have a swing keel. And a power boat could not get him off. The coast guard eventually helped him off. If only there were more swingers in the sailing world!
Response to Quiz RE Running Aground
There are two types of sailors, one's that have run aground and ones that are going to run aground!!!
There are two types of sailors, one's that have run aground and ones that are going to run aground!!!
In full public view from the road
Heading out to the marina on July 4th, had to stop the car and take a pic. For Puget Sounders, the guy is aground just south of the marked channel into the locks/ship canal (where the power boat is correctly heading with a great visual clue) at Shilshoal. This was a minus 1.7 tide I recollect. When I came back in a few hours later, he was afloat, but didn't see any activity on the boat.
Heading out to the marina on July 4th, had to stop the car and take a pic. For Puget Sounders, the guy is aground just south of the marked channel into the locks/ship canal (where the power boat is correctly heading with a great visual clue) at Shilshoal. This was a minus 1.7 tide I recollect. When I came back in a few hours later, he was afloat, but didn't see any activity on the boat.
Aground again
I am fairly aggressive in exploring inlets along the Chesapeake Bay, and I take pride in cutting through the "hole in the wall" and the "thoroughfare" whenever sailing the west side of the ChesBay. KOKIE lies in a creek off the Nansemond River, so just getting in and out can be adventurous. Having run aground at least a half-dozen times in the past 3 years, my only advice would be.....relax & THROW OUT THE ANCHOR, because the tide will come back in .... probably while you are asleep.
I am fairly aggressive in exploring inlets along the Chesapeake Bay, and I take pride in cutting through the "hole in the wall" and the "thoroughfare" whenever sailing the west side of the ChesBay. KOKIE lies in a creek off the Nansemond River, so just getting in and out can be adventurous. Having run aground at least a half-dozen times in the past 3 years, my only advice would be.....relax & THROW OUT THE ANCHOR, because the tide will come back in .... probably while you are asleep.
Not again!!!!
Since I have owned my O'day 25, all of my groundings have been due to the rudder hanging up on a sandbar, etc. In the most severe case, we had to remove the rudder and move the boat back into deeper water with the outboaard engine being used for both power and steerage. Putting the rudder back in place on the water while moving or in moving water is almost impossible. The other times, we used the outboard motor to spin the boat counter clockwise off the sand bar in forward because reverse is the weakest point of our power setup.(backing up is not a viable option)
Since I have owned my O'day 25, all of my groundings have been due to the rudder hanging up on a sandbar, etc. In the most severe case, we had to remove the rudder and move the boat back into deeper water with the outboaard engine being used for both power and steerage. Putting the rudder back in place on the water while moving or in moving water is almost impossible. The other times, we used the outboard motor to spin the boat counter clockwise off the sand bar in forward because reverse is the weakest point of our power setup.(backing up is not a viable option)
Go back the way you came ...
... is the rule I always learned. It's hard to do at night when you hit mud/sand at hull speed, rail almost down so already healed, at 10:00 at night, AND on a port tack so the OB won't go in the water to help you spin. I finally got the thing off my lowering the main and backing the jib so the wind finally spin us around and flipped us to leaning the other way. Then motor, sail power, healing the boat, etc. got me back off. Unfortunately, my wife was pretty upset by the experience. I think if it had happened during the day, she'd be OK, but night and wind and waves scared her. Tom Monroe Carlyle Lake
... is the rule I always learned. It's hard to do at night when you hit mud/sand at hull speed, rail almost down so already healed, at 10:00 at night, AND on a port tack so the OB won't go in the water to help you spin. I finally got the thing off my lowering the main and backing the jib so the wind finally spin us around and flipped us to leaning the other way. Then motor, sail power, healing the boat, etc. got me back off. Unfortunately, my wife was pretty upset by the experience. I think if it had happened during the day, she'd be OK, but night and wind and waves scared her. Tom Monroe Carlyle Lake
as often as possible
Not really, but what I mean to say is, as a weekend cruiser in the Chesapeake Bay, I consider myself fortunate to discover a soft, sandy bottom with my keel. Most recently (Saturday) we went to Solomons (southern Maryland). My buddy was already at anchor and I was set to raft up. I took the short cut around (and shoreward) of an anchored boat between me and the buddy. Nice soft grounding..no problem backing off. May all your groundings be soft ones.
Not really, but what I mean to say is, as a weekend cruiser in the Chesapeake Bay, I consider myself fortunate to discover a soft, sandy bottom with my keel. Most recently (Saturday) we went to Solomons (southern Maryland). My buddy was already at anchor and I was set to raft up. I took the short cut around (and shoreward) of an anchored boat between me and the buddy. Nice soft grounding..no problem backing off. May all your groundings be soft ones.
Honey, crank up the keel!
I have often run aground in my MacGregor 25, and have found it to be effective to shout out "Honey, crank up the keel!" This positions my wife in the companionway, facing me at the tiller, cranking the keel winch, usually wearing her bathing suit with generous cleavage. I find this method both effective and enjoyable.
I have often run aground in my MacGregor 25, and have found it to be effective to shout out "Honey, crank up the keel!" This positions my wife in the companionway, facing me at the tiller, cranking the keel winch, usually wearing her bathing suit with generous cleavage. I find this method both effective and enjoyable.
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