Land... whoa!

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Tom Riley

A load off

Ran aground in the Apostle Islands a few years ago on a calm day on a C&C 32 with 4 people aboard. Took down the sails and thought that weight shifts from stern to bow and a reverse goose with the engine would get her off- NOT. Got into the dink with the anchor and the genoa halyard tied on the line. Figured I'd take her out a way and set it and then winch her over and back off. My weight and that of one other hefty male in the dink was enough to float her off. Easy!! Went on a diet after that!!!
 
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SeaShantyMan

Got to love the mud!

Columbia River at Tomohawk Island has an ever changing/drifting sandbar at the entrance. At low tide or low river(drought years), it can be a real nuisance. Fortunately it is soft mud at that point, and if you just slow down when the depth gauge starts to raise, it's usually just a bump and back off situation (of course then you have to nose around until you find a clearer spot to get through). But 3 years ago the river was really low and there were 2-3 boats a day or more coming in at 4-5 knots and getting really stuck. Usually someone in a rib or other power boat would come along and take their main sheet and kedge them off in pretty quick time though. Gotta love the mud!
 
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sailracer2

Not with MacGregors!

I have a M26C and the only time I run aground is when I pull it up to the beach on the barrier islands to hop off and set the anchor...otherwise never. Hint-buy a boat condusive to your sailing waters and you will greatly reduce your chances of being foolish.
 
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Jeff Greer

Storm Driven

Called the Coasties on my cell. They were very nice but could only refer me to commercial salvage. I was driven onto the beach by a storm. Beautiful sailing day turned to perfect sunset sail. The wind slowly faded to naught. No worries, my Beneteau F210 does well in light air. Suddenly, without warning, gale force winds decended. She got her nose upwind and I hove-to while I dropped the main and jib. Got the 4hp aux turning but she was no match for MaNaTure. Little choice but to push out thru the pass into the Gulf. An eternity later I dared a turn toward shore. No longer sailing but surfing with the prop clearing the sea at every crest. I picked a marker and wove my way thru the mountains and valleys of waves. My goal was to shelter in the shallows and motor along the beach until I found safe harbor. The sea shoved me onto the beach regardless. I cranked up the 800# swing keel and made a perfect three point landing on twin rudders. She began to swamp as the waves crashed thru the open transom. The cabin door made a fine baffle once lashed into place. Very high on the beach now the stern was being pushed round to lie parallel. To prevent her tipping over and breaking on the shore I fashioned a bridle from my anchor line and jib sheet then trotted off down the beach to plant my danforth. Exhausted I crawled into the cabin and waited for sunup. My GPS and told me I was at Fort Pickens. The park ranger on her ATV agreed. The salvage captain showed me his superior attitude as did his dispatcher. Every question was a debate. Apparently the only humans who have credible knowledge of anything nautical are afloat. In the end I got a ride off the beach with the park rangers who turned me over to the coasties who sped me to the pier in the most fantastic aquatic vehicle. USBoats did the recovery by removing the rudders and using a sling to tow her back to sea. For 2100 dollars (100/ft in advance) I got my gelcoat destroyed, rudder hardware ruined, and my anchor line cut into mooring lines. Bottom Line: Stay off the hard stuff.
 
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Warren M

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Jun 3, 2004
123
- - Deale, Md
Be Careful!

Years ago,I ran hard aground in sand. No matter what I tried, the boat wouldn't budge. Seeing my dilemma, a nearby power boat came to my assistance. He asked me to throw him a line and he would pull me off. I did and he did. A few days later, I noticed water under the cockpit that had always been dry. I mopped it up. It returned. I had the boat hauled. Seems the tow off the sand torqued the skeg and that created a tear in the fiberglass where it meets the hull. It was a relatively easy repair, but it could have sunk my boat. Lesson: Be careful when getting towed off a bar....
 
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Aeolus 2

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Jun 7, 2004
4
- - Iowa
Need 20 inches...

I just pull up the centerboard of my 26D Mac. Tough to go aground with these shallow floaters!
 
B

Bob

Hard Aground in Fernadino Fla!

The year was 1984 and we were living aboard our Coronado 35 Sloop. It drew 5'6", but had this lovely 4-108 Perkins that acted as a life saver in many low water hits. This time it could not help. That rise and sudden stop on a sand bar is indeed a disturbing sensation, but when you draw 5'6" and the tide slowly went east, we found that our vessel was almost heeled over 60 degrees when it all settled!! Thats a weird feeling when your home decides to fall over abit!! The first thing I did was take my dinghy(it was in tow) and row out two kedge anchors complete with old orange life preservers strung along every 10 yards or so to mark the "caution area" for curious boaters who came close to try and assist. This was a big show folks and we attracted quite a crowd in this event! Boat US back then was not even in the towing business. So all we can do is hide our embarassment while we sat in a very tilted cockpit and waited til the tide came back, so patience was the key. I was able to stand up in less than waste high deep water and clean the bottom on one side, check the rudder and prop for damage. So, in this was historically speaking, "careening" like the old mariners did to scrape and re-tar a bottom! The kedge anchors definitely saved the day, but it was a strain on the winches, our muscles and of course our pride. Read up on kedging techniques because sooner or later you'll implement them and carry an extra anchor (third) just in the event. Bob
 
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HaroldP

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Jun 4, 2004
4
- - Jackson, MS
Anchor drag, broken rudder, hard aground

Reading other's mishaps made me feel a bit better. I ran aground in June off Horn Island in the Mississippi Sound. We had anchored in the lee of the island in my Catalina 22. During the night, the wind shifted 180 degrees, as forecasted. I was in the cockpit enjoying the night. The anchor began to drag and we began to drift towards the white, sandy beach. As I started the engine to reset the anchor, we skipped over a sand bar, knocking the rudder out of the pintles. I spend 20 minutes trying to get the rudder lined up while drifting broadside to the waves. Finally, with only one pintle (sp?) in, the rudder was twisted by a wave, breaking the pintle. By now, we were basically aground, swing keel all the way up, occasionally bouncing with the waves closer to the beach. At 3:30 a.m., we decided to wait until morning to review the situation. Three hours of listing and banging in the surf made me regret that decision. In the morning, we rigged the rudder and motored off with the calm. In hindsight, I should have fought harder before giving up for the night. I also should have anchored farther out given the predicted windshift.
 
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Brad

Running aground HA!

the very day I brought brand new boat home, a H-260, I tied it to the mooring and wouldnt you know the shackle on the mooring line had a rough edge, so later that evening I was called home to push my boat off the shore, well I pushed it off after swearing profusly for a few minutes LOL Brad
 
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Tom

Are we aground yet

We go aground most all the time.The mac26X floats in 8" of water so we just pullup the centerboard
 
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Rob 1981 Cat 3019642

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Jun 16, 2004
130
Catalina 30 Mk1 Horseshoe Bay, BC
the Mac26 "skewer effect"

Anchored my Mac26 too close to shore. Centerboard was down. Woke up when we stopped the pleasant rocking motion. Centreboard was stuck (skewered) in mud slightly forward of centre, so we couldn't use the anchor line to winch off. Had to jump in and push the boat out backwards. Now thats how a Mac owner gets stuck (and unstuck). I still feel ashamed!
 
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Rob19614

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Jun 15, 2004
2
- - Sidney BC
It didn't take long...

I ran aground the second day after taking delivery of my first boat, a C&C 29 MK1. I was delivering it with a friend (an experinced sailor) from Tacoma, WA to Sidney, BC, a three day trip. En-route we ran aground in the channel just outside of LaConner WA. It seems the borrowed cruising guide suggested "guaranteed minimum" depth of 11 feet in the channel at low tide. Even with a minus 1.5 tide we figured to be OK with a 6 foot draft. However...lesson learned - the cruising guide was 3 years old. After floating off I wandered the chandleries in LaConner and picked up the current version of the cruising guide, which said something to the effect that the "Channel has sand bars and is overdue for dredging and sailboats should use caution at low tide..." Invest in current cruising guides!
 
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Rob Morton

Tomahawk Island grounding

Our only grounding so far anyway happened on at the end of Tomahawk Island on the Columbia. We were moving our new to us Catalina 25 from St. Helens up to our new marina. We left in plenty of time we thought to get there before dark. We came up to the railroad bridge and it took over an hour and a half to get them to swing it open for us. By this point it was dark when we were trying to come in. I wasn't familar with this area and turned in to soon. My wife had decided she needed to go to the head and I said thats fine we are almost in anyway. We are going in slow and we come to a stop and I hear What are you doing out there? come from inside. We were able to reverse off after what seemed like an hour but more like just a couple of minutes. We already had the keel cranked up so that wasn't an option. But we got off and realized I had turned in to soon. We got to the marina with no further incident. I learned to be more careful looking at the chart and don't let anybody into the head when you are "almost" there.
 
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Stephen

Lake Erie Boating

Lake Erie is very shallow at the western end. Even the stinkpotters run aground. I have to BUMP my way out of my marina to the channel. Luck is on my side most days as I reach "ramming" speed before I bounce across the mud bar.
 
Rick D

Rick D

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Jun 14, 2008
7,203
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
Pig Trophy

Last year I was leading a parade of boats into Mariners' Cove in San Diego's Mission Bay. They were not familiar with the cove. I asked my wife to helm and watch the depth sounder while I readied the anchor. The wind was too much as she did a 360 and she came too close in and hit a sand bar. This on July 4th so that the whole cove could watch. Reverse didn't do it. We rigged the Fortress stern anchor and some guys on a dink took it out for us. Between their dink, our winch and reverse, we got off. I was a tad concerned since I have a bulb wing keel, a very good anchor in it's own right. For this demonstration of humility, I was awarded the YC's Pig trophy I get to wear a pig around my neck for the year whenever I'm in the club... or the bar is on me. Rick D.
 
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SailboatOwners.com

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending July 10, 2005: The last time I ran aground I... 36% Used the engine to back off 36% Knock on wood, no groundings yet 17% Heeled the boat to float free 10% Called for a tow 1022 owners responding
 
P

Paisano

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Jul 13, 2005
18
- - Rensselaer, NY
A Rock in Wellfleet Harbor

The first time was the most memorable. 35 years ago my first time on a sailboat with my two older bros. Ages about 15 13 & 12. I was sitting on the bow of a Sunfish they were in the well. We went straight out South from Chequesette Neck Country Club where the boat was kept. Sailing along nicely after being first taught to sail it 20 mins before. All of a sudden we came to a dead stop - centerboard hit a loan rock (I think its marked now) I went right off the bow into the drink (man was I surprised!) and stood up on the rock. Good thing it was below me too, because the surprise dip might have shocked me into sinking to the bottom. We all laughed and I was hooked from then on. I've sailed my own daysailers since then and now the 13 year old has a 42 footer in Folley Beach SC and the 15 year old has a 27 foot twin engine fishing boat in Atlantic City (traitor) All I got is my 1969 Daysailer with a 3 Hp Aux and lots of experience on lakes in NYS and the Bays of Cape Cod.
 
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Capt. Sid

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May 31, 2004
31
Watkins MKII 27 New Bern NC
Only once...so far

I have only run aground one time in 3 years of owning my Watkins 27. I was actually on the cellphone talking to the Whitaker Creek dockmaster about the approach to the docks when I misunderstood his instructions and forgot all that I had learned about "red right returning" and got on the wrong side of the markers in the narrow channel and grounded solid in the mud going about 4 knots. Oh what a sinking feeling that is! Towboat US was acutally about 100 yards away and where putting in to come to our rescue when I managed to back the boat out of the mud and fall back into the channel. It is amazing to me when listening to the VHF channel 16 how often Towboat US gets hailed on any given day. Thank god for these guys! I gladly pay my membership fee every year just for the safe feeling I get knowing that I can always call them to help me out of some predicament. I am a very careful sailor but I think everyone grounds eventually. The trick is to ground softly and stay off the rocks.
 
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Rich B18904

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May 24, 2004
57
Hunter 33_77-83 Lake St Clair, MI
Reply to Doug L

Doug Writes 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. ******************************************** Ummm Doug, I think we need pictures to get the full effect!
 
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