I wanted to put up a post to get some feedback on getting the boat off when running aground. I was sailing my Hunter 28 in unfamiliar waters over the weekend and ran the boat right up onto a sandbar in shallow water trying to find the channel. First thing I did was try to push off with the motor, but that didn’t work as the bulb/wing or what I refer to as the mud sucking anchor at the bottom of the boat stuck itself down in the Mud. When I tried to pull a 180 the rudder became the sandbars next victim. I tried a number of things to shift the weight and get the boat to heel, including throwing the boom abeam and getting out over it, but even with my wife’s and my weight we weren’t able to bake the boat move at all. She was just sitting high on that keel. For the next 45 min we tried various things to get her unstuck until finally I got fed up and got the Dingy out, put the anchor in it and dropped it about 50 feet away into deeper water. From there I put it in the winch and used it to muscle the boat back into more water where we began to float. After this I was finally able to push away with the engine. This was a big ordeal and I am glad that I had gone through this a few times before, so that I knew what to do. Especially because the temp was 50 degrees, we had 1 hour of daylight left and we were on a descending tide. Understanding this, I wanted to start a chain of posts with ideas on how to get the boat unstuck, so that whoever ends up in this position the next time will have a few tricks up their sleeve.
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Mark
Swing the boom
I remember a few years ago we were about to start a race on the Swan river in Perth Western Australia. I was the skipper however one of the crew thought he new the area pretty well and despite my concerns he said that sailing into a particular part of the river was fine. You guessed it. Stuck in the mud and the clock was running down. We tried pushing off with the spinnaker pole but that just sunk into the mud. So I got the main halyard eased off and sent three of our heaviest crew out the boom. She healed over and sailed out of the mud. We hit the start line as the gun sounded but as history shows we ended up running a close second. We still reckon we had half the bottom of the Swan on our keel.
I remember a few years ago we were about to start a race on the Swan river in Perth Western Australia. I was the skipper however one of the crew thought he new the area pretty well and despite my concerns he said that sailing into a particular part of the river was fine. You guessed it. Stuck in the mud and the clock was running down. We tried pushing off with the spinnaker pole but that just sunk into the mud. So I got the main halyard eased off and sent three of our heaviest crew out the boom. She healed over and sailed out of the mud. We hit the start line as the gun sounded but as history shows we ended up running a close second. We still reckon we had half the bottom of the Swan on our keel.
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john
thanks for this post , we just bought a full keel
27 foot Hunter. I have been thinking about this coming summer ...getting stuck. We have always sailed a 23' swing keel Kells and been able to run it right up to the shore. If you were not carrying a dinghy, I guess you would have to be pretty good at throwing an anchor! I like hanging on the boom idea!
27 foot Hunter. I have been thinking about this coming summer ...getting stuck. We have always sailed a 23' swing keel Kells and been able to run it right up to the shore. If you were not carrying a dinghy, I guess you would have to be pretty good at throwing an anchor! I like hanging on the boom idea!
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Colin
Heeling has worked for me!!!
Not that I have ever run aground, but past experience tells me I can get her off by heeling using crew weight on the boom.
Not that I have ever run aground, but past experience tells me I can get her off by heeling using crew weight on the boom.
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Jim A
Power boat wakes
got me off bottom and so did a friendly boater. I have unlimited towing from Boat US just in case! Jim Downtime H28
got me off bottom and so did a friendly boater. I have unlimited towing from Boat US just in case! Jim Downtime H28
One sure method....
One sure method is to wait for some big ass powerboater that knows nothing about slowing down when they see a sailboat. They can and do throw up about a 2-3 wake. You just need to be ready for them. When the wake hits you just gun it in reverse and off you go. If you are not lucky enough for this, kedging off with the halyard and the anchor will work. Hopefully this is all happening when going from low tide to high tide and not the other way around.
One sure method is to wait for some big ass powerboater that knows nothing about slowing down when they see a sailboat. They can and do throw up about a 2-3 wake. You just need to be ready for them. When the wake hits you just gun it in reverse and off you go. If you are not lucky enough for this, kedging off with the halyard and the anchor will work. Hopefully this is all happening when going from low tide to high tide and not the other way around.
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Rick Webb
Swim the Anchor
A couple of PFDs will float the anchor, throwing will never do it. Just hope the water is warm.
A couple of PFDs will float the anchor, throwing will never do it. Just hope the water is warm.
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Bruce Grant
You did exactly what I had to do....
Luckily for me, there was a fisherman close at hand who offerred to tow me off using his trolling motor. I thanked him kindly and asked that he take my anchor out and drop it so that I could kedge off. When sailing solo or with limited crew and you go aground in the soft stuff and can get the anchor out, this is the way to go IMHO. Regards. Bruce. Neon Moon
Luckily for me, there was a fisherman close at hand who offerred to tow me off using his trolling motor. I thanked him kindly and asked that he take my anchor out and drop it so that I could kedge off. When sailing solo or with limited crew and you go aground in the soft stuff and can get the anchor out, this is the way to go IMHO. Regards. Bruce. Neon Moon
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Terry
Hi Terrance, I was doing a solo sea trial with our
new ST4000+. On the way back from Hat Isand, paying too much attention to the autopilot, I ran our H28 aground on the Snohomish River sand bar. I mean I was watching my depth go from 400 feet to 100, to ten then to three. It was not a hard aground. I started the motor, shifted into reverse and rocked the boat back and forth until she eased off. The sand bar is well marked, but I was just more interested in our new toy. How embarrassing. I've seen others do the same only they had to wait for the tide to come back in. Terry
new ST4000+. On the way back from Hat Isand, paying too much attention to the autopilot, I ran our H28 aground on the Snohomish River sand bar. I mean I was watching my depth go from 400 feet to 100, to ten then to three. It was not a hard aground. I started the motor, shifted into reverse and rocked the boat back and forth until she eased off. The sand bar is well marked, but I was just more interested in our new toy. How embarrassing. I've seen others do the same only they had to wait for the tide to come back in. Terry
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Terrance M. Maloney
Good article from sailnet.com
<http://www.sailnet.com/collections/cruising/index.cfm?articleid=suelar0318&tfr=fp> This article pretty much hits the nail on the head. I swear the author was with me when I went aground and took notes on what I did. Good read... TMM
<http://www.sailnet.com/collections/cruising/index.cfm?articleid=suelar0318&tfr=fp> This article pretty much hits the nail on the head. I swear the author was with me when I went aground and took notes on what I did. Good read... TMM
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