If You Ain't Run Aground You Ain't Been Around

[Sea Hunt]

I received the following in an online post from a sailing magazine. As it cheered me up a little on an otherwise boring and wasted day, I thought I would share with the board:

The Sand Bar

A sailor, after running aground on a sand bar, paid a passing fisherman $100 to pull him off with his boat.

After he was off the bar, he said to the fisherman, "At this price, I should think you could make a real living pulling people off, night and day."

"Can't," replied the fisherman. "At night I haul sand for the bar."

[Dixon Hemphill]

Tadpole, I have gone ashore on sandbars in Chesapeake Bay more times than I care to admit. Each time I was able to get free by heading in the direction of deeper water and moving my tiller back and forth at the same time gunning the engine a bit. . Luckily for us Bay sailors we have sandy bottoms here unlike the harbors further north.

[sharkbait]

Went aground this morning. North wind had blown a lot of water out of the bay. The spot that I normally cross to get into the channel was a little bit shallow this morning. We had started out with a single reef in the main; wind was blowing 21Knots. After we went aground I raised the main to full and added on the jib. The additional main sail area caused the boat to heel just enough to raise the keel clear and the additional power from the jib pulled us off the sand. Then the problem was to gain control of a sailboat that was seriously over powered.

[bill2]

Another method used ( esp w/cut away forefoot of Alberg designs ) is to move passengers, crew, water/fuel jugs up to the bow ;
lash the tiller;
drop the trans into gear ( reverse to get out the way you came in ? ) ;
kicking up the throttle ;
while racing up to the bow yourself.
Leastways it worked on a Pearson Triton some few years back though haven't had to try it on a CD yet

Be careful to check your raw water intake strainer for sediment - please don't ask how I know to do this

[Neil Gordon]

Another method used ( esp w/cut away forefoot of Alberg designs ) is to move passengers, crew, water/fuel jugs up to the bow ...(

Put the crew in the dinghy. Then put the anchor in the dinghy. That might be enough to get you off. If not, they drop the anchor in deeper water and you can kedge yourself off.

[Duncan]

...( reverse to get out the way you came in ? )...

The logic seems good on this, but I wouldn't.
It could be rough on the rudder, if you caught it in another shallow spot going backwards.

Here's how I spent the first afternoon aboard my new boat last summer:



The good news was that I definitely missed the rocks on the right, just the way I was told.

Two hours of falling tide, and three hours of rising, before she was upright again, and out of there.

[seadog6532]

On Mobile Bay you don't so much run aground as the water gets too thick to make way. It's a very friendly bottom here. Kind of like hitting a bowl of pudding, "it don't taste so good though"

Mark and Anna of Arianna CD30K #112

[Bob Condon]

We only have ROCKS. On our very first trip with only our main sail up (yes, I was nervous) we were sailing for about an hour when we heard an awful crash from another boat (estimated at 36 - 40 ft ) hit the rocks and lift the boat up and out of the water. The crew went flying. They could not have been using a chart because the charts is clear of the rocks... They got themselves off the rocks, with a banged up crew...

I turned our boat around and headed back to the mooring say Enough for one day!

I guess I have never been around because I and the boat (according to my surveyor) have never been run aground.

[bill2]

Definitely use caution any time you're grounded . . .

Neil
Sorry there was no dinghy aboard - and the inflatable wasn't inflated - oh well. I agree with your solutions ( straight out of Chapman's ) while this was presented as another improvisation that may be employed should the situation fit - all things considered and caution being exercised.

Duncan
Absolutely running in reverse is not recommended - however if only to retrace your steps to deeper water - and no more - it can - along with various other techniques ( see Neil's alternatives ) - give you other options - especially should you ground at dead high tide ! And even Chapman's says you need to beware washing more of the bottom up against your hull if gunning it in reverse !

The principle is that we have a cut away forefoot. Change the waterline by moving ballast forward and you also change the hull's contact point with the bottom - hopefully . And with some luck you may just loosen enough of the hull from the bottom to back out ( we backed out slowly as it seemed to fit our situation better - forward being more shallow ).

But by all means - be careful as all get out for the methods and reasons mentioned by Neil and Duncan - also Chapman's is a good reference for many situations we encounter while sailing.

just another $0.02 . . .

[bottomscraper]

We purchased Mahalo in the fall and did not get to sail her until spring.
The boat had been stored on land for the winter. For our
first trip we needed to move the boat across Buzzards Bay. We
figured some extra crew would be good for our first trip on the
new boat. My brother in law and two of his kids came along. There
was a confusing set of bouys on the way out of the harbor. Needless to
say we mixed up two bouys and ran aground, not 10 minutes
into our first sail! Lucky it was on a rising tide and a soft grounding
in sand, we moved everyone aft put it in reverse, started chanting "I think I can,
I think I can" and got going again in about 5 minutes.

Melissa alone does most of the navigating now!

[Oswego John]

Definitely use caution any time you're grounded . . .

But by all means - be careful as all get out for the methods and reasons mentioned by Neil and Duncan - also Chapman's is a good reference for many situations we encounter while sailing.

just another $0.02 . . .

Hi bill2, Rich and all,

Yea, verily. True pearls of wisdom. Since we are on this subject, let me add another tuppence to the kitty.

The scene was on the Ste Claire River that separates Michigan from Ontario, Canada. We were on a large multi-masted schooner with a load of maybe 50 or more paid passengers on an afternoon excursion ride. The sails weren't all up yet, the diesel genny was on a fast idle and we were riding with the current.

We were over to the side of the channel, doing our best to keep clear of one of those huge quarter miler ore carriers, loaded to its gills and moving smartly with the current. It seems that ship horns and right of way don't seem to have much clout under certain circumstances.

All of a sudden, we heard a soft, mushy crunch. The ship stopped short and every one kept going. The deck looked like duckpins. Bodies not neatly piled up. Those of more eloquence thus spake "Holy ----, wha' happened. We were on a bar. Correction! We were *IN* a bar. The current was forcing us in deeper.

Our wizened old sea captain was a cool dude. He ordered everyone to go up to the pointy end of the boat. Why, I never did figure out. Now you have to understand, too many days at sea (well, sweet water) and the crew gets a little, shall we say, capricious. They like to pull stunts and hack around. One of their favorites is to lighten the weight of the boat. At the count of three, everyone in unison, jump up in the air as high and as long as possible. Words couldn't begin to describe the mayhem that was occuring up in the bow. It was a riot to observe.

I have no idea what the captain was saying on the ship radio. Within less than 5 minutes, there were almost two dozen power boats of all sizes, from three story floating highrises to personal watercraft. The captain directed them to form a circle, indian file, and keep buzzing the boat. The wakes from the larger power boats made waves which rocked our hull. That, and of course the grasshoppers up in the bow lightening the gross tonnage, we eased out of the sandbar.

A few days later I heard the captain complaining how the buoy system in the river needs correcting.

True story. The names have been deleted to protect the guilty. And another disclaimer to boot. I was the only member of the crew that never, ever pulled a caper on another crewman or guest. Trust me on this. Hee, hee

Enjoy life,
O J

[Jim Buck]

Shortly after purchasing my brand spankin' new Ty in 1974 a friend asked me to go walleye fishing in his runabout. As we approached the mouth of Maumee Bay headed for the fishin' grounds on Lake Erie, we noticed a large C&C 30-something near the edge of the channel with its sails up but strangely it was going nowhere. We knew the area and immediately recognized she was grounded on the sandbar that juts out into the Bay. We asked if they needed assistance and they responded in the affirmative. We instructed all eight people on board to go to the leeward rail to see if that would free her. No luck. We tied a line to the stern cleat on my buddy's runabout and tried to pull. No luck other than taking some water over the stern of the runabout. The "Captain" also tried the engine with the line tied to our vessel and full sails up. Nothing. As a last resort I instructed everyone except the "Captain" to exit the boat and stand in the chest deep water to see if that would free her. With full sail flyin' and our tugging she immediately jumped from the bar and headed across the bay. I untied the tow rope affixed to the stern cleat just as the much larger vessel started pulling our stern around and began shipping water over the stern. Not so comically a young lady who was probably not old enough to vote appeared at the now disappearing stern rail of the sailboat and shouted "What do I do now?" Apparently the "Captain" (read son of owner) had left the boat to stand with his friends but left his girlfriend on the now runaway ship. Recognizing this we knew we had to do something so my buddy slammed the throttle forward as I moved to the bow. I wasn't wild about my next move but was left with little choice. I stepped over the two foot high pulpit and faced forward while hanging on for dear life. The chop on the Bay wasn't too great just enough to soak me and scare the daylights out of me while we bounced along. As we approached the stern of the sailboat, now moving along at probably 6 knots, I jumped from the bow of the runabout to the stern rail of the sailboat. As I was pulling myself over the rail, the girlfriend became frightened and climbed into their trailing dinghy. I immediately spun the wheel to head into the wind and let both halyards fly. I then grabbed the anchor rode with thoughts of dropping anchor only to discover I could strum a C sharp on it. I guess with all the sails up and a tow line affixed to a powerboat it still wasn't enough for our "Captain". While I was trying to secure the sailboat my friend pulled the plug in his stern and took off to evacuate all the water we had taken on in this fiasco. In doing so he had to turn a corner on the Bay that took him out of sight of the sandbar. When he returned he retrieved the sandbar occupants and brought them out to the now drifting sailboat. They then explained that they thought we were trying to steal the boat when it looked like I knew what I was doing and while my buddy disappeared around the bank for awhile. And the best comes last - He offered me $5 for our trouble. I declined and told him to make sure he was out in Lake Erie before he tried to undo the fouled prop. I didn't read of any drownings in the paper but I'll bet his dad was a little hesitant to let him take his baby out again. I can't remember if we caught any fish that day.

[Ray Garcia]

Getting the crew to the bow definitely works. I know, it happened on the Great South Bay on Long Island. My father was at the tiller. We sailed along chatting about my childhood fishing trips with my father to the kids. We we laughing and storytelling when suddenly the inevitable happened. We ran aground because I was not paying attention to where we were headed, obviously neither was my father. The southern shore of the bay shallows quickly as you approach shore. It is all sand in the bay. I furled the genoa and had everyone go forward. Started the motor and eased ourselves back to deeper water. Worked like a charm. Luckily we were not going that fast and we had the crew weight to set us free. Lesson learned: You will never run aground if you know where you are going.

[mattlydon]

I had a hunter 25 which broke loose from it's mooring and ended up on the beach. At low tide, the deck was at about 20 degrees off vertical, and at high, she was in 3 ft of water (with a 5 ft draft)

I got her off the beach by rigging a garbage pail to the halyard (house size) filling it with water, and hoisting it. This heeled the boat enough to float her on her sides, and a shove by 3-4 bystanders pushed her out to deeper water.

More recently, my CD28 broke loose from her mooring in the hudson. Luckily, someone spotted the boat drifting and was able to alert me. She ended up hung up on a rock or two along the west side of the river, just north of the famous, boat eating bridge, the tappan zee.

She was bow-in, tide dropping. There was a small pier 150 ft to port, which we got a line around, and again attached to the halyard. I sent a couple of guys in a tin boat out aft to the end of scope with my anchor. When that was set, I hauled in the main halyard, which heeled the boat over, and hauled in the anchor line which popped her off.

Total damage, a couple of minor scrapes on the keel, and serious anxiety to me.

altogether too much experience with the ground.

Matt

[sharkbait]

I once saw a crew sling their dinghy from the main and fill it with water to heel the boat.