Oh, I've run aground plenty but it's always been when I knew I was
pushing into a tight area, was prepared to bump, knew the tide, and
what I would do if I touched.

I've been surprised by the bottom a couple of times. Once was just
after I'd picked up someone at a town dock somewhere downeast. It was
well inside the chart soundings resolution and who would have thought
it could be that shallow 20 feet from the dock? The tide was falling
and the fin keeler we'd charted was going to be the subject of great
amusement for the whole town. I exploded into action, completely
mystifying my crew who hadn't noticed the slight bump. Suddenly, they
were abandoned as I leapt into the dinghy, grabbed the anchor off the
foredeck, and rowed away. I took the rode around a halyard winch and
had us pulled off in short order.

The other time, I anchored in a small clear spot in Anisquam, MA in
plenty of water. I woke up in the middle of the night to find that
the Pearson 26 was completely on its side having gone over so gently
that I didn't wake up until the fact that I was lying on cold
fiberglass side instead of cushion brought me around. We were in six
inches of water. About five feet away was a dredged drop off. If
we'd gone the other way, the boat might have tipped all the way over
and broken the mast off going past vertical. The next morning, we
were floating as if nothing had happened. I learned to be a little
more skeptical when I find a clear spot in a crowded harbor.

I finally gave up taking the 22 foot catboat I used to sail across the
flats off Vineyard Haven. It was great fun skimming the big, two foot
draft boat across the sand and being able to clearly see the bottom
and the swirls of sand behind us. The problem was, someone would try
to follow us across almost every time and end up stuck fast. My
conscience got to me and I started going around whenever other boats
were nearby.

--

Roger Long



"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...
Roger Long wrote:
I can't believe that "Navigating with grains of salt" thread I
started is still going on. I feel like I'm in a Road Runner cartoon
watching two little dust clouds vanish over the horizon. Do you
think those guys will ever give up?


Never! Not until Spring!

I appreciate your post. Good advice.

BTW, if you've never run aground you must have learned something
about navigation. Its been said only two types of sailors have
never run aground, beginners and liars. But those who say that
have never sailed Maine, where the consequences of grounding can be
rather seve

http://www.cliffisland.com/boat.html