"Joe" wrote
You need to read these logs for a good example of how not to do
things..

http://ipphotos.com/FlyingPig.asp


No, I think they did it right. They're all about getting money outta suckers.

"As we sailed further south, the weather got worse, and we were out far
enough in the Gulf that there seemed nothing else to do but go on, on
a reefed mainheet. The seas were 8' and the wind was 20+ knots - just
a mess out there. We set our course to get near the channel marker
that would take us through to Marathon, but which we wouldn't enter
until daylight. Somehow, we were blown off course and in one great
noisy crunch, went from 25 ft depth, (according to the depth finder),
to 4 feet of water in a second, being chewed up by the reef north of
Marathon."

No reefs exist north of Marathon. There is what they call the Yacht Channel from
the Gulf to the Intercoastal waterway. No reefs, just some mud banks. Very shallow.
The Yacht channel takes a funny dog-leg. If you aren't familiar with the way the
lights are placed you end up going aground to the left of the channel. Using the
red right returning rule puts you right on the bank. Find the chart and look at it and
you'll see what I mean.
Those mud banks don't hole a boat. They're soft mud. The whole story probably
is made up..... Donate here, donate here, donate here. Yah right!

Cheers,
Ellen