Gary wrote:
Jeff wrote:
No, but competence does.

Most boaters have nudged a soft bottom on occasion, usually going very
slow, but there really is no excuse for hitting a charted rock at
three knots, especially after someone pointed it out.

Wait for it. You are tempting fate. There but for the grace of
God........

Yes, I know, my time may come yet. But I've made it almost 50 years
and a ****load of miles, mostly in New England, without whacking a
rock. Now that I think of it, most of my soft groundings were in the
the Mid-Atlantic states. In the Chesapeake, especially with a cat,
you can go up a creek until you nudge bottom. In New England, with a
rocky bottom and 10 foot tides, you quickly learn to be more careful.