Ran Aground

As for a cost idea - we ran aground in the Hudson in May and pretty badly crinkled both 24" props, but not so badly that they couldn't be repaired. About $800 for the repair and rebalance. They would have been about $1300 each new. Luckily that was the extent of the damage.

Stu-L said:

Yes it was.

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my old saying was"When in doubt stop and look about"

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

I am waiting for my turn. There are those who have run aground and those who will in the future!

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Same here... knock on wood. At least not in my own boat. I have run aground several times aboard ship. Thankfully none of those has been my fault (yet.) The most memorable one was about 6 years ago. We were in the south east corner of Lake Michigan, trying to get into port ahead of some weather. Well, as it turned out there was some shoaling at the entrance, and we bumped into it and couldn't get ourselves free. The forecasted NW gale promptly started whistling, and with a couple hundred miles of fetch, the seas started stacking up pretty quickly. We found ourselves turned 90 degrees, now parallel to the shoreline, with the seas on our weather beam, beached. It's a hell of a thing when you can feel a 620 foot ship bumping against the bottom repeatedly. I remember looking at the piers, wondering if I'd have to swim for it. We tried calling for tugs, but there weren't many around big enough to make a difference. A few came out anyway, and got tossed pretty bad in the seas. We wiggled and fought for hours, and eventually were able to break free. It was an interesting night.

You are not fully aground until you run out of rum!!!!

Baker said:

You are not fully aground until you run out of rum!!!!

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Baker, I like your style.

Three weeks ago, SeaTow arrived to tow a disabled boat out of our YC. After being underway for about 15 minutes, the tow boat ran the towed boat aground.

hmason said:

My goal is to transit the ICW from Stuart FL to Westport CT or the reverse without touching bottom. This year I made it all the way from Stuart to Cape May NJ without touching bottom. Then my sounder quit exiting the Cape May Canal and I touched bottom. Damn! Almost made it all the way. Sh*#t. Well, maybe this year.

Howard

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He who does not stumble, does not walk. On the ICW, if you haven't gone aground, you haven't cruised. Cape May Canal is only one of a hundred (maybe a thousand) places where tide and wind and skinny water can reach up and grab you.

I once closely followed a tug into the Cape May Canal from the Delaware River and had the tug not dug a couple extra feet of depth, I would have been high and dry. His props were actually kicking up rocks and mud for about 100 yards which allowed me to churn through thick soup into the harbor.

Cuttyhunk47 said:

I once closely followed a tug into the Cape May Canal from the Delaware River and had the tug not dug a couple extra feet of depth, I would have been high and dry. His props were actually kicking up rocks and mud for about 100 yards which allowed me to churn through thick soup into the harbor.

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Now THAT'S good timing!

How bout running ashore but not aground

This happened to me last summer up the Wye River on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. The shore of the creek is lined with fallen trees and branches. We anchored in a wide spot of the creek that gave us some swing room and I set out 100 ft or so of scope in 10 ft of a mud bottom.
As forecast a thunderstom came upon us as 3am and the anchor didn't hold and the wind blew us ashore. The branches along the shore kept the boat from running aground. We were lucky that we hit a spot well protected with branches and the high winds, estimated to be 50 kts were short lived. No damage to the boat save some bottom paint on the branches.

A 36' Tollycraft further up the river also drug his anchor during the Tstorm. In conversations with him the next morning he said in 40 yrs of boating this was the first time his anchor dragged. He was also lucky, he blew back parallel to the creek bank and his anchor reset.

There is a saying "If you haven't been agound you haven't been around."

I have hit bottom a few times, usually at slow speed but once at 7 knots. My wife was at the helm but the depth sounder was acting up and not working at the time. I was able to back off and go on my way every time.

My prop is protected by a keel and a skeg.


As for the OP's request for a repair quote, it's impossible to provide an estimate without knowing the exact damage. And if it's covered by insurance, it doesn't really matter. If you have a $1K deductible, you better count on paying that.

Stu-L said:

I recently had the misfortune of running my 34' Californian up on the beach. No hull damage, but damaged both props, struts, shafts and rudders. I am working with my insurance.

Would like to get a rough idea of cost. Any one had to replace the things I mentioned above?

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The price could vary dramatically and your biggest concern needs to be to make sure everything needed is done. The examination of the shafts and struts will have to be very thorough and include very careful gauging.

The worst thing that could happen to you now is to get it repaired less than perfect, settle, then find out six months later the alignment isn't right or one item not replaced should have been. Make sure your claim is kept open for you to have a reasonable time to check it out and use it.

For many years - At infinitesimally slow speed (.01 knots)I often purposely run the nose of our Tolly firmly-aground up and onto the relatively soft, wet, yet well rooted and stable edges of small islands in SF Delta. Once nose touches ground I throttle up to raise nose onto island edge to the point that current/wind at that moment (in any direction) will not dislodge boat. Due to some Delta's islands steep drop-off at their edges in sloughs/channels 90 degree angle to the islands with nose firmly aground leaves rear 2/3 of boat in clear water of good depth.

Then I fling a light weight aluminum Viking anchor and line out at bow rail into islands weed and small tree growth (I get about a 40' toss accomplished). I make sure with windless that the flung anchor is well adhered to island growth.

Then I take our runabout and go out off transom some 250' across slough with a Fortress FX-23 aluminum anchor (set at 45 degree shank to fluke with 15' chain to 5/8 line) with my wife feeding line as I go and we drop rear anchor into the Delta's soft mud bottom. We slowly pull Fortress back toward boat until it firmly sets.

Then I go to bow and leave enough line to the front anchor on island so that boat's nose can be backed just a bit off island edge and into deeper water (so that the 4' +/- tide level change is no problem). I do this by starting engines. As I slowly back off island edge my Admiral pulls in rear anchor's then becoming slack line and when I have forward anchor's line fairly taught she fastens the rear anchor's line to our starboard transom cleat.

And a swimming we do go! Perfect for days of party relaxation/enjoyment and running around in our cute, fast Crestliner runabout.

This anchor-out technique is not for everyone and you must know how to read any island's edge to know if this technique will work in that location. Incorrectly attempted there are many bad items that could occur while performing the actions as well as can occur when sleeping, or during tide changes, or because of winds. I've seen some try and fail with damage to their boats and equipment. YRMV

I am always watching the depth sounder wherever I go that I feel water depth may become less than 10' deep under my keel. "So far" in decades of boating, I have never run aground - unless I wanted to!

Happy Anchor-Out Daze! - Art

Art said:

................. I am always watching the depth sounder wherever I go that I feel water depth may become less than 10' deep under my keel. ............

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Those of us who boat on the AICW don't have that luxury. I set the warning alert on my plotter to 5' and it sounds off frequently, especially at low tide. At least the bottom is mostly soft mud.

WesK said:

Those of us who boat on the AICW don't have that luxury. I set the warning alert on my plotter to 5' and it sounds off frequently, especially at low tide. At least the bottom is mostly soft mud.

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Wes - I keep my sounder at 3' warning signal, which gives me approx. 2 feet under keel from where transducer is. Having already been keeping close eye on depth sounder readings since the 10' depth was reached, at the sound of a warning ring (already going very slow) I immediately stop all forward motion and survey my options. Backing out has successfully been done many times (I love having twins). I'm not saying I will never make mistake and inadvertently run aground... just saying I haven't to date.

Art,

Should you ever run the AICW, you will ruin your record. Just sayin'

I'm supprised an insurance company would pay for damages from running aground.

They pay for you backing your car into a vertical barrier..


There's a difference?


Unless you were TRYING to go aground and happen to mention it to the adjuster.

manyboats said:

I'm supprised an insurance company would pay for damages from running aground.

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Why? It's an accident. That's what they pay for. Probably their leading cause in terms of number of claims.

Accident?

With all the nav tools we have GPS, charts, depth sounders ect I see it as just plain not pay'in attention. In other words negligence. Just like talk'in on a cell phone and running into a ferry. Not pay'in attention.

It reminds me of a TV add where someone is standing in front of the statue of Liberty complaining that their insurance co wont pay them what they paid for their new car. I'm an old man and I think your thoughts of what's right and wrong is seriously mucked up. The insurance co paying for the value of the car at the time of the accident is 100% right and anything else is wrong. Perhaps there's been too many Democrats and "bennies" under the bridge. Everybody thinks somebody or some co or the government is responsible to take care of them. What dings me off is that if I have any insurance policies that cover such "accidents" I'm the one pay'in for it.

Have I run aground? Yes. But there was no damage.

I've run aground five times over the decades; always on a rising tide and without damage! Feels like someone is looking out for me.

Imagine what the cost of repair if the OP had IPS drives and one or more disconnected and was not retrieved. As bad as repair to props and shafts are probably a lot cheaper than IPS and a lot more yards can handle it.

manyboats said:

,,, What dings me off is that if I have any insurance policies that cover such "accidents" I'm the one pay'in for it.

Have I run aground? Yes. But there was no damage.

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My insurance companies have made tens of thousands of dollars from me, at least so far. Currently, medical insurance under Medicare (costing more than I was working) plus supplemental health insurance, costs much more than housing (small condominium).

Today heard of a sailboat that got stuck in the middle of a channel that is reported to be maintained 6 inches deeper than the draft of the boat.


Accident or negligence?


Let's hear it everyone.......


My vote... accident....


PS...Don't worry OP....never heard of insurance not paying out on a simple grounding...and working for Sea Tow...I know of a few (hundred)...


.....despite the negative waves being posted.

WesK said:

There is a saying "If you haven't been agound you haven't been around."

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Ha ha!....Sometimes stuff just happens.....(long story)..

There's something good to say for single-shafts protected by a keel!




So far, all my groundings were with sailboats with keels.

I've run aground 5 times in one day but that is in my 24' outboard boat in Galveston Bay, Port O'Connor, Matagorda Bay in Texas.

I have 2 to 4 people aboard and we drink a beer until the tide is most advantageous and "drag it off".

won't work so well with the "Big Boat".

MarkPierce...You have a nice looking Bottom!

ktdtx said:

MarkPierce...You have a nice looking Bottom!

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I like bottoms.

Spanish Banks/English Bay seems to catch lots of people off guard.

On my last good grounding, in my twin engine Krogen trawler, just into the bay at Panama City Fl. I was really stuck in the sand/mud bottom. Falling tide. Looked like we would be there awhile. Tried Kedging back sideways, no help. Then I saw a big sporty coming in the pass going slow. I called him on the VHF and told him my predicament and asked if he would give me the biggest wake he could muster. He answered in the affirmative, even seemed to be happy to oblige. He was rollin when he came close, then we saw the black smoke roll, the cockpit went below water level and the wake was BIG. I was full throttle in reverse when it hit and picked us up about 3 feet. We shot (relative term) backwards out into the channell. Unstuck. I bought them a beer at Capt. Andrews that evening.