Run aground

First time off dock and I run aground. Unbelievable!. Got 4 hours to wait for a higher tide. Hope I can bump it off. Embarassing. Literally 200 yards from slip. Any ideas? $1300 for tow as just purchased yesterday so not in effect until midnight. On south river. Mayo, Maryland

Welcome to boating

Unfreaking believable. Has to be the most narrow channel and shallow marina on the chesapeake.

Wait till ins. takes effect if you are comfortable on your boat.

Any boaters traveling south from St. Augustine Florida through Matanza and into Palm Coast, take warning. Channel markers have shifted from Matthew. It can go from 18ft. to 2ft. in a heartbeat. Tow Boat is in my marina and out most everyday for that exact reason.

Bradlesh said:

Unfreaking believable. Has to be the most narrow channel and shallow marina on the chesapeake.

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Were you up near the bridge? Hopefully, the good news is that most bottoms on the Chesapeake are soft and forgiving. Don't forget to check your seawater strainers after you get off. They will fill up with mud quickly .

I am in holiday point marina

Instead of calling for a tow you are better off waiting for the tide. Being pulled off will typically due damage to your rudders almost every time.
Six hours in mud beats six days in the boat yard and two boat bucks.

That's what I an doing just hope the high tide is enough

Welcome to the Chesapeake! We've used our 'solid state depth finder' quite often on the sailboats. We once stuck one on a falling but nearly high tide. 10 hours. See the pic; note that she's under full sail and the anchor's out ready to kedge.

We have not yet stuck Revel, but it's inevitable.

While your signature doesn't state the make / size of boat, unload your fresh water if you are full. If there are others aboard, send them to the bow, and try to ease out.

Grounded this summer with 4 hours to low tide looking for a better fishing spot. Me and two others. Put dinghy in water and did manual soundings to find deeper water, then sent the others to the bow and spun the boat into the area where I found deeper water. If you own a boat long enough, you will run aground.

This is why I don't trust Navionics' sonar chart....

mike

What kind of boat? If a full keel single, prop is well protected and you can "power off". Full keel twins, depends on if keel is deeper than props. If your prop is the lowest thing on the boat, then you need to wait on the tide. Safest thing is to wait on tide anyway, you don't really know what is down there. Unless you get out and walk around.

Make sure you have a kedge out - dingy it towards the deep water if you can.

Welcome to the unexpected anchorage club. Grounded my first boat in the mud just outside the marina on the maiden voyage too. Toss the anchor out, kick back in the cockpit and pretend to enjoy the wait for the rising tide. Make sure the through hull fittings are clean.

38 ft Chris Craft Commander. Twin 350s, 3.8 ft draft. Had someone in a skiff move my anchor out to deeper water and listening to NFL. I appreciate no posts yet telling me how stupid I am.

Your nearby friends will take advantage of the photo op.

Greetings,
Mr. B. "I appreciate no posts yet telling me how stupid I am." It's a pot and kettle thing. IMO the only way to never run aground is to never leave the dock.
Re-read post #2.

Bradlesh said:

I appreciate no posts yet telling me how stupid I am.

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Nothing stupid about running aground in an area where you cannot tell the depth by looking at the color of the water. It all looks just alike up there. And we've all run aground at one time or another. Some of us more than others. Towing insurance is not a luxury, it is a necessity. IMO.

Running out of fuel, now, that might have gotten you a few caustic comments.

There are two kinds of boaters.

Those that have been aground, and those will be aground.

Pgitug said:

Instead of calling for a tow you are better off waiting for the tide. Being pulled off will typically due damage to your rudders almost every time.
Six hours in mud beats six days in the boat yard and two boat bucks.

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I beg to differ.

In 13 years I never damaged anything on an inboard boat.

Either you dig out the props and or rudders and raise the stern by blowing water under it...or you tell the captain that just pulling might cause damage and you recommend waiting for high enough water to come back and safely do it without damage.

I am sure I am not the only assistance towing captain with that training and outlook.

And for the record...I safely pulled the vast majority of grounder off without waiting for higher water.

Now if you have a big inboard boat, and call from a distant location on a rapidly falling tide....then guess what.....yep you are probably going to wait. No rocket science there.

If you are in a large boat and starting to heel a lot....and the tower acts all cowboyish.....then be darfur what they do if you don't have protected props and rudders.

Free at last and motoring. No tow needed and no damage visible or noticable.

Bradlesh said:

38 ft Chris Craft Commander. Twin 350s, 3.8 ft draft. Had someone in a skiff move my anchor out to deeper water and listening to NFL. I appreciate no posts yet telling me how stupid I am.

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LOL! I already have the patent on stupid!

Donna said:

LOL! I already have the patent on stupid!

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Wifey B: If you have the patent, then you should make a tv commercial advertising it. Maybe you could open a school and have stupid courses. Come to Donna's school of stupid, qualify for a job in government. We have the patent. I'll come teach for you.

Sorry, hubby says it's not patent-able, says everyone already has it and those who don't think they do have any stupid are the most stupid. :lol:

Darn, I saw an old Victor Kiam type commercial. "I am Donna. I tried stupid and I liked it so much I bought the company."

As in my case, a little stupid comes in real handy when waiting for your food in a restaurant, which is what I'm currently doing.

BandB said:

Wifey B: If you have the patent, then you should make a tv commercial advertising it. Maybe you could open a school and have stupid courses. Come to Donna's school of stupid, qualify for a job in government. We have the patent. I'll come teach for you.

Sorry, hubby says it's not patent-able, says everyone already has it and those who don't think they do have any stupid are the most stupid. :lol:

Darn, I saw an old Victor Kiam type commercial. "I am Donna. I tried stupid and I liked it so much I bought the company."

As in my case, a little stupid comes in real handy when waiting for your food in a restaurant, which is what I'm currently doing.

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:lol: Shhhh, no more commercials. I'm off till January!!!

Donna said:

:lol: Shhhh, no more commercials. I'm off till January!!!

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Wifey B: You need to do some boating then, not just fixing.

And I was thinking your daughter could be spokesmodel.

Bradlesh said:

Free at last and motoring. No tow needed and no damage visible or noticable.

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Hell only 4 hours. Barely time for a good breakfast aboard. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Bradlesh, good thing you got that out of the way so soon. Sometimes the best lessons come when you least expect them. And it was free!

Now you can start a list: Dumbshit stuff I'll try my best not to do again!

BandB said:

Wifey B: If you have the patent, then you should make a tv commercial advertising it. Maybe you could open a school and have stupid courses. Come to Donna's school of stupid, qualify for a job in government. We have the patent. I'll come teach for you.

Sorry, hubby says it's not patent-able, says everyone already has it and those who don't think they do have any stupid are the most stupid. :lol:

Darn, I saw an old Victor Kiam type commercial. "I am Donna. I tried stupid and I liked it so much I bought the company."

As in my case, a little stupid comes in real handy when waiting for your food in a restaurant, which is what I'm currently doing.

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Why be stupid qualified and settle for government pay when you can be just as stupid and be in business....I see it all the time...must be easy...

psneeld said:

Why be stupid qualified and settle for government pay when you can be just as stupid and be in business....I see it all the time...must be easy...

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Not according to John Wayne.

psneeld said:

Why be stupid qualified and settle for government pay when you can be just as stupid and be in business....I see it all the time...must be easy...

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Early in my career I was part of the turnaround of a division and someone was complimenting the President and asking how he did it. He said, "We haven't even started doing things well yet, we've just stopped doing so many stupid things." It always stuck with me, especially in acquisitions, to find out what was being done preventing success, i.e. stupid. If you ask and listen, employees, vendors and customers will tell you.

Bradlesh said:

Free at last and motoring. No tow needed and no damage visible or noticable.

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So.... for the important game today the score is Bradlesh 1. Mudd 0. Keep it up. Good job on patience. (And the kedge).