Azimut 85 Agound, and Sunk In Marco Island

[Slider70]

In 2020 I purchased a forward looking sounder adding to my electronics. I did this as I plan to go into areas on the mid to upper BC coast that I have never been in before. In my precious life I've commercial fished on this coast for almost 30 years. I have 'found' numerous errors in the charted depths shown on our Canadian charts. I have questions how some of these mistakes could have been missed but they were.

Grounding can happen to anyone. If you think you are immune to this happening to you your likely a larger candidate for it to happen? And yes, I have struck the bottom on a few occasions during my commercial life. Fortunately I was always able to get off quickly as I realized I was in that danger and had slowed down to a crawl. My now forward looking electronics is just a bit more insurance to hopefully avoid grounding in future?

 

[rclarke246]

We have lived in Marco for 5 years. This main channel know as Big Marco Pass, has been narrowing from the north for at least 2 years. A quick check on Active Captain will show the hazardous area.

When we transit this Big Marco Pass we typically hug or even cut the red marker #6.

Finally, after this latest grounding, the authorities have added 2 green "cans" to direct boaters to the deeper water.

 

[MJ Weenz]

We were thru there when the boat was there and two weeks later when it was removed. In place of the wreck are now two green cans.

Hmmmm, is this kind of an admission of liability? Not that any government agency can be held accountable negligence but installing the cans after the grounding smirks of closing the barn door after the horses are out.

IMHO the boat looked more like it was missing the underwater gear than being pooped. Garage door was closed and really no significant weather around the time of the accident.

Mike

 

[Slider70]

My precious life (reading in my comments) should have read previous life but thinking back at times life was precious as I wondered if the particular storm I was in was going to do my vessel in? Obviously it didn't but there were a few that could have if anything else had gone wrong.

 

[AusCan]

Sandbars move. Never trust the markers or the charts.
Recent advice is good but don't depend on it.

I generally apply 2 rules to going over high risk skinny water.
Proceed at idle speed, and do it on a rising tide.

 

[Group9]

Sandbars move. Never trust the markers or the charts.
Recent advice is good but don't depend on it.

I generally apply 2 rules to going over high risk skinny water.
Proceed at idle speed, and do it on a rising tide.

Yep, sand moves. Any doubting that just needs to look at a google picture versus a marine chart of various little sand islands along the various inlets and barrier islands and passes, on gulf coast that popped up, went away, and or moved between the time of the photo and the charting.

Examples abound.

 

[Simi 60]

In 2020 I purchased a forward looking sounder adding to my electronics. I did this as I plan to go into areas on the mid to upper BC coast that I have never been in before. In my precious life I've commercial fished on this coast for almost 30 years. I have 'found' numerous errors in the charted depths shown on our Canadian charts. I have questions how some of these mistakes could have been missed but they were.

Grounding can happen to anyone. If you think you are immune to this happening to you your likely a larger candidate for it to happen? And yes, I have struck the bottom on a few occasions during my commercial life. Fortunately I was always able to get off quickly as I realized I was in that danger and had slowed down to a crawl. My now forward looking electronics is just a bit more insurance to hopefully avoid grounding in future?

If its anything like the forward looking sonar we had, you needed to be doing about 3 knots to get any reliability and even then...

 

[Ski in NC]

If you are not confident entering an inlet, do not go. Simple.

Known shipping channel inlets, known deep inlets well marked, will do those at night no problem.

An iffy inlet, only in calm conditions with good light. And puckered up doing it!!

 

[rgano]

I would surely liked to have been a fly on the bulkhead in the Azumet's pilothouse that night when the operator was making the decision to enter the channel:

Hmmm, should I go in? Gee, these seas are making it suck out here, and I don't wanna bounce around here until daylight. Oh, it will be ok....

I wonder what speed he was running - apparently too fast to be able to notice a rising bottom.

So many questions.

 

[fgarriso]

We all travel at your own risk in or out of marked water ways. It sounds to me like he just ran out of luck.

 

[FWT]

I would surely liked to have been a fly on the bulkhead in the Azumet's pilothouse that night when the operator was making the decision to enter the channel:

Hmmm, should I go in? Gee, these seas are making it suck out here, and I don't wanna bounce around here until daylight. Oh, it will be ok....

I wonder what speed he was running - apparently too fast to be able to notice a rising bottom.

So many questions.

Yeah. I agree. Speed had to be an issue.

Skinny water. Shifty bottom. Speed. An accident waiting to happen.

What I am waiting to find out is, once he struck, what sank him? The reported story doesn't make sense.

 

[BandB]

Typical in the sense that the USCG doesn't have anything to do with dredging.....just placing or removing markers (as in declaring an inlet unusable/uncharted).

Yes, they've never dredged and I don't look for them to start now and the so-called expert on the spot doesn't know that. I can understand the reporter not knowing. Although there use to be something called fact checking.

 

[Group9]

If you are not confident entering an inlet, do not go. Simple.

Known shipping channel inlets, known deep inlets well marked, will do those at night no problem.

An iffy inlet, only in calm conditions with good light. And puckered up doing it!!

Yep. It's exciting enough to go through a lot of those west coast Florida inlets in the day time. Even including Clearwater and Tampa Bay entrances, there aren't any I want to go through in the dark. The Marco Island inlet has always been on that list. I go through it dead slow in the day light.

 

[psneeld]

Yes, they've never dredged and I don't look for them to start now and the so-called expert on the spot doesn't know that. I can understand the reporter not knowing. Although there use to be something called fact checking.

Maybe the media should wakeup and follow their mommies advice...don't open your mouth and repeat things unless you know what you are talking about.


I learned a long time ago if they aren't worried about facts, how much of the article is true?