The SOB Ran My Damn Boat Aground!!

In my area of operations on the NJ intracoastal (about 20NM), there are at least 2 places that at dead low tide has 2-3 ft of water in the center of the channel.

So around here going adround is pretty common.

Some of us with boating experience where the bottom is granite or coral...use A LOT better judgement when boating out of the area...but EVERY boater around here goes aground sooner or later and it's NOTHING about staying in the channel because sometimes the deep water is NOT in the channel at all..


-- Edited by psneeld on Tuesday 31st of January 2012 05:02:48 PM

Does it count if it was a charter boat? We did put our chartered Cat on a sandbar down in Belize. Since the average depth inside the reef is only 12' or so, fairly common. Up here in the NW, never touched bottom except beaching the skiff. Since here you will likely touch on an unforgiving rocky shoal or reef, we are a little bit more aware of the depth.
I did recently though, have a scare on the South end of the Swinimish Channel when we got into about 5' of water. Hopefully they willl get around to dredging.

Max Simmons wrote:
I did recently though, have a scare on the South end of the Swinimish Channel when we got into about 5' of water. Hopefully they willl get around to dredging.

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That's the big beef that's been written about in the local boating magazines a lot lately.* It seems the federal government--- I assume in a cost cutting, "let's reduce the deficit" attempt--- withdrew the funding for dredging the Swinomish Channel awhile back and it has not been renewed.* The channel is apparently silting in fast but with no funds available to dredge it (the state is broke, too) the prospect of relief is pretty bleak unless there have been recent developments I haven't heard about.

Unless something changes in this regard,*the threat of La Conner being cut off from the lower Sound and Anacortes is apparently quite real, at least to deeper draft boats,*if one believes the editorials in the magazines.


-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 31st of January 2012 11:14:12 PM

I think the charts said there should have been 12' so she's really silting up. If we leave in the afternoon from Everettt headed North we liked to stop for the night in La Conner and hit the La Conner Brewery. Now, unless it's high tide, we use Deception pass and head to Spencer Spit on Lopez. Sadly, no brewery with smoked salmon pizza

The dredging for the Slough was provided by the Corps of Engineers. With their funding cutbacks, they are raising the bar, so to speak, for dredging funds. Currently they say it's based on shipping tons. Since there is virtually no shipping thru the Slough, there is virtually no money to dredge. I'm guessing that the logs are the only shipping that really counts. The indian fisheries probably don't count. Or the count of indian fishery is really low if it does.

The really thin water spots are just inside the entrance on the north side of the channel and at Shelter Bay on the west side of the channel. There was enough water there for us several times last year, although we go thru with at least a 2' predicted tide. Some of the zero tides and minus tide caught a lot of people last year.

Ken

Marin wrote:BaltimoreLurker wrote:Marin wrote:
In 39 years of boating in various kinds of watercraft, power and sail, I have never gone aground in anything other than beaching a canoe or dinghy.

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Have you spent much time in the Chesapeake?* It's possible that's where the saying comes from.**




*Could be, I don't know.* I've never boated the east coast and have no intention of ever doing so.* So while it may be that boaters are running aground willy-nilly back there it's not anything I have any need to be concerned about.

Wow, Really?

You should expand your horizon's a little Marin.* I've spent a good bit of time in the PNW (I work for a company based in Portland) and while I really like it there, I wouldn't want to limit my water time to that area.* There are no fish, palm trees, white sand beaches or warm water in the PNW.

Where I live in the Florida panhandle going aground is just part of the deal.* In my opinion one of a boaters greatest skills is the ability to "read" the water, something that we use in the Bahamas all the time.*

It is much harder to discern the difference between say 8' and 3' than it is in your area to figure 50' to 4'.*

Also, we don't have as many rocks, though reefs and oysters can be pretty tough on the barrier coat!

*

*There are no fish, palm trees, white sand beaches or warm water in the PNW.

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Where I live in the Florida panhandle going aground is just part of the deal.* In my opinion one of a boaters greatest skills is the ability to "read" the water, something that we use in the Bahamas all the time.*

It is much harder to discern the difference between say 8' and 3' than it is in your area to figure 50' to 4'.**

*Are you saying you actually go into the water?

If you have to read the water what is a sonar and charts for?

I don't know. I can't stand the heat myself. And that swimming stuff. I drowned once so I stay on the water not in it..

No palm trees where I live and I think they are kind of funny looking.

Different strokes for different folks.

SD*

*

"I drowned once so I stay on the water not in it.."

I thought if you drown, you die.* Was this in a previous life?

In the CA Delta, if you haven't run aground, you're not taking your boat out of the slip enough.*

I'm learning that there is a right and a wrong way to run aground.* My first one cost $8000 in repairs.* My second was free.* I think I'm getting better at this.* ;-)

One of the things I like best about my old boat is that the keel is about 2' wide and extends well below the level of the props. You can give any piece of bottom that is rude enough to be in your path a really good thump without any damage.

Know what you are saying about different strokes. I think the PNW is really beautiful, and there are times I wish for a warm cozy cabin heater on a foggy night in a safe anchorage. But it is not what I want all the time.


The good thing about your cold water is way fewer jet skis.


-- Edited by Dougcole on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 04:16:36 PM

FlyWright wrote:
"I drowned once so I stay on the water not in it.."

I thought if you drown, you die.* Was this in a previous life?

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*I survived it. I was dead for about 5 minutes or so they tell me.

SD

skipperdude wrote:FlyWright wrote:
"I drowned once so I stay on the water not in it.."

I thought if you drown, you die.* Was this in a previous life?

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*I survived it. I was dead for about 5 minutes or so they tell me.

SD

*Holy smokes, Batman!!* That's amazing.* How old were you?*

FlyWright wrote:skipperdude wrote:FlyWright wrote:
"I drowned once so I stay on the water not in it.."

I thought if you drown, you die.* Was this in a previous life?

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*I survived it. I was dead for about 5 minutes or so they tell me.

SD

*Holy smokes, Batman!!* That's amazing.* How old were you?*

*Anybody that can come back from the dead can walk on water!

He's a witch!!

With all do respect...

While in command of your vessel you deceide to hand over the navigation and operation of your boat to someone who has never been in anything larger than a 22" boat. Then give vague instruction as is what to do and where to go while your getting a beer??? And he's the SOB?

Dave

It is intended as a humorous title.* It got you reading it, didn't it?

Moonstruck wrote:
*

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*I survived it. I was dead for about 5 minutes or so they tell me.

SD

*Holy smokes, Batman!!* That's amazing.* How old were you?*

*Anybody that can come back from the dead can walk on water!

*Not quite. I was about 28 years old.

Funny I don't fear death now. It is just the begining of another form of existance to me.

SD*

FlyWright wrote:

I'm learning that there is a right and a wrong way to run aground.* My first one cost $8000 in repairs.* My second was free.* I think I'm getting better at this.* ;-)

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if this was your second time, what was the first one?

Dougcole wrote:

You should expand your horizon's a little Marin.* I've spent a good bit of time in the PNW (I work for a company based in Portland) and while I really like it there, I wouldn't want to limit my water time to that area.* There are no fish, palm trees, white sand beaches or warm water in the PNW.


*

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*This is precisely why I have no interest whatsoever in boating or even being in the east and SE US (and I have been there, thanks to my employer).* I grew up in Hawaii.* I have had more than my fill of palm trees, white sand beaches, and warm water.* Today, I hate palm trees, white sand, and warm water.* I can think of nothing more staggeringly boring than palm trees, white sand, and warm water.* To which I add sun and neverchanging, dull weather (except hurricanes, which you can keep as well).* Those of you who like it, I think that's terrific because it keeps you away from here.

As to your notion that there are no fish in the PNW, can you say "salmon," "halibut," "ling cod," and* "Dungeness crab?"

I've seen plenty of pictures of boating the ICW.* It's a ditch.* The nearest thing that qualifies as a mountain is a couple thousand miles away (the Appalacians, Bue Ridge, etc., while very pretty, are hills.)* They killed off all the interesting wildlife back there a century or so ago so about all that's left are the roadkill deer on I-85 and the occasional black bear trying to thumb a lift out west.

And in Hawaii, I caught enough mahi mahi (dolphin to you east coasters), ahi and aku (yellowfin tuna and albacore to the mainlanders), ono (wahoo), and marlin to satsify my desire for this kind of fishing.* So been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

I expanded my horizon by coming here, and so far, other than the Canadian maritimes, Maine, and northern Scotland, I have not been anywhere else on the planet so far that I have found even remotely better to live or boat.

The first two photos depict what I consider boating.* The third photo does not.

To each his own.........


-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 8th of February 2012 12:28:52 PM

Marin wrote:

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*Today, I hate palm trees, white sand, and warm water.* I can think of nothing more staggeringly boring than palm trees, white sand, and warm water.

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______________________________________________________

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Don't hold back, Marin. We would like to know what you really think!*

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Per wrote:FlyWright wrote:I'm learning that there is a right and a wrong way to run aground.* My first one cost $8000 in repairs.* My second was free.* I think I'm getting better at this.* ;-)

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if this was your second time, what was the first one?

*A better question might be who was driving that time?

SeaHorse II wrote:Marin wrote:

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*Today, I hate palm trees, white sand, and warm water.* I can think of nothing more staggeringly boring than palm trees, white sand, and warm water.

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______________________________________________________

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Don't hold back, Marin. We would like to know what you really think!*

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*No, you don't want to know what I really think.* I'm giving you the sanitized version as I don't want to upset the moderators or the new owner.

Marin wrote:Dougcole wrote:

You should expand your horizon's a little Marin.* I've spent a good bit of time in the PNW (I work for a company based in Portland) and while I really like it there, I wouldn't want to limit my water time to that area.* There are no fish, palm trees, white sand beaches or warm water in the PNW.


*

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*This is precisely why I have no interest whatsoever in boating or even being in the east and SE US (and I have been there, thanks to my employer).* I grew up in Hawaii.* I have had more than my fill of palm trees, white sand beaches, and warm water.* Today, I hate palm trees, white sand, and warm water.* I can think of nothing more staggeringly boring than palm trees, white sand, and warm water.* To which I add sun and neverchanging, dull weather (except hurricanes, which you can keep as well).* Those of you who like it, I think that's terrific because it keeps you away from here.

As to your notion that there are no fish in the PNW, can you say "salmon," "halibut," "ling cod," and* "Dungeness crab?"

I've seen plenty of pictures of boating the ICW.* It's a ditch.* The nearest thing that qualifies as a mountain is a couple thousand miles away (the Appalacians, Bue Ridge, etc., while very pretty, are hills.)* They killed off all the interesting wildlife back there a century or so ago so about all that's left are the roadkill deer on I-85 and the occasional black bear trying to thumb a lift out west.

And in Hawaii, I caught enough mahi mahi (dolphin to you east coasters), ahi and aku (yellowfin tuna and albacore to the mainlanders), ono (wahoo), and marlin to satsify my desire for this kind of fishing.* So been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

I expanded my horizon by coming here, and so far, other than the Canadian maritimes, Maine, and northern Scotland, I have not been anywhere else on the planet so far that I have found even remotely better to live or boat.

The first two photos depict what I consider boating.* The third photo does not.

To each his own.........



-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 8th of February 2012 12:28:52 PM

*Ha! understood.* I feel much the same way about my luckily still uncrowded little part of the world and I'm glad you found your own personal version of paradise.

Personally, though I wouldn't consider any of those to be fish.* What is missing up there is a quality inshore fishery.* I've caught a lot of offshore fish (Dolphin, billfish etc.) and while it can be great, it can also be sheer drudgery.* Not much skill involved in sitting in a chair and cranking.

I like where you live, but I could never leave Tarpon (especially tarpon) Bonefish, Permit, Snook, Redfish, Cobia, Bonita, Mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, gags in shallow water, pompano, big jacks on top, cudas on the fly, etc. etc.* behind, no matter how pretty the scenery is.

Dougcole wrote:Marin wrote:

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I like where you live, but I could never leave Tarpon (especially tarpon) Bonefish, Permit, Snook, Redfish, Cobia, Bonita, Mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, gags in shallow water, pompano, big jacks on top, cudas on the fly, etc. etc.* behind, no matter how pretty the scenery is.

If that type of fishing is your thing, you're in the right place obviously.* We have a substitute of sorts for that type of fishing here, and that's steelhead fishing on the rivers.* You can even do it from a boat if you like.* Also there is great cutthroat trout fishing here, and if you're willing to drive some up into the interior of BC, they have some pretty major trout rivers and lakes up there with surprisingly large fish.

I've not done the kind of shallow salt water fishing you're talking about and from what I know of it I am not trying to suggest that our river and lake fishing is the equivalent.* But it does offer a great alternative to the salmon and bottom fishing in our coastal waters.

I fly-fish for steelhead (as well as gear fish for them, too) and have a friend with a drift boat.* Given the environment we do it in, it's pretty hard to imagine anything much better.

I diid not take any of these photos--- they're off the web--- but I try to do at least some of this type of fishing throughout the year.

*

Marin wrote:
I've not done the kind of shallow salt water fishing you're talking about and from what I know of it I am not trying to suggest that our river and lake fishing is the equivalent.* But it does offer a great alternative to the salmon and bottom fishing in our coastal waters.

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* * * ** I've done both and although they are both fun and productive, I prefer the PNW, B.C., SE Alaska fishing the best. There's really nothing like it that I know of. If the bite is on, they both offer a lot of action but if things are slow, kicking back, watching eagles and the occasional bear on the shoreline or a pod of Orcas nearby trumps the warm water environment. Not to mention Humpbacks bubble feeding.

If you have never fished the GPNW, you can't possibly have any idea how magnificent it truly is.





-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Wednesday 8th of February 2012 01:57:26 PM

Ah, steelhead, a sal****er fish that spends part of its life in freshwater.* I caught my first steelhead on fly a few years back o n the trinity river in N. California.* I got three that day (I was with a really good guide buddy of mine).* Here is a pic.* In case you can't tell, I was freezing...it was barely warm enough to sustain human life.

A fun fish that lives in a pretty part of the world but not quite exactly.....

If they would run a lot further and pull a lot harder maybe.

Two years ago, I was traveling across a flooded tract called Sherman Lake.* I had taken this route a half dozen times after being shown the route on my boat by a delta striper fishing legend, Mark Wilson.* I was following my waypoints.* As the depth shallowed, I slowed to 3 kts or so.* Then I hit something very hard and the boat abruptly listed to 20-30 degrees to stbd, then I could feel it slide off the obstacle to stbd and we were floating again.

No water intrusion down below but we had pronounced vibration on te port side.* We limped home with the port engine idle and the stbd engine running hard.On the way home, the stbd exhaust elbow let loose and filled the engine room with diesel soot.*

It took several weeks to clean up the ER and relace the stbd exhaust elbow and manifold before we could haul the boat.* It wasn't pretty.*

My mechanic thinks I hit a scuttled boat.* She had pronounced scrapes in the bottom paint on both sides of the hull.* The port strut and prop were damaged.* Ended up replacing both struts, the port shaft and dripless and reseating the port rudder.* Complete with teh manifold replacement, the total was just over $8000, all covered by insurance except for my deductible.

Yes, I was at the controls.

FlyWright wrote:Yes, I was at the controls.

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But like most landings you walked away from it.*

I have fished it...it is fun, a great way to fill a cooler in a truly beautiful part of the world.*

I've also done a lot of backpacking/hiking/camping in the North Carolina mountains and a little up your way.* Same activity, sort of, but really not very comparable...the west is just so much better.

Fishing is the same.* A doormat halibut is exciting to crank to the surface, but compared to casting a fly to a cruising pod of 120 lb tarpon or a tailing permit...not even remotely close.

*

*

*

Dougcole wrote:
Ah, steelhead, a sal****er fish that spends part of its life in freshwater. ...

If they would run a lot further and pull a lot harder maybe.

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*Actually, it's sort of the other way round.* A steelhead is a rainbow trout that has adapted to living in salt water.* So it's actually a freshwater fish, not a salt water fish.* Like a searun cutthroat in this respect.* In Australia they have the exact same fish but it goes under the name of Ocean Trout.

And if you have not caught a steelhead that has fought you for an hour and dragged you, thrashing and stumbling up and down the river bank, you have not caught a real steelhead.* I've only experienced this kind of fish a few times in all the years I've been steelhead fishing, and I can assure you that it made catching the marlin I caught in Hawaii--- largest one was 330 pounds--- seem like child's play

Not to belittle your experience at all, but that steelhead you're holding in the photo is acually very small.* Like most fish, they get bigger the farther north you go.* A river my drift boat owning friend and I hope to fish someday is the Kispiox in BC.* That and some of BC's coastal rivers, accessible only by floatplane or by boat from their mouths, hold steelhead into the 20, 30, and even 40 pound weight range.* The highest weight I have ever seen listed for a steelhead is 55 pounds.

Dougcole wrote:
IA doormat halibut is exciting to crank to the surface, but compared to casting a fly to a cruising pod of 120 lb tarpon or a tailing permit...not even remotely close.

*

*

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*True. Catching a halibut is not unlike snagging a submarine.* But..... when we catch a 100 pound halibut, it seems we get about 99 pounds of fantastic meat off of it.* With no bones