What not to do when Running aground

by Klara J. B. Jakobsen

Something we have heard a hundred times is “If you haven’t run aground, you haven’t sailed far”, but I think we managed to get quite far before it happened to us.
Instead I think the saying should go something like this, “it’s never too late to run aground” or “when the ground finds your keel, get off or heel” although that is not what we did.

Black Ducks ground control

Our first encounter with the bottom was up the Coomara River in Southport, right outside Boat Works.
We had come up the river, to have a look at the yard for potential work.
We anchored on the edge of the channel, to be out of the way of vessels going in and out of the Marina. The whole day and night we stayed there without any problems, the boat turning with the tide to face one way or the other up or down river.

It was not until the next morning when we went to leave that we realized we had run aground. As the tide had slackened and a little breeze had caused the boat to swing against the bank, the stern of the boat had run aground in the shallow, while the bow was still afloat in the deeper part.
Being that it was the first time we had run aground, we did as most people do, we panicked and made rash decisions. But despite the stress of the situation, it actually ended up being quite an entertaining ordeal as we were forced to deal with the consequences of this very odd method we had decided to go with, and I am sure it can provide you a good laugh.
This is what we did:

Slack-lining on an Elephant

First we tried to motor off, moving weight from the stern to bow in an attempt to tilt the boat enough to get off. But when this did not work, and we realized that the tide was dropping, we decided on a different strategy.
In our defense, the tidal information which we got of the internet was not correct. According to a tidal mark close by, the tide would drop a little and then start rising again. So we assumed that we would not loose too much water. But instead the tide kept dropping for over two hours, till much of our bottom was dry.

So what we had decided to do, was to run out a kedge anchor to hold us upright while the water slowly dropped around our keel. This would have been alright, had the water not dropped to a point, that had we fallen, it would have made a huge splash. And when the wind picked up, blowing from the direction in which we had set the anchor, we feared that this would happen.
So for the next three hours, we ran frantically around deck, shifting jerry cans from one side to the other balancing the boat as it heeled at every gust. The minutes snailed by making for some of the longest hours we have ever had on the boat.
It was like slack-lining on an elephant.

Heeling the boat over

How to pull a boat off shallows – Tassie Experts

In Tasmania strong winds are common through the winter, and once in a while a boat breaks or drags its mooring and ends up grounded on the beach. Once we had a freak weather event occur in the bay where we lived in Tasmania. About 14 boats dragged and 6 ended on the beach.
But fret not for the bay is full of heroes. Bob, probably the most active man in the boating community, seems to always be there when help is needed. And the same goes for Jeremy, the local wooden boatbuilder. In general the community is extremely strong and people look out for each other.

Below is a a little compilations of successful boat rescues. One shot taken from one of Bob’s many boat rescue missions we tagged along for. One of Jeremy and Anastasia pulling a boat off after that freak weather event. And one of a Black Duck Tow.
In these examples the yacht is being pulled over by a dinghy pulling abeam on the main halyard. (using outboard unlike Riley did)

Use strong, thick line, plenty long for towing. Stretch is better to prevent shock load.
Attach towing line to strong point, like the samson post, at the bow of boat being towed.
Attach other end to stern of towing-boat using a bridle tied to strong points on either side of the stern. In our case we have two big cleats on each quarter.
And please, refer to an actual ship’s guide for expert advice.

Good Luck.

Thank you Tassie volunteer rescue crews!

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