Well, it happens to every sailor only this time it really happened to us. I ran us aground. We touched the bottom and then began to slide free so I gave her more throttle and managed to push us up onto the next sand bar really tight... Oh, and to make matters worse, the tide was falling. I tried to wiggle free but to no avail. Then I placed an anchor out and tried to kedge off, nothing. Then I hooked the anchor to the halyard and pulled the Goose over about 10 deg gave her full motor and bow jet…nothing! All of this had taken about 20 minutes to accomplish and by then the tide had gone out another few inches and we were stuck solid for the night. The good thing was that the tide only had another 5 inches to drop and then it would be on the rise to its highest point of the day. The bad news was that it was now 6 PM and it would be 1 AM when this high tide occurred. At 1 AM the alarm went off and I got up. Anna, (somehow) slept through the alarm. So, I threw on clothes and pulled us off the sand bar and started the motor (that’s when Anna came up from below). Together, in the pitch dark, we found a deeper spot to dropped anchor, and went back to bed. It was one of those nights when having a house that doesn’t move sounds like a pretty good idea.
This is better than raking snow from the roof.
ReplyDeleteWe know the feeling! And of course the old adage... "if you haven't been aground, you haven't been sailing..."
ReplyDeleteDo have to admit, it beats the snow thing!
re: your 1/20 question, Coconut island was a barrier island composed of sand, a good hurricane can move that sand up the coast.
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