Stuck in the mud

[storm petrel]

G'day all,

Time to fess up to a bit of stupidity. We were having great sail this afternoon heading up to Gosford when we put in one audacious tack too many and ended up on a sneaky mud bank. After an hour of trying all the tricks we could think of the best we could manage was to turn her bow towards deeper water(by backing the jib and swinging off the end of the boom to heel her over- got the gunnel in and she swiveled but would not move forwards or back). With dark approaching and the tide dropping we had no choice but to swallow our pride and ring the lovely old gents from coastal rescue. It is the first time I have ever had to use them but they were great, there in half an hour and got us off in about 20 seconds. I thought it was best to be towed off in reverse as it was shallower at the front of the boat. We rigged up a bridle between the main winches which worked fine. Is this the best place to put a tow line? If we had to pull her forward where would the best place be to attach a line,bow roller, horn cleat or mast step?

Arrrhhh, its grand to be back in deep water.

Mark
Storm Petrel

[rob.lovelace]

In Westernport Bay there are sailors who have been stuck in the mud and liars.

[Miker]

Mark, announcing you're calamity in a public forum!! OK, so I'll come clean as well..... As Mark knows from my recent PM, I too ran slightly aground in Pretty Beach, Brisbane Water last Sunday.

You said you had a beaut little depth sounder? Did it not work?

Now, for all those inboard officianados.... I have discovered a great bonus of having an outboard.

We were travelling upstream under motor near Pretty Beach, with the main up and no genoa. It was calm, flat water and no wind, so I just left the main up. Seeing Storm Petrel, I thought it might be a good place to moor for lunch, so believing that all the boats must be able to get in to the moorings some how, I simply turned right at idle and figured I'd just cruise over and pick up a mooring. By the time the boat had stopped we were quite well stuck in the mud, on an outgoing tide in what I thought was about 1.2 meters of water. Full reverse of the little Tohatsu did nothing, even sawing the tiller back and forth made no difference. We had no wind to back sails, no extra weight to hang off booms, but then I thought, wait! I can turn the outboard. Something I rarely do unless I need to take the cover off. So, with the little Tohatsu at about 3/4 revs, I just worked the outboard left and right which waggled the back of the boat too and fro until she broke free back into the channel.

It must have looked quite hilarious for anyone watching, but we managed to clear ourselves, by ourselves which was nice. It also has now got Gabi thinking that we should get a sounder, which has gone on the shopping list. I contacted Mark for the secret local knowlege, and will know better next time!

Michael

[Dolphin]

G'Day Mark,
I was in Coast Guard (Dad's Army, now Marine Rescue). I would never tow a boat backwards unless I knew there was sufficient deep water behind as the rudder may dig into the mud and break.
I would certainly take a line through the fairlead and around the mast. Most deck cleats are only bolted on lightly. Wrap a rag around the line in the fairlead as I towed a yacht sideways and it sheard the tow line off.

Another way is to tow it from the mast and take it off sideways. Some tow it from the main halyard but this can cause damage to the exit box at the mast head. What you can do is to tie the tow line around the mast with a bowline above the boom and clip the main halyard onto the loop and haul it up the mast to the spreaders and tow from there. You then have 2 lowers supporting the tow. Only tow it hard enough to put the gunwhale in the water.

NEVER stand in line with the tow rope! If it breaks it will whip back along the line of tow, especially if its got a deck cleat in it. If the boat is only lightly aground and there is wave action you don;t need a large boat. Simply keep the pressure on the tow and the waves will lift the boat off and in no time you'll be free. With a Mk III and an inboard with the offset prop shaft you have to be careful not to heel it to the starboard side.

Etiquette is, the thrower of the tow line is in charge of the tow. Practice throwing! It is much easier to throw downwind. You should be able to throw a 12mm rope 10m. Hint, soak it first to give it some weight. Don't forget to tie one end off before you throw it, same with anchors!

We've run aground 33 times so far, only 3 times outside Part Hacking. I've only been towed off twice.
Just lucky.

Greg. hope it helps (Usual disclaimer) .
Ps don't rush in to help someone, they're already aground, you may be next.

[bearmcnally]

Hi Hatters

When you need these guys best thing since sliced bread !

Cheers Bear

[storm petrel]

Michael,

The sounder would have worked if it had been switched on! I suspect however it would have simpy sounded the alarm as we ran onto the bank because it goes from 4-5m deep to 1.2m deep in a few metres and we were doing about 5 knots when we glided to a halt near the edge of the channel..
.
Greg,

The only reason we went off backwards was there was deep water just behind the boat but the bow was in about 3 ft. Going forward would have meant being pulled over very shallow water. I was not worried about the rudder as it is well protected by that bronze fitting on the bottom of the keel and the aft end of the keel was not deep into the mud(I measured the the depths with my boat hook when we first got stuck). We heeled the boat over until the gunwales were almost in the water trying to swing her off before the cavalry arrived because I know my off-centre prop is still above the bottom of the keel at this angle of lean.

In retrospect, the only other thing I could have tried was to convince my two crew members to jump over into the cold water (which would have lightened the boat significantly, though perhaps not as much as the cannons on the Endeavour) and to get them to push her off the mud - alar, the African Queen. Strangely my crew were not too keen on this solution and thought the embarrassment of ringing the Coastal Rescue was the 'lesser or two weevils' . Interestingly though, my first mate Jacko (whom some of you have met) hid down below when when the cavalry arrived so as not to be seen.

Bear,

I am with you, Dad's Army are a great bunch. I might even join them when I retire.........

Cheers,
Mark

[Phillip]

I also have a dent in the mud north of Southport at the shallows

Phillip.
Gulnare Inlet, Whitsunday Island for next 3 days with 30 knot se winds.

[Shaun]

Michael, I have done the same thing in what probably sounds like the exact same spot, I was lucky as I was only going at my usual very slow pace & had a spotter on the bow that gave me a good warning of the shallows, & could simply reverse out.

I have been considering joining the VMR for some time, I consider myself semi-retired so maybe I would qualify.
Our VMR here towed a local single-handed yachtie in yesterday from about 5nm off the coast(got in just before dark), his nanni diesel wouldn't start when he decided he needed the engine to head in, (he said he couldn't make any headway into the 20-22kts westerly).

shaun

[Dolphin]

I don't want to stop the thread but I'm really impressed by the people on this forum and the openness that they admit to past mistakes. That is the way I've learnt. Still got a lot more learning to do yet!

Marine Rescue (NSW) are a good bunch of people. If you join you will learn a lot. You will need time every month to attend duties, training etc. and sometimes its down right boring. If you have young children think about the time you can give and how it effects your family. That is the reason I retired. My son is 16. I may well go back to it.

By all means give it a go.

See you on the water. Greg.

[storm petrel]

My youngest is 22yrs old and my eldest has three of her own children, but I am still a few years off retirement. Still dream about getting that S and S 34 or Swanson 42 in retirement, but my Top Hat and a weekly stint with Marine rescue is the more likely scenario. Ahhhhrrr, even grandparents need to dream...

Cheers,
Mark