Going aground
The other day, I was asked by a non sailor about grounding and, on discussion, was surprised at how broad the subject is. I came up with four categories; drying out intentionally, grounding intentionally, unexpected grounding, and catastrophic. The first rule is to avoid the last two with good navigational skills and up-to-date information in the form of charts, tidal predictions, local knowledge and a comprehensive weather forecast.
Local knowledge can be a challenge but where necessary a decent pilot book can be bolstered by chatting to fishermen, the harbour master or a visit to the local sailing club. The internet is a huge help and I was delighted to see the new Ocean Cruising Club app has a facility for members to add comments to the interactive chart.
The next step is to lever that knowledge through the right equipment, ranging from a pencil, chart and dividers to the latest electronics. I always carry a handheld GPS in a tin box or faraday cage for lightning protection.
In anchorages of unpredictable shelving I will fall back on a leadline as I plumb round the boat. I have a friend with an electronic handheld depth sounder that he uses to predetermine a passage through shallows. We found that a drone gave us a wonderful bird’s-eye view when rock hopping into a hidden anchorage in Maine. We even used it to check out an anchorage on the other side of a Cay. A distant swell compromised what should have been a safe haven. Only a visual check would do.
Drying out intentionally for maintenance is easy, as it’s pre-planned and all risks can be mitigated. Do remember to weight the boat towards the wall or have a halyard out. I’ve seen a boat fall over and it’s a horrifying thing to witness. Grounding intentionally comes in many forms but I was once amused when a skipper rammed his keel into the mud off Grimsby and wandered below to cook us a big fried breakfast in the knowledge that when we were released by the rising tide the bar could be crossed.
Most skippers will have experienced that stomach churning moment when unexpectedly hitting the bottom. The worst I have experienced was hitting an uncharted chunk of granite off Sweden at five knots. Its impact loosened our fillings and left the rig resonating like a musical instrument. It was over in a flash and apart from a chunk out of the lead keel there was no lasting damage thanks to shock loads being dissipated by the bow dropping and the stern lifting.
More worrying is a drawn-out grounding, because the boat becomes immensely vulnerable to prolonged bumping on the bottom. This is a dreadful scenario because the hull structure must absorb everything. A friend of ours had a large ferry steam past just after their grounding. The wash slammed them onto the bottom a number of times and caused substantial damage throughout their internal hull structure.
The price of a grounding is often set by waves so make sure that you have a good handle on the weather and the swell forecast for it isn’t necessarily generated by the system you are experiencing. This was graphically illustrated whilst kayaking round Tasmania. It had been a long day without any breaks and we decided to hit the beach a few hours early as the next leg was substantial. We paddled in, emptied the kayaks and carried them up the beach to a nice campsite. Our focus for the next hour was setting up tents, hanging out gear, finding water and fire wood. Once done we sat down with a cuppa and were horrified to watch 20ft breakers start to roll in. It was a flat sunny day and if we hadn’t cut our day short we would have been wrecked. It was a sobering and useful lesson.
I have to confess my grounding skills will need a polish as we intend to regularly dry out the good ship Oddity as we explore further inshore. Luckily she is designed for this with a hoofing great metal plate on the bottom!
A drone gave us a bird’s-eye view when rock hopping into a hidden anchorage in Maine
THIS MONTH… I will be ordering loads of equipment for the fit out of Oddity and enviously watching others sailing as I cycle along our bit of Cornish coast.