Fin aground on a sandbank.... actions?

Yellow Ballad

Yellow Ballad

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I have about 2nm of sands to cross next week, they average +4m CD but some small areas of +7m which of course I want to avoid, HW is 10m so if I touch I should float off on the rising tide but...

If it all goes Pete Tong I would like to be forearmed with as much information to help get the boat down and back up with minimal "issues". We're talking Bristol Channel so I shouldn't be bouncing up and down for very long but it will be exposed (10kn forecast and neaps so notthing drastic). There's no real way round unless I want to extend the trip and it's a trip many from the club do and there's no real reason why it can't be done with enough tide and getting the timings right.

I'm thinking kedge to keep the bow in to the next flood tide, try and get het to lay so the cockpit is away from the incoming tide.
Bow anchor out short scope once we're down to keep us in place on the flood. (I'll have the benefit of seeing where the sands are when it's dry)
Close seacocks
Hatchboards in
Inflate dinghy
Notify coastguard

Any other thoughts, suggestions?
 
Bring a shovel? I've dived down and dug out an anchor with my bare hands*, so with a shovel you can surely dig out a keel :)

* Someone had dragged into a swim barrier and couldn't pick the anchor up the normal way without hitting it again.
 
Anyone else going? Someone with less draught who you could follow and they can report if it's getting too shallow?
 
Borrow some really big inflatable fenders, of a kind that can be secured 'both ends', and carry at least three which you can haul down to the downhill waterline if she's stuck and about to lay over. That way, the inevitable pounding on the side of the hull is transmitted through the fenders - a larger, softer area of contact - which will minimise the potential for damage.
 
What's to say you'll actually get stuck? Shouldn't you be concentrating on how to get off as soon as you touch the bottom?
 
Roberto said:
Other holes in hull as tank vents, engine exhaust, heating exhaust.
.
What direction are you going with regards to the current, same direction or opposing?
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Good shout, exhaust has a gooseneck but wouldn't hurt jut in case, fuel breather is on the coaming so one to keep an eye on, not sure I could block it easily.

I will be sailing across the current, a little bit of wind over tide with the current forecast but as it's light winds and it'll be near the top of the tide I don't expect anything to bad.

No other boats, just myself, possibly one other crew.

I do have a fair amount of decent sized fenders I'm sure I could lash something together and has passed my mind.

Shovel... I'll have a few hours to waste, shouldn't be a problem ;)

In honestly I really don't think it'll be a problem, the tide is high enough to get me over the high stuff and if I miss my destination I can run with the tide down to Cardiff but best to be prepared...
 
Teko said:
What's to say you'll actually get stuck? Shouldn't you be concentrating on how to get off as soon as you touch the bottom?
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^This!

A lot of the channel is horrid sticky mud, getting stuck is not a good option.

Better still don't touch the bottom in the first place.
 
On first going aground - Heel the boat - immediately and brutally - and do your very best to try to get the bows through the wind. If in doubt - gybe. Fin keelers stand a much better chance of coming off than do long keelers or (worst of all!) bilge keelers. Don’t ask me how I know this.

If you are stuck:

1. Try to dry out leaning uphill.

2. Close any hull openings. You will be amazed at how far the water will come before she starts to lift to the new tide.

3. Lay your best anchor out towards the deep water. Hang the anchor off the stern of the dinghy with a slip knot that you can get to from the rowing position (eg sit on it!) Put the warp in the dinghy and row out quickly, paying the warp out

4. Get a meal or at least a hot drink before the galley becomes impossible.
 
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I grounded in my fin keel at the crossover, the top of benfleet channel at just gone high tide. I found that by turning the wheel hard to port and back to centre, back and forth, while powering the negine forward and reverse in turn I was able to loosen her and then drive her out back to port side, (where the channel was) It was close.

I grounded her in penzance 20 ft from the harbour wall on a falling tide (got hw and lw mixed up :) ) I put the anchor chain out along the stb side and hung off the stb shrouds (tried moving her first but no go) as she settled to make sure she lay away from the incoming tide and wind. Then I went below and went to sleep for 3 hours to hide from public view :) Luckily, I still caught last orders, as it was at the end of a 24 hour passage, in january, and i really fancied a pint.
 
steve yates said:
I grounded her in penzance 20 ft from the harbour wall on a falling tide (got hw and lw mixed up :) ) I put the anchor chain out along the stb side and hung off the stb shrouds (tried moving her first but no go) as she settled to make sure she lay away from the incoming tide and wind. Then I went below and went to sleep for 3 hours to hide from public view :) Luckily, I still caught last orders, as it was at the end of a 24 hour passage, in january, and i really fancied a pint.
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That's proper cruising, that is! :)
 
lw395 said:
^This!

A lot of the channel is horrid sticky mud, getting stuck is not a good option.

Better still don't touch the bottom in the first place.
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Obviously I'll be doing whatever I can to get off before I loose the water and end up on my side and if the depth gauge wins the game of chicken I'll spin her round and run back to deep water, I'm after worst case scenario prep stuff (well not that worse case)..

There's a fin that lays on its side on the moorings at the club every day at LW, it ends up in all sort of positions and comes up every time. I'm not that concerned she wouldn't come up but I wouldn't want to make the situation worse. I'm sure it'll be fine, there's only a couple of really high bits which I should be able to miss and they're right at the far end of the grounds and I plan on being there an hour before HW.

If I avoided green bits I wouldn't get off my mooring, let alone out of the river....
 
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No experience with the large tide range you get however almost everyone has fin keels around here and yes there are sand banks in our Swan river/estuary. Lots of experience with smaller boats. Firstly plan your escape route once aground. Usually safest to get out the way you got in. Rotate the boat if possible to point bow to escape route. A spin pole can be useful at the bow to push bow sideways. Heel the boat using crew weight and wind pressure in the sails. (unless it is a lee shore) Use engine as well to hopefully move the boat. You may feel the need to get in the water to shoulder the boat around. This can be dangerous. Make sure you can get back on the boat easily wear buoyancy (LJ) and keep in touch with the boat by safety line. If a rescue boat is available it can be used to rotate the boat. Very effective is to pass a halyard to rescue boat to pull sideways to heel the boat. Using boats engine to escape.
With my own light weight boat despite lift keel this always stays down. I know where the mud is just not always sure of depth and position. So often plan an escape before contact. I use sails and wind plus crew heeling to get away. So never drop sails. Often can tack on first contact. None if this is helpful to OP however it may be of interest to other sailors. ol'will
 
The first thing you should be doing is not going around in the first place .
Planning any trip that may put you aground isnt a good way to start .
As someone said taken another route ,
 
sailaboutvic said:
The first thing you should be doing is not going around in the first place .
Planning any trip that may put you aground isnt a good way to start .
As someone said taken another route ,
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In addition to the sage advice already given, this above is No.1.

Do your passage planning properly (have you done your Yachtmaster theory?) and you'll have a lovely day out sailing, knowing that you'll clear the bottom. Or you'll know that you have to go around, knowing that you will be safe. This is one of the real examples of planning two passages, each for different weather conditions.
 
I know you're talking about running into mud, but sand has also been mentioned.

I can't help but remember some of the commentary during the Cheeky Rafiki case, where it was noted that fin keel yachts should be hauled out and inspected after a grounding - no matter how slight. Personally I wouldn't bother for a grounding into mud, but I'd be concerned if I ran a boat into sand.

To my simple mind there's a fair bit of difference between a gentle, planned, drying out where there's no way on, and an unplanned grounding with a couple of knots on. I may be over cautious, but I'd be planning a route that avoided the risk of running into any of the hard bits.
 
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