Hard Aground inside Mersea Stone

John_Silver

John_Silver

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19 Mar 2004
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Location
St Mary's Island
allatseawithstargazer.blogspot.com
Give us a wave to lift our spirits if you're heading in our out of the Pyefleet before about 14.30 today. I put Stargazer aground ghosting out of the anchorage in thick mist and darkness 04.30 this morning. Amazingly we've dried out bolt upright, despite a 1.8m fin keel. Thanks be for the glutinous Pyefleet ooze! Reckon we should refloat 14.30-15.00.
Looking at the furrow in the mud, we'd have refloated if I'd got the engine on and put her in reverse as soon as we touched. Instead of trying to gybe off. The wisdom of hindsight!!
 
That was bad luck, I guess you might have been heading for home?
Any chance of the lat and long where you are? Not morbid curiosity, just interested as I've been in and out of there in the dark a few times and that's been a tad worrying at times, without fog as well!
 
Yes, Plan A was to cross the Swin around 07.00 and go like hell for the Medway, arriving in its shelter before the wind really picks up. Been hoofing it home from Southwold for the past 48 hours....
To answer your question we're inside the hook of Mersey Stone.51 48 066 N 01 00 280 E. So at least we have a good lee! In fact will probably anchor off here to ride out the blow tonight / tomorrow - once we refloat.
Good bird watching spot by the way. Have had curlews to our inshore side and egrets to seaward. Feet away from the boat. Will post pics on the blog once I get home.
 
Bad luck - your pos looks just on the very edge of the drying stuff. 35kts (gusts) forecast this evening... not tempted to make a run for Brightlingsea when you float off?
 
Yes, almost made it back to the channel. So near and yet so far. Still, we're off now. Stargazer seems none the worse for what I've just put her through.
Did consider putting into Brightlingsea for some home comforts, and better shelter. If it goes round to the west I will need to. Meanwhile poised for a speedy get away (without tidal constraints / extricating ourselves from a tight berth) in the lull between this blow and the one following it (which looks stronger and more protracted).
 
Westerly should be reasonably sheltered, as long as it doesn't have any North in it (which isn't forecast). I feel for you though, it can't be very pleasant out there at the moment - the wind and rain is hammering against our windows which face SW looking towards Mersea Island from B'sea. Can't see your mast but maybe it's just too murky. Good luck with the rest of your voyage.
 
I was wondering what we should plan to do if we ran aground on the East Coast - your "bolt upright" statement is helpful, as it indicates we shouldn't panic about the boat falling over on to the downward slope and flooding on the rising tide. Just crack out the gin instead and pretend it was a planned manoeuver!

I hope you got off OK.
 
Drying out upright is not the norm, Johnsilver says 'amazingly' and it is. Should this happen you'd best shift some weight and make sure she lies up the hill as she dries out, unless you have very, very soft mud.

Hope all is well now, looks like a windy night.
 
Definitely not the norm although it can happen, a lot of the shoal areas are hard sand or gravel on which you would definitely fall over.

A friend some years ago did find their boat sank nearly to the waterline in very soft mud. Their worry then was whether it would unstick as the tide rose! The water level was indeed a long way above the waterline before it popped up with a huge whoosh and gurgle, much to their relief. That was at the entrance to North Fambridge.
 
Leighb said:
Definitely not the norm although it can happen, a lot of the shoal areas are hard sand or gravel on which you would definitely fall over.

A friend some years ago did find their boat sank nearly to the waterline in very soft mud. Their worry then was whether it would unstick as the tide rose! The water level was indeed a long way above the waterline before it popped up with a huge whoosh and gurgle, much to their relief. That was at the entrance to North Fambridge.
Click to expand...


That would have been his tummy, I'm guessing:D
 
Don't none of you use a mud berth dans the winter! TG always shruggles out of the wallow on the tide (note the correct nautical terms - shruggles, wallow). I admit I had to be taught proper. Init...
 
Not since we decided that we preferred sailing to painting and switched to the dark (plastic) side. Nowadays I'm not sure our spade rudder would like a mud berth. I must admit i do miss those days wandering down muddy paths in winter and doing maintenance up to my knees in mud. :)
 
We 'floated' about 6" higher than normal in the ooze and "Shruggled" straight out as the tide rose. I had been worried about possible suction holding her down, particularly because the keel has a wide flat topped bulb.Left all seacocks / engine valved off just in case. Fortunately not needed.
 
Generally the toilet and engine seacocks are fine despite the mud; the cockpit drains however! When I had a scrub one year the yard blasted the HP past the cockpit drain seacocks and it managed to spray the antient mud into the cockpit. Manky, muddy, malodorous and mad. :ambivalence::disgust::nonchalance: I now turn off the cockpit drains as well. Head lower than bum to reach for the seacocks is more convenient than trying to clean up the cockpit!
 
Pagan, and Erbas before her, happily floats every tide with no hint of a shruggle (good word that!)

I am though planning to fit the means to reverse flush the inlets as I'm not keen on the initial crud through the heat exchanger on the engine nor the same plus a horrible smell (from the seawater sat in the intake pipe) on the heads

(I should say, for those not in the know, that we live on a mud berth)
 
I really don't seem to have this problem, been in mud berths for 20 years now. I always shut the seacocks, so only a small plug of mud enters them I guess. The surface mud where we are tends to be very liquid so I think that as the boat refloats, the mud that is in the seacock simply washes out again.
 
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