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TonyJones

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WNS README FIRST PLEASE
The purpose of What Now Skip is to give forum members the opportunity of learning from each other's experiences and opinions. To that end, awkward boating scenarios are presented for forum members to discuss. WNS is not a test with replies measured against a predetermined ‘correct’ answer. In fact, in most cases, there is usually more than one solution to the posed scenario. Selected attributed posts will appear in the next issue of the magazine.
However, please read the scenario carefully as some of the information given may imply certain possibilities or restrictions on possible courses of action – without spelling them out specifically.
The author always tries to describe the situation as fully as possible but ambiguities sometimes arise. If you are unclear as to any particular aspect or require clarification of an issue – just ask.

This month our unfortunate skipper is negotiating a narrow, unfamiliar river entrance en rout to a marina and restaurant about a mile inland in his twin diesel 38ft flybridge cruiser with his partner and two husky sons in their early twenties.

The weather is set fine but he's running a bit late and the tide is at half ebb and has another 3ft to fall. Due to a moments inattention he runs aground on a rock and gravel ledge. Going astern results in nasty noises from below and no movement. He is stuck fast.

On this particular boat, the keel extends below the prop tips by about 6in, so if he can keep it upright no damage should ensue. But if goes over on one chine....

The boat is equipped with the usual ropes, fenders, boathooks, etc, etc. And a 3.5m inflatable dinghy.

What measures can he take to protect his crew and craft?
 
Well - first thing to do is to try and lighten his load - so if he has a tender on the back - launch it quick ...

Turn the taps on in the heads and galley - empty the freshwater ...

Get the crew into the tender and (if it is powerful enough) get a towline to it to give you more options.

Anything else heavy? lower the anchor and all chain? Then perhaps you have spare fuel cans on board?

The rest depends on how Rocky it is ... if it is a proper rock ledge then I'd remove valuables from areas of flooding and prepar the insurance claim ... if it just gravel with some small rocks in then perhaps more investigation as to where the boat will settle - which side is best down, and get padding in there to prevent any rocks from penetrating the hull.
For padding I would look to be using the cushions and fenders (fenders are tricky as they want to pop back out until they are trully stuck!)
 
Or..........

launch the dinghy, fill it with valuables and/or crew, go to pub, drink till closing (or hopefully get a lock in?). Lets face it, with a falling tide - the boat ain't going anywhere and you wouldn't have to worry about dragging an anchor!!

Then in a drunken haze, return to the boat ready for the next tide and see if boat is now floating. If you spot a big hole in the side where a rock has pushed its way through - prepare insurance claim, if it's floating, continue your journey complete with hangover and get her surveyed at first opportunity.

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Alternatively, better passage planning and proper chartwork / tidal calculations would have resulted in not in running aground in the first place - but then we can all be equally pious with 20:20 hindsight can't we?
 
I assume we accept that he is stuck fast, and the tide will drop about a cm every couple of minutes, so in a very short time he is definitely going nowhere anyway.
Question then is how steep and rocky is the ledge?;maybe call the marina for local knowledge, as the risk is that the boat falls heavily over the ledge as the tide drops.
If the ledge is minor, maybe its practical to use the tender as a support under that side of the boat, but if its steep, that sounds too dangerous. Call CG for ideas?
 
Look for immediate help. A nice 300hp RIB for example might be able to nudge you off the rocks. Anther big mobo could make a big wake for you while you gun the engines and bounce off. Shed weight fast while doing this - run all the taps and launch the tender

After 10mins these solutions disappear as you will be harder aground. Safety and reasonable comfort of folks on board comes before not damaging one prop/shaft. The boat has to be lifted out and repaired anyway, so a bent shaft and prop isn't a massive extra item to fix, s dont worry about the boat too much

See if there is any sensible way to rig beaching legs, jury riggishly. Perhaps use gear on board (oars, mast, to make some leg(s) and or call your friendly local boatyard or phone-a-friend mate who might be able to rush out with something like scaffolding poles and clamps. But don't risk life or limb on this one

If you had 2 handy 300yr old oak trees, one either side, you could tie the boat to hold it upright. But you're unlikely to be that lucky, being the worl's unluckiest skipper to begin with...

Hoist NUC - 2 black balls. And turn on your 2 red NUC lights if dark

Get someone to set the anchor. Probably makes sense to have "women and children" leave on the tender (with valaubles, to mitigate insurance losses) and if the heel-over angle isn't too bad a skeleton crew could stay on till the next tide. Do not however have someone aboard as skeleton crew sans tender, else they have no means of escape if the boat sinks on the next tide due to a ripped-out shaft

Arrange for boat yard to come and inspect at low tide, seal up shaft if necessary, then tow to boatyard on next tide
 
Well you were heading up river on a sizeable ebb tide, so were probably only making 4 knots SOG when you grounded. On that basis i'd be tempted to give it some more grunt in reverse (as your props are protected to some extent by the lower keel). The potential damage from drying out on rocks, and the boat falling to one side onto its stern gear, is greater than the gouges you'd put in the hull by reversing off after a 4 knot grounding. Could possibly get the 3 crew to move around to see if that helps.
 
[ QUOTE ]
and two husky sons in their early twenties.


[/ QUOTE ]

They've got flu or are they just good at pulling sledges?

Anyway, I guess a Pan Pan call to the local Coastguard is the first thing to do. Second and this needs to be done as quickly as possible, try to lighten the boat, launch the dinghy, get all the crew into it (with lifejackets naturally), drop the anchor and all the chain, empty the water tank and holding tank. If you get lucky, that might just be enough to lift the boat off the ledge but probably not
So, you're stuck fast and the boat is about to fall over on one side and crush the prop and probably force the P bracket thru the hull. So, you have to support the hull on one side. Look for the uphill side of the ledge if there is one and move everything loose over to that side of the boat including any crew. Get one of the husky sons to walk or row the anchor 20 or 30m away on the side you want the boat to fall. As the tide falls wedge the tender under the side of the boat and pull gently on the anchor winch to encourage the boat to go that way. Stuff fenders, deck chairs, cushions and anything else you can find under the hull to support it together with the tender. As the tide goes out completely, you could try digging a hole around the prop with you hands but probably not a good idea as the boat could suddenly move and crush you
After you've done all that, imbibe a couple of stiff whiskies and pray. Keep CG informed of progress
 
I think everyone so far has overlooked Tony's clue... <span style="color:blue">
The boat is equipped with the usual ropes, fenders, boathooks, etc </span> /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Assuming the usual ropes,fenders and boat hooks refers to a WSN boat then by lashing a few boat hooks together to make an A frame and making a cats cradle under the hull , the boat can be inspected at low tide for damage and relaunched down the ledge aided by a fender runway /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Get the dingy launched and carefully lower the anchor into it,
play out the chain as the dingy takes the anchor to a spot off one side about mid ships and away from the boat, deploy the anchor slowly from the dinghy until it is set, with the chain still across the dinghy, attach a couple of rope to it, take these back to the boat , after letting the chain drop, secure one to stern cleat and one to mid ships, now tighten the ropes and anchor chain carefully to balance her on the anchor so she is just leaning away from the anchor, with luck this should keep her upright enough, but best to either stay on board and sit on side away from the anchor with little movement or retire to the dignity and watch from a safe place.
 
Well spotted Daka but I think it would have been better if all the boathooks had been lashed together as you say but to make 2 A frames, one either side of the boat. Now we all know that on a twin engined boat, the prop shafts counter rotate so all you'd have to do would be to wind some rope on to each shaft, attach the other end to the top of the A frame and hey presto, the engines could be used to winch the boat up into the air and clear of the ledge. Job done
 
Surely, just stick an anchor out as per Julie's advice, making sure that she's leaning to shore, and not out off the ledge, and then put the tender under the side that she'll lay down on, well lashed in, and she'll lay down on that, and not the rocks.... even if the anchor won't hold her... tide's got a metre to go yet, so time to do it, but don't hang about!
 
[ QUOTE ]
.....On this particular boat, the keel extends below the prop tips by about 6in....

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, so we can therefore assume we have a single engine, displacement or semi-displacement hull as very few planning hulls have this feature... and that the grounding happened at slow speed as it is an "un-familiar area".

Semi displacement have sharp forefoot, and as a result is quite reactive to weight reduction in the bow..., so whilst / at the same time / after sending out PAN, PAN, PAN, ... and quick explanation to coastguard....

1) get husky son 1 og launch dinghy (from davits??) and go onto it moving to the bow ... whilst husky son 1 starts to drain watertank...
2) get the most rapid moving (husky son 2 or partner) to bow, to launch anchor and accompanying chain (probably more than 50m) into the said dinghy...
3) Disconnect anchor from anchor locker and drop the lot to dinghy (releases about 250kg from bow.
4) Move said dinghy, with anchor etc., and people to stern and hook up the dinghy, now with additional weight and start to lift, in effect causing a leaver effect, which should lift bow (combined with reduced,or emptied watertank) sufficiently to enable you to be set free.... with some use of engine power... and of course you would have sought help from passing vessels etc., as well...

If the impact actually did happen at slow speed the above should resolve the problem if dine within the first couple of minutes... However, in the un-likely event that the above should fail, you are into damage limitation mode and need to do a controlled and limited lean seawards (to better control the drop and rise at flooding tide)...

So it is time to look at what can be done for damage limitation with the help of said tender, fenders, boathook and anything else which can be brought to you by harbour and passing crafts...

Inform the coastguard / harbour of your intentions and ask for assistance...

So you have a boathook and two oars which can be used as fixed wedges, and the tender's floorboards can be used to spread the weight of the boat's hull to the oars and boathook, so prepare for this...

Husky Son 1 & 2 should look for rocks and outcrops to fix ropes to on the oposite side (up river) to balance the weight of the boat & to reduce the full load on the three load points on the "downward side". The fenders and dinghy can be used as worst case scenario protection ... if the thee load point and ropes should fail.

Alternatively, if no proper wedging ponts for the boat hook & oars can be found, you will have to use the oars & boadhook, as fender boards for a controlled and protected "laydown" of the boat as the tide ebbs...

If the latter is the only alternative open to you, do let the coastguard / harbour know and do ask them to please contact the Environmental Protection Agency as there will be diesel spillage ...probably hundreds of liter, as the diesel from the tanks will leak out from the tank's breathers ... if nothing else, this latter information will put pressure on the authorities to provide assistance (particularly in an environmentally sensitive area).... and you will have done your part to give warnings about the situation and probable outcome, if additional aid is not forthcoming..... not counting possible damage to the boat, which is only material...
 
[ QUOTE ]
This month our unfortunate skipper is negotiating a narrow, unfamiliar river entrance en rout to a marina and restaurant about a mile inland in his twin diesel 38ft flybridge cruiser with his partner and two husky sons in their early twenties.

[/ QUOTE ]

So that won't be a single screw semi-displacement boat then............ /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Boat will have dug some sort of groove and already be well aground so no amount of chucking stuff over side will beat falling tide.You will cause damage to hull/gear on hard bottom trying to break free,even if tide has only fallen a couple of inches,which it will have done by the time you realised has happened.
Anchor in dinghy and over to shallow shore and attempt to make it bite.
Back to boat and use burly boys to take in anchor chain to make boat lean inwards to wards anchor .
Take turn round anchor with rope and round miships bollard asking husky lads to keep taking in any slack and to keep weight on chain.
You ....over side with all fenders/bedding/ anything and everything soft and cheap jamming stuff under chine for boat to rest on.
Bundle some together to get more clearance.
As the owner of a large expensive boat your wallet could be used instead of the fenders in order that your monogrammed fender socks do not get soiled.
Make note to move boat to east coat where you can do this sort of thing again and again just for fun on soft gooey mud.
 
Now this is the sort of imaginative, innovative lateral thinking that I like...
But disappointed not to see a diagram. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cheers
TJ
 
Nice comprehensive repy Jfm, with lots of good ideas that someone, someday may drag out the depths of their memory and think: 'Now what was it jfm said?' /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cheers
TJ
 
Chuck two sons overboard, its not deep because you have just run aground and get them to put there shoulders to the bow and start pushing. Tell them there allowance depends on sucessful refloating.

BTW whilst a 300 hp rib would be nice but even a small one would do if your quick. We pulled a 30 ft yacht off Haslar sea wall Sunday afternoon after her engine had failed and she was pinned to the wall by the wind. You could hear the yacht hull grinding up and down on the sloping concrete wall with each wave /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. We used a 6.5m rib with 150 outboard and minimal power, came straight off.

Pete
 
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