# How to run aground properly



## triton416 (Apr 15, 2014)

As a new member of sail net I feel like I should offer something helpful for all of the good info I have learned here. I have noticed that I am the only sailor I know that has embraced the idea of running aground. For that matter, I actually find the term running aground somewhat objectionable. I prefer "Anchoring with the keel".

Lets discuss why running aground isn't completely a bad thing. First, the anxiety is removed because you've alread done it. Second you don't have to waist anymore time looking for navigational aids or studying the depth finder. Third, you can go ahead and make a nice cold beverage and relax because god knows your not going anywhere soon. My wife is occasionally making comments that I drink to much. Which is probably accurate. Now she can't yap about me getting drunk and driving the boat. However, once we are well aground and the anchor is overboard(for legal reasons involving blood alcohol content. I find it a good idea to be not "underway" so I can't be charged with a BUI. In no way am I trying to free the vessel.) I can go ahead and get hammered. At this point she may become embarrassed at our predicament and start to drink with me, a further improvement to the day. Fourth, my eight year old daughter loves to collect shells and you can find some really good ones on isolated sandbars. She has a nice collection BTW. Lastly, this a great opportunity to discover all the places the Yard missed during the last bottom job while charging you $90 an hour.(Its hard to blame them for they poor work in my case. Its rare they get a big a sucker as I am. They were just concentrating on all the other things they talked me into.)

Back to the topic at hand. How to run aground properly. The first thing IMHO you should do is turn of the depth sounder. Lets face you are going to run aground anyway. No need to be distracted by that thing and miss some nice scenery. Not to mention the alarms are really annoying. Second, High tide is certainly preferable, otherwise you may float off too soon. The only problem with high tide is with the increased depth its a little harder to go aground. Ogh, I almost forgot an important thing. Make sure the cooler is well stocked with goodies. (Im not even going to mention the need for multiple bottles of your favorite adult beverage. This a a sailing website so Im sure you took care of that before you left the dock.) My daughter can become quite picky about lunch and snacks when she has nothing to do for awhile. Third, A copy of Chapman's piloting can keep the wife busy for a while as reads and instructs you on how you could have saved everyone with a kedge anchor. She will probably come up with several other entertaining ideas as well. Last you will need some form of really cheap american beer. This is not for you or anyone aboard to drink. Ill now explain why. At dead low tide a guy with a 10hp jon boat will come by(this always happens regardless of location) and become convinced he can tow you off. From experience I can say it is easier to just let him try rather than talk him out of it. What happens next is fantastic entertainment! Video it if at all possible. Great fun. Once he is through trying to rip the transom out of his boat, its nice to be able to offer a beverage for his efforts. Hence the need for cheap American beer. Its quite awkward trying offer this guy a beer he has never heard of or cannot pronounce. I try and keep the socially difficult situations to a minimum. 

Finally, if you still find anchoring with the keel embarrassing, I suggest this. Take a towel and a scraper with you. As soon as you run aground use the towel to cover the boat name and get out of the boat with scraper in hand and act like you meant to do it!

Regards,

Brian


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## FirstCandC (Mar 26, 2013)

To make it more interesting, do you do this at high tide?


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## Ferretchaser (Jan 14, 2011)

Now there is someone who knows a thing or two about proper boating.


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## CarbonSink62 (Sep 29, 2011)

I agree, but he missed the three most important things about running aground:

Location, location, location.

I prefer to run aground in full view of my boat club. Or at least on the river where everyone going up or down can see.


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

Welcome to SailNet! I think I like this guy already.... 

MedSailor


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## manatee (Feb 27, 2013)

Erskine Childers said:


> 'About running aground,' I persisted; 'surely that's apt to be dangerous?'
> 
> He sat up and felt round for a match.
> 
> 'Not the least, if you know where you can run risks and where you can't; anyway, you can't possibly help it. That chart may look simple to you' -- ('simple!' I thought) -- 'but at half flood all those banks are covered; the islands and coasts are scarcely visible, they are so low, and everything looks the same.' This graphic description of a 'splendid cruising-ground' took away my breath. 'Of course there is risk sometimes -- choosing an anchorage requires care.'


Read/download  *"The Riddle Of The Sands"* free. Welcome to sailnet.


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## sharkbait (Jun 3, 2003)

1


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

I like to call it "taking keel soundings." I feel that I'm doing NOAA a service by double checking their work free of charge.

MedSailor


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## 06HarleyUltra (Oct 27, 2011)

Finally!!!!!! A topic and sailing art I have mastered.....
Whew....feels good to have that off my back. 

What's next fellas?


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## Tetra (Oct 1, 2008)

I did some keel anchoring last week in the Keys. I find it helpful to have an audience. Our hour-long kedging operation was made much more enjoyable by having observers there to enjoy the show. It was just a blast.


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## Clarks Hill Windbag (Mar 27, 2014)

Lake wind shifts. Tack goes from fairly bad to stalled and sloppy. Lee bank gets close and she grounds. Reversing smoke sail comes on, swing keel cranks up a bit, re-position boat for better chance of staying clear of the bottom. If you're truly grounded on a swing keel, put down the bottle, you're done!


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

MedSailor said:


> I like to call it "taking keel soundings."


As a confirmed gunk-holer, I call it "sailing by braille."


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

SVAuspicious said:


> As a confirmed gunk-holer, I call it "sailing by braille."


I used to have a girlfriend that drove cars this way...


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

Minnesail said:


> I used to have a girlfriend that drove cars this way...


A girl friend's daughter had that problem. I found a 'Delta' nautical flag ("I am maneuvering with difficulty; keep clear") sticker for her bumper. No one else figured it out that I know of but it did always make me laugh.


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## aa3jy (Jul 23, 2006)

Like I said..one hasn't been in the Cheaspeake without running aground at least once..
2 ships collide, cargo ship grounded in Virginia


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## willyd (Feb 22, 2008)

aa3jy said:


> Like I said..one hasn't been in the Cheaspeake without running aground at least once..
> 2 ships collide, cargo ship grounded in Virginia


Holy crap! The wind went from 8/14 SW to 47/63 NNW in the span of 12 minutes last night at Cape Henry, and it had been blowing from the south gusting in the 20s for ever before that. Now I understand why they want to impeach Obama.


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## jzk (Feb 25, 2008)

I have no problem running aground. When I lived in Florida, feeling your way around on the bottom was just about the only way to go anywhere cool with a 5'9" draft. 

Now, my dad's former Sea Ray would touch bottom first with the propeller. What kind of nonsense is that?


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## krisscross (Feb 22, 2013)

After grounding, I like to explore all sandbars with my metal detector. It looks cool and totally on purpose. I have not found anything of value yet, but I'm sure my odds for striking it rich are ever increasing. I'm looking for Blackbeard treasure, of course.


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## jzk (Feb 25, 2008)

2 very interesting groundings come to mind. The first was a powerboat that drove up onto the breakwall out in front of Navy Pier. The way the skipper "parked" his boat up on the rocks was masterful. In a hundred tries, I don't think I could have placed it up there so perfectly.

The second was a nice sport fisherman hauling pretty good in miami and it just beached itself up on a sand bar. They weren't going anywhere for a while.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

If you intend to make a career of this you need a bilge keeler.


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

TQA said:


> If you intend to make a career of this you need a bilge keeler.


Personally I would choose a Brent Swain design for running aground frequently.

MedSailor


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## billyruffn (Sep 21, 2004)

Triton, 

Try this one day....


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## manatee (Feb 27, 2013)

MedSailor said:


> Personally I would choose a Brent Swain design for running aground frequently.
> 
> MedSailor


 You mean like this? (...from this thread:  *Steel Boats*.)


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## triton416 (Apr 15, 2014)

CarbonSink62 said:


> I agree, but he missed the three most important things about running aground:
> 
> Location, location, location.
> 
> I prefer to run aground in full view of my boat club. Or at least on the river where everyone going up or down can see.


A good point. I think I prefer the solitude of a nice isolated grounding. More peaceful and less photo ops for passerby's.


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## Classic30 (Aug 29, 2007)

manatee said:


> You mean like this? (...from this thread:  *Steel Boats*.)


That's not aground... that's just parked, waiting for the tide.


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## trantor12020 (Mar 11, 2006)

Brian makes it sounds like running aground is as easy as A B C. Well I tell you it is not! I tried not once, not twice but 3 times to run aground unsuccessfully and floated away. 1st time I tried, it bent my keel starboard wing, 2nd time it bent the port side wing (is that a new fashion?), 3rd time dent the leading edge of keel. I must be going about it the wrong way.


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## killarney_sailor (May 4, 2006)

triton416 said:


> A good point. I think I prefer the solitude of a nice isolated grounding. More peaceful and less photo ops for passerby's.


The highlight of my grounding career was in a little harbour (forget the name) towards Cuttyhunk. The cruising guide suggested anchorages in both sides of a Y-shaped bay. There were several boats in the right side and no boats in the smaller left side (that should have been a warning). We wanted privacy so went into the left side. Anchored in something like 17 feet of water and went into relax mode (it was about 2 pm on a lovely weekend day). A couple of hours later I realized that we were aground. The tide had fallen, about 4 feet or so I think, and we were sitting there quite comfortable an level. I turned on the depth sounder and it still showed 12 feet. Turns out we were sitting on an isolated knob on sand in the middle of the cove. Spent the next few hours replying to the same question from people in motor boats out for the afternoon, ' Do you know you are aground?". Tide came up and we moved to the other cove.


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

How is it that we navigate intricate waterways surrounded by coral reefs and don't go aground and then on the most pleasant of days with perfect visibility hit something?


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## downeast450 (Jan 16, 2008)

The cb, on our catboat, is the only depth gauge we have. Very useful when sailing in Merrymeeting Bay. Sand of course. "The cb is bouncing, time to fall off a bit and wait for a little more tide." It also tells you, you can jump overboard and walk to shore, now. The bottom is your friend. Sometimes.

Down


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## triton416 (Apr 15, 2014)

killarney_sailor said:


> Spent the next few hours replying to the same question from people in motor boats out for the afternoon, ' Do you know you are aground?". Tide came up and we moved to the other cove.


That's funny... "Do you know your aground?" especially when your 8 year old is standing next to the boat in knee deep water. Its always fun to give them a "really?" with a blank stare.


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## TerryBradley (Feb 28, 2006)

I move that we elect Brian Commodore of the Sailnet website!


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

TerryBradley said:


> I move that we elect Brian Commodore of the Sailnet website!


Second!

MedSailor


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## sailorboy15 (Jul 1, 2013)

My best grounding happened on a perfect sailing day. Great wind we were nicely heeled over almost burying the rail when we slowed down and stopped. the port side of the boat was in plenty of water however there was about 2 feet of water off the starboard. turns out we had executed a beautiful docking against the near vertical side of a sand/mud bar, and it was done under sail no less. I challenge anyone to dock there boat with more grace under sail!


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## vega1860 (Dec 18, 2006)

CarbonSink62 said:


> I agree, but he missed the three most important things about running aground:
> 
> Location, location, location.
> 
> I prefer to run aground in full view of my boat club. Or at least on the river where everyone going up or down can see.


The only time we actually "Ran" aground, that is, hit the bottom while under way, occurred directly across from the fuel dock/convenience store and the Hawaii Yacht Club. That puts it on the Ala Moana Park side of the channel which is about 100 yards from the open air yacht club bar and mere feet from the heavily used park. We were out of fuel, arriving from Kauai, and attempting to tack up the channel and into our slip. Almost made it too but the wind died and she failed to come about, instead continuing forward onto Magic Island even as I leapt over the pulpit in a futile effort to push off and get her head through the wind.

The audience of several hundred gave a round of applause which was followed by a swift rescue and tow to the fuel dock where I bought a case of Heinies and started a party.

Now, if having the tide run out and leave you while at anchor counts...


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## triton416 (Apr 15, 2014)

I'm headed to Charleston today to bring my friends new boat back to Wilmington, NC. If you should happen to see a Cape Dory Typhoon sitting high and dry between these two locations between now and Wednesday 4/23. Please feel free to dinghy over and introduce yourself. Ill have plenty of time for conversation and lots of beer. I would usually have Vodka to offer as well but this is a friends boat and I don't want to bang it up too bad. 

Fair Winds,

Brian


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

watched a 75 ft powerboat cut a new channel in barrra lagoon... he sed was 5 ft draft and he went right thru the 3 ft area....he took all day, but......he laughed for 2 days....


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## RTB (Mar 5, 2009)

I just got stuck pretty good in Boot Key late yesterday. Plenty of eyes upon us as we chose the shortcut to our mooring. Fortunately, a friendly cruiser came by and pushed us off with his dinghy. 

Ralph


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## willyd (Feb 22, 2008)

I recently read a sailing log by an experienced British sailor making his way down the East coast of the US who writes that he deliberately ran his boat aground, parking it on a sandbar, while coming up the Delaware in order to avoid bashing into chop and having to motor all night while tired, etc. (I'll try to find the link to this story and post it here). He waited for the weather to abate and the tide to float him off, then continued on his way.

Have any of you ever done this, that is, put your boat aground on a soft bottom to wait out the weather? It seems like the chop would bash the boat too much to make this worthwhile.


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## Barquito (Dec 5, 2007)

If all this grounding sounds like it will take up too much of your valuable sailing time, here is some advice for a quickie: Motor around in a mooring field that was a depository for iron slag from a foundry long ago. Motor through the area where there are, for some reason only shallow draft boats moored, wave to the guys on the dock at the Coast Guard station. BAM! There it is. I large pile of underwater iron. Peel your face off your companionway bulkhead, wave to the guys on shore again, put it in reverse, and motor off. Bask in the afterglow of your grounding.


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## sailingsteve (Jan 12, 2015)

Your talking about running aground on a sandy beach right. I try to avoid shallow water at any time.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

willyd said:


> I recently read a sailing log by an experienced British sailor making his way down the East coast of the US who writes that he deliberately ran his boat aground, parking it on a sandbar, while coming up the Delaware in order to avoid bashing into chop and having to motor all night while tired, etc. (I'll try to find the link to this story and post it here). He waited for the weather to abate and the tide to float him off, then continued on his way.
> 
> Have any of you ever done this, that is, put your boat aground on a soft bottom to wait out the weather? It seems like the chop would bash the boat too much to make this worthwhile.


Yeah, I'd like to see that link... I'm having a hard time rationalizing that sort of move...


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## Ulladh (Jul 12, 2007)

The chop over a sand bar will do a lot more damage to a grounded boat than bashing through in open water.

Some of the Delaware Bay Lighthouses are named for ships that ran aground.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

We do not find running aground to be anything more than a minor inconvenience. Even these pesky Caribbean islands are but a bump in the road, so to speak, since we installed the "Never Worry Keel Wheels".
With our keel bottom looking much like the underside of a skateboard festooned with a plague of little wheels, we just sail on no matter the depth, or lack there of. Sand, rocks, coral or even the islands themselves, deter us not.
I cannot speak too highly of the "Never Worry Keel Wheels".
I have no connection to the company that manufactures these wheels and am not a paid advocate. And my wife thinks they are 'cute'.


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## FoolishMuse (Oct 12, 2006)

A few years ago I wrote to a magazine about the wondrous invention of the centerboard sonar and how it saved me from sailing down a set of rapids. Every boat should be equipped with this technical marvel.


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

I like to take "keel-soundings" occasionally, just to verify that the charts are as accurate as they say they are.

MedSailor


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## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

The " not if but when" reality is an argument for full keeled boats, for attached rudders and against wing keels, balanced spade rudders and high aspect fin keels.
On my prior Tayana given the tidal range in New England would careen the boat intentionally on local sand spit ( Browns Bank) That's something I would never attempt on my current boat.
Once saw a cigarette boat go over that bank. Ripped the running gear and transome right out. He went air borne then landed the skidding along a piece. Once he stopped he sank. Wish I could have filmed it.
Saw the reckage of a wing keel boat. Was told they ran aground but were fine. The following day after a tide cycle they attached a power boat to front cleats. Pulled the boat sideways twisting the keel. Front keel bolts snapped and a hole in bilge resulted. With tide rising the available pumps couldn't keep up. By time professional help came much destruction done.


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## engineer_sailor (Aug 27, 2011)

I thought running aground was always intentional... ::whistling::


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Intentionally rounded up hard behind a bit of a spit at the head of Pauline Cove ,Herchel Island and ran up the gravel. With anchors set further up the beach, sat out 70 knots and chunks of passing ice. When the wind dropped and the ocean surged back I was good to go.Some storm! Esso lost an island and Tarsuit (drill rig) was evacuated.I entertained some stranded archaeologists with Cuban lobster complements of Dome Petroleum who sponsered the whole show..


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## capt jgwinks (Sep 24, 2013)

Just like docking accidents, never happens without an audience.


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## Group9 (Oct 3, 2010)

triton416 said:


> A At dead low tide a guy with a 10hp jon boat will come by(this always happens regardless of location) and become convinced he can tow you off. From experience I can say it is easier to just let him try rather than talk him out of it. ...
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Brian


Made me laugh, when I remembered this exact thing happening to me. Two guys in an inflatable with a 15 HP kept asking me to hand them a line. Finally, realizing we weren't going anywhere (and neither were they) I threw them one and watched them weave back and forth waiting for 11 tons to start dragging across the sand shoal I was on. 

The good thing was that after that, they did agree to pull my kedge anchor out and drop it for me (which they did not think would do any good) and which of course I used to winch myself off with.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

If you had given them an extended masthead line [ at least 200 ft ] and asked them to pull sideways to heel you they might have been successful.

I have pulled myself off a couple of times using this technique.


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## Group9 (Oct 3, 2010)

TQA said:


> If you had given them an extended masthead line [ at least 200 ft ] and asked them to pull sideways to heel you they might have been successful.
> 
> I have pulled myself off a couple of times using this technique.


I have too, with my own dinghy. No way in hell I am handing a line attached to the top of my mast to a guy in a powerboat, that I don't know.

My sense of adventure, while going pretty far, doesn't go that far.


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## rbyham (Dec 25, 2012)

Funny story. I have a few of my own. But I did kind of cringe thinking about an 8 year old daughter possibly watching her parents get hammered. I am no teatotaler but hopefully the hammering and shell hunting are separate groundings.


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## norahs arc (Jan 23, 2013)

Loved the stories, I haven't run aground since last summer. (Boat is on the hard.)
On a serious note though, for fin keels aground and using an anchor to haul off I recommend setting it off the stern if possible. This may prevent rudder damage by getting the rudder into deep water.


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