AshoreSchool.com Presents: A Teachable Moment
Lawrence (Laurie) Pane sailed around the world with his wife, Carole Wells, and young son, Ryan, taking six-and-a-half years, traveling more than 40,000 miles and visiting 56 countries. He co-authored with them the very successful Chasing Sunsets, a practicing devout cowards circumnavigation with this wife and son. Laurie's second book, Steering You Straight makes a wonderful reference book for those who are interested in cruising. (We have read them both and thoroughly enjoyed the perspective Carole and Ryan added to "dad's view.)
This 'Teachable Moment' is from: Chasing Sunsets, Chapter 5
Lawrence (Laurie) Pane sailed around the world with his wife, Carole Wells, and young son, Ryan, taking six-and-a-half years, traveling more than 40,000 miles and visiting 56 countries. He co-authored with them the very successful Chasing Sunsets, a practicing devout cowards circumnavigation with this wife and son. Laurie's second book, Steering You Straight makes a wonderful reference book for those who are interested in cruising. (We have read them both and thoroughly enjoyed the perspective Carole and Ryan added to "dad's view.)
This 'Teachable Moment' is from: Chasing Sunsets, Chapter 5
In Connecticut this month?
They will be speaking at the Latitudes & Attitudes Advanced Cruising Seminar on August 22 and 23 in Mystic Seaport,
and signing books at the
Mystic Seaport Museum Bookshop on August 22 and 24.
They will be speaking at the Latitudes & Attitudes Advanced Cruising Seminar on August 22 and 23 in Mystic Seaport,
and signing books at the
Mystic Seaport Museum Bookshop on August 22 and 24.
Going Aground
Some friends, who had not sailed before, but who had messed about on powerboats,
asked if they could come on a passage with us, so they joined us in Fiji for the ten day crossing to Australia. Dick was an old Air Force navigator so wanted to practice his sextant skills. Our combined efforts, on our best day, placed us within five miles of where out four GPS's said we were, but that story is for another day.
It was a very pleasant trip, with good weather after a lumpy 24 hours out of Vuda Point, until we were greeted by a major thunderstorm just out of Brisbane. Lightning strikes all around aren't pleasant when you are the tallest thing to be seen, so we turned tail and ran, to try and avoid the cells.
However, we made it to port, but not without a final flourish. Right at the mouth of the Brisbane River, I had to go below to call Customs on the radio, so handed over the wheel to Dick. When I came back on deck, my first comment was, "We're not moving." Sure enough, we had gone out of the channel and were aground, with the tide falling. It was quite serious, as the area we were in dried out completely at low tide. If we had then fallen on our side, the returning tide would have filled "Dolphin Spirit," and we probably would have lost her.
Carole went below and calmly called for help on the radio, while I worked at getting us off. I put up the sails, and the 30 knots of wind heeled us over enough to reduce our draft and allowed us to slide off, with help from the engine. Carole wasn't told what was going on and thought we had fallen on our side. I reassured her, and, calm again, she called off the rescue vessels. Ho hum, another day at the office.
Thoughts on avoiding the situation
The channel we were in, approaching the mouth of the Brisbane River, is a very busy commercial vessel channel, very deep, and marked on both sides by large posts, topped with the appropriate green and red markers.
When I handed over control to Dick, I assumed he would stay between the two lines of posts. What I had forgotten to mention to him was that the marker convention, "Red right
returning" applies only in the US. Everywhere else in the world it is exactly the opposite.
I was heading up the channel perfectly, green on right, red on the left, and Dick thought I had gone crazy, so moved to green on the left, which put us right onto the sand and mud. As simple comment to Dick on the different convention as I was handing him the wheel would have saved a lot of problems.
Going aground will happen to all sailors, so the means of getting off needs to be known and available for instant recall, as there is usually little time for looking up books, such as my Steering You Straight, Chapter 42.
"Dolphin Spirit" has a three-quarter full keel which has allowed us to hit coral and rocks with only scrapes and lost paint as physical damage - mental damage is another story entirely. Our rudder is also fully protected, front, top and bottom and is almost impossible to be damaged under normal grounding conditions.
The first concern after going aground is to determine what the tide is doing. By the way, this is not an ideal time to be trying to find the tide tables. If you know that you are going to be in shallow water, then check the tides before you set out. In our situation, I knew the tide was falling.
We were motoring, but if you sailed into the grounding, then taking down the sails needs to be done immediately to stop your driving still further into the trouble. This may have the unfortunate effect of reducing the boat's heel, therefore increasing its draft, fixing you more firmly in position.
If the tide is rising, just sit patiently and let nature take its course and float you out of trouble. If the tide is falling, something needs to be done immediately, particularly if the sand bank you are on will dry out at low tide, as the one we were on would have. The first method of attack I tried was to use your engine to reverse out the way we came in. This is not a simple matter, as mud and sand exert powerful suction forces on a keel and didn't help us at all.
I had to watch engine temperatures carefully. Reversing the propeller will drive sand and mud towards the bow, right into the cooling water intakes. If you are heeled, the cooling water intake may even be under mud or sand. One of our friends went aground on a sand bank, got off using the engine, only to have it stop because sand had blocked the water intake and they were then driven ashore by wind and waves. They were at the bottom end of the Red Sea and the subsequent boat recovery saga is worth its own book.
Crazy as it may sound, if reversing back isn't a cure after a few tries, then try powering forward, with the rudder hard over to drive the bow towards deeper water or swing the boat to be beam on to the wind, and allow the sails to lean the boat. This should be tried very seldom, and only if you
know where the deeper water is, and it is within reach. Never, never, do it on coral unless you want to see the effect of razor sharp material gouging fiberglass.
What got us off this time was a mixture of raising the sails to make the boat heel, therefore reducing the draft, and powering forward, as I knew exactly where I wanted to go.
Kedging off is a real option in many circumstances. There needs to be water less than 50 feet deep behind the boat. Take an anchor, preferably with chain rode, out in the dinghy as far as the rode will allow. Use a buoyed trip line on the anchor for guidance purposes and to help getting
the anchor back in a hurry. Load all the rode into the dinghy and feed it out as you go. If the water is too deep, then the pull of the anchor will be more down than out and little will be achieved. Co-ordinate anchor winch and engine and thank me that you followed my advice and put in a powered anchor winch at the stern.
Thoughts on dealing with it better
Very obviously I should have told Dick precisely what I wanted him to do and where I wanted him to steer. Never assume that the other person knows what you want him to do or that he is aware of the current conditions. It is your responsibility to provide the complete picture, not his to ask.
Equally obviously, I should have told Carole what we were about to do. Again it is the Captain's
responsibility to keep all the crew fully informed.
None of this would have happened if the VHF radio I have in the cockpit hadn't died during the passage. That meant, instead of calling from the cockpit and being in a position to see what was going on, I had to go below and be blind. We had a portable VHF, but I chose not to use that, not the greatest decision in hind-sight.
Radio, radar and instruments have to be able to be seen and used from the steering position, or they are practically useless.
Some friends, who had not sailed before, but who had messed about on powerboats,
asked if they could come on a passage with us, so they joined us in Fiji for the ten day crossing to Australia. Dick was an old Air Force navigator so wanted to practice his sextant skills. Our combined efforts, on our best day, placed us within five miles of where out four GPS's said we were, but that story is for another day.
It was a very pleasant trip, with good weather after a lumpy 24 hours out of Vuda Point, until we were greeted by a major thunderstorm just out of Brisbane. Lightning strikes all around aren't pleasant when you are the tallest thing to be seen, so we turned tail and ran, to try and avoid the cells.
However, we made it to port, but not without a final flourish. Right at the mouth of the Brisbane River, I had to go below to call Customs on the radio, so handed over the wheel to Dick. When I came back on deck, my first comment was, "We're not moving." Sure enough, we had gone out of the channel and were aground, with the tide falling. It was quite serious, as the area we were in dried out completely at low tide. If we had then fallen on our side, the returning tide would have filled "Dolphin Spirit," and we probably would have lost her.
Carole went below and calmly called for help on the radio, while I worked at getting us off. I put up the sails, and the 30 knots of wind heeled us over enough to reduce our draft and allowed us to slide off, with help from the engine. Carole wasn't told what was going on and thought we had fallen on our side. I reassured her, and, calm again, she called off the rescue vessels. Ho hum, another day at the office.
Thoughts on avoiding the situation
The channel we were in, approaching the mouth of the Brisbane River, is a very busy commercial vessel channel, very deep, and marked on both sides by large posts, topped with the appropriate green and red markers.
When I handed over control to Dick, I assumed he would stay between the two lines of posts. What I had forgotten to mention to him was that the marker convention, "Red right
returning" applies only in the US. Everywhere else in the world it is exactly the opposite.
I was heading up the channel perfectly, green on right, red on the left, and Dick thought I had gone crazy, so moved to green on the left, which put us right onto the sand and mud. As simple comment to Dick on the different convention as I was handing him the wheel would have saved a lot of problems.
Going aground will happen to all sailors, so the means of getting off needs to be known and available for instant recall, as there is usually little time for looking up books, such as my Steering You Straight, Chapter 42.
"Dolphin Spirit" has a three-quarter full keel which has allowed us to hit coral and rocks with only scrapes and lost paint as physical damage - mental damage is another story entirely. Our rudder is also fully protected, front, top and bottom and is almost impossible to be damaged under normal grounding conditions.
The first concern after going aground is to determine what the tide is doing. By the way, this is not an ideal time to be trying to find the tide tables. If you know that you are going to be in shallow water, then check the tides before you set out. In our situation, I knew the tide was falling.
We were motoring, but if you sailed into the grounding, then taking down the sails needs to be done immediately to stop your driving still further into the trouble. This may have the unfortunate effect of reducing the boat's heel, therefore increasing its draft, fixing you more firmly in position.
If the tide is rising, just sit patiently and let nature take its course and float you out of trouble. If the tide is falling, something needs to be done immediately, particularly if the sand bank you are on will dry out at low tide, as the one we were on would have. The first method of attack I tried was to use your engine to reverse out the way we came in. This is not a simple matter, as mud and sand exert powerful suction forces on a keel and didn't help us at all.
I had to watch engine temperatures carefully. Reversing the propeller will drive sand and mud towards the bow, right into the cooling water intakes. If you are heeled, the cooling water intake may even be under mud or sand. One of our friends went aground on a sand bank, got off using the engine, only to have it stop because sand had blocked the water intake and they were then driven ashore by wind and waves. They were at the bottom end of the Red Sea and the subsequent boat recovery saga is worth its own book.
Crazy as it may sound, if reversing back isn't a cure after a few tries, then try powering forward, with the rudder hard over to drive the bow towards deeper water or swing the boat to be beam on to the wind, and allow the sails to lean the boat. This should be tried very seldom, and only if you
know where the deeper water is, and it is within reach. Never, never, do it on coral unless you want to see the effect of razor sharp material gouging fiberglass.
What got us off this time was a mixture of raising the sails to make the boat heel, therefore reducing the draft, and powering forward, as I knew exactly where I wanted to go.
Kedging off is a real option in many circumstances. There needs to be water less than 50 feet deep behind the boat. Take an anchor, preferably with chain rode, out in the dinghy as far as the rode will allow. Use a buoyed trip line on the anchor for guidance purposes and to help getting
the anchor back in a hurry. Load all the rode into the dinghy and feed it out as you go. If the water is too deep, then the pull of the anchor will be more down than out and little will be achieved. Co-ordinate anchor winch and engine and thank me that you followed my advice and put in a powered anchor winch at the stern.
Thoughts on dealing with it better
Very obviously I should have told Dick precisely what I wanted him to do and where I wanted him to steer. Never assume that the other person knows what you want him to do or that he is aware of the current conditions. It is your responsibility to provide the complete picture, not his to ask.
Equally obviously, I should have told Carole what we were about to do. Again it is the Captain's
responsibility to keep all the crew fully informed.
None of this would have happened if the VHF radio I have in the cockpit hadn't died during the passage. That meant, instead of calling from the cockpit and being in a position to see what was going on, I had to go below and be blind. We had a portable VHF, but I chose not to use that, not the greatest decision in hind-sight.
Radio, radar and instruments have to be able to be seen and used from the steering position, or they are practically useless.
LEARN: Free interactive sailing lessons will take you from an absolute beginner to a confident sailing student who can communicate well with your instructor and classmates.
READ: The electronic version of
L&A's Seafaring, Latitude 38, Carolina Currents,48 Degrees North, Points East, Great Lakes Scuttbutt, Southwinds, Caribbean Compass, Spinsheet, and Ocean Navigator.
DEFINE: Understand the definitions of common nautical words and phrases
CHECK: Five ready-to-use Day Sail checklists that
can be viewed for FREE on your iPhone or any
other Web - Enabled - Device
EXPERIENCE is a great teacher, and this is a
excellent place to start. In this section we bring you the experiences of thousands of miles of sailing, without leaving your seat.
CHART: 1018 NOAA charts over Google Maps, with US Coast Guard Navigation Aids and NOAA Chart 1
Symbols. Makes it the perfect tool for students exploring any US coastline
WATCH: Expanded section includes dozens of excellent videos involving sailing training,
knot tying, racing, bloopers, and fun commentary presented in High Definition.
UNDERSTAND: Our Points of Sail lesson clearly illustrates not only the Point of Sail and the Mainsail position, it also includes the tack, the wind angle,
and the masthead wind direction.
PLAN: Where do you go once you have learned
sail? These great websites will help
you plan you future behind the helm.
PREDICT: These excellent weather related resources were collected and contributed by Bill Biewenga.
All the resources you need to keep an eye
on the weather
SEE: Increase your comfort level and confidence
with sailboat images identifying key areas of a sailboat.
SAY: We welcome your comments and ideas. If something needs to be
clarified, or you think it's great,
just drop us a note and tell us...
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