Presidents Day \u2014 sunny, nice, sometime after one in the\nafternoon \u2014 my friend Kriya and I were heading back to Tradewinds on a Capri\n22. We were ending a short yet enjoyable sail along the Richmond shoreline. As\nwe motored down the Ford Channel, we wondered what all the hubbub at the\nCraneway Pavilion was about. TV vans lined the pier-side, a loudspeaker was\ngoing, and crowds thronged around the building. My friend checked her phone.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a Bernie Sanders rally!\u201d The candidate himself was speaking at that moment,\nbeing transmitted over the loudspeakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another boat passed us port to port, and after we passed I\nkept steering fairly close to the red right-hand marks \u2014 I was noticing some\nkayakers on the port side, milling around in front of the Rosie the Riveter\nNational Historical Park building, apparently there for the event too. Wouldn\u2019t\nwant to hit them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than two minutes later, just as I was about to turn left into the harbor, I grounded Alpha in three feet of water on the mud-bed. This happened as I was looking ahead to the entrance of the marina and at the shoreline concrete steps that mark the inside of that turn. I did not realize immediately what had happened; the boat simply stopped moving ahead. (Look down, Joyce!) I looked at the outboard \u2014 had the engine died? No, it still hummed. Had it slipped out of gear? I moved it to neutral, then to reverse\u2014alas too briefly, as glanced nervously at those concrete steps which seemed quite close\u2026 then at the end of the breakwall (Look down!) I tried revving the throttle up \u2014 obvious No Go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, my gaze took in the kayakers and the last red\nchannel marker we had passed, three or four boat lengths away. It was almost\nlow tide, probably at about zero just then. I looked down past the transom, to\na pretty clear view of mud beneath the surface of the water. \u201cOh no, we\u2019re\ngrounded! We\u2019re on the mud!\u201d I asked Kriya to move over to port side with me,\nand we leaned outboard with our combined weight. The boat shifted a little but\nsideways only. Illogically, I had the outboard still in forward gear. Did I\nthink it was just a thin mud bar we could simply slide over? Or that the boat\nwas oriented parallel to the margin of shallowness and we could simply slide\nforward and away from it? I pushed the tiller hard over to starboard, as if\ntrying to achieve this. Belatedly, I came to more sense and put the motor in\nreverse for several seconds at both low and higher throttle. No go. I had\nmissed my window of opportunity for this to be effective!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had Kriya call Tradewinds. She handed me the phone and\nAngie answered. I explained we were grounded outside the harbor entrance. She\nsaid we\u2019d likely have to wait until the tide rose again. Understandably, they\ncouldn\u2019t come and risk having another boat grounded as well. Chagrined, and\nhoping for a quicker resolution, I said we were not far outside the channel\nproper, maybe five or ten feet, and said I thought a tow boat could stay in the\nchannel and throw us a weighted line, and we could catch it (I said this while\neyeballing the throwing distance \u2014 yeah it might work! I could catch that!) And\nto my great relief, I was told to wait about fifteen minutes and they\u2019d come in\na whaler. Also, to drop anchor. I told my crew this with relief, and then went\nforward and dropped anchor (another first).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just then a man in a yellow kayak paddled over from the\nrally area and asked if we were grounded or anchored. \u201cBoth, but grounded\nfirst,\u201d I replied. \u201cDo you want me to kedge your anchor? Do you know what a\nkedge is?\u201d Yes, and yes! I lifted the anchor (no great distance) and he put it\natop his kayak and paddled towards almost the center of the channel (while I\npaid out the rode) and dropped it. I then worried aloud that it would be a\nhazard to any traffic going into and out of the marina. The paddler said it\nlooked quite deep, it was no problem. Maybe about 30 feet of rode was out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I then pulled hard on the rode, urging the boat to\ndislodge. It did move a ways. Kriya joined in pulling as hard as we could. The\nrode was at an oblique angle to the boat. Maybe it wouldn\u2019t fully work at that\nangle? But it was the only angle possible, as mud was at our front and other\nside. We led the rode back to the halyard winch, and a bit of grinding seemed\nlike progress for a few moments, but then we felt we might just be dragging the\nanchor towards us at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kayaker used his paddle to measure that we were\ngrounded in about three feet of water. At his suggestion, my crew and I tried\nshifting our weight from port to starboard side to try to rock and dislodge the\nboat. \u201cNo, you\u2019re pretty stuck.\u201d I thanked him for his time and said help was\ncoming, and he paddled back to the rally area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I spent that time sitting near the bow, feeling embarrassed\nand disappointed at my obliviousness. Now looking back at the wavy line of\nchannel markers, it was clear we\u2019d crossed over to the outside. I had been\ndistracted, looking much more to the left than to the right side, and had\nstrayed too far from that range of markers as we passed the terminal one. My crew,\non the other hand, seemed to take it in good humor. \u201cWe have a front row seat\nto the rally!\u201d She filmed a cellphone video as we waited, interviewing me about\nwhere we were, and how it was such a nice day to be grounded, or something like\nthat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I instantly cheered up on seeing the whaleboat approach,\nwith Angie at the wheel and Steve coiling a long length of line, to which was\nattached a pink weighted ball. As they slowly neared, I readied for a catch,\nbut instead we were told to to sit down, under the boom, for protection from\nthe weighted end. I held up the flotation cushion near our faces for good\nmeasure. After a few initial throws, and with boat hook in my hand ready to\npick up a short throw, a perfect toss by Steve arced the weighted line through\nthe space between mast and furled jib. I scrambled eagerly to cleat it at the\nbow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the tow began. Slowly, Alpha dislodged! I took up the anchor rode as we moved ahead. The hard part for me was pulling up the anchor out of the water once it was directly under the bow. That little Danforth really holds. Our rescuers directed us to start our outboard marine engine mounts, and a moment later, the anchor had freed and we could lift it back onto the boat. We were free! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I returned the tow line to Steve and Angie. Our boats\nmotored back to the marina, both docking at the same time. I thanked Steve and\nAngie for all their help. \u201cYou saved us!\u201d I said I had definitely\nlearned a good lesson and hoped never to repeat it. Angie said it was good we\nhad grounded so close to the marina, and Steve quipped that it had made for a\nfun part of his day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, at the clubhouse, Angie spread out a chart and other marked maps and shared some fascinating info, including soundings she had done in some shallower-than-expected areas in the Ford channel, Ayala Cove, etc., especially at low tide. A large amount of sedimentation had happened after the Oroville Dam break three years ago. My takeaway from the charts was to stay in the center of the channel when no other traffic was present, and to keep at least three feet away from the channel markers, as sedimentation had encroached past them. Also, she showed that the rocky corner at the harbor entrance was not too much of a depth hazard several feet from the shoreline \u2014 no need to over-avoid them, especially with a light northerly wind as we had today\u2026the mud was the lee shore, not the rocky side!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re looking for Lake Powell houseboats for sale, then you’ve found the right place to start<\/a> your search. Here you will learn about the boat, the amenities it offers, and even how you can find the information you need on the internet. If you are an active boater who likes to travel often, then this may be a great option for you. But if you just need a houseboat for vacations and you live out of state, then we have some great Lake Powell houseboats for sale in our Powells Paradise region. We have all of the features that you would expect from a houseboat including full kitchens with stove, refrigerator, microwave, etc., two or three cabins, decking, boat storage<\/a> and Kayak Storage<\/a> space for storing boats and kayaks, a serving room with stocked bar, and a comfortable boat seat. For other houseboats for sale, take a visit at ListedBuy<\/a><\/strong> web page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflecting on what happened, I learned three things. One,\nto always maintain situational awareness in all directions. Over-awareness of\npotential hazard on one side (kayakers, rocky shore) should not have lessened\nmy focus on staying within the channel. Two, to immediately recognize when one\nhas grounded \u2014 in the case of a small boat of less than five-foot draft, just\nlook down. Three, to respond immediately by reversing, along with\nshifting body weight to try to heel the boat away from the grounding side. What\nelse? The Tradewinds staff can share wisdom on this. And, they are awesome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy and safe sailing, everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Presidents Day \u2014 sunny, nice, sometime after one in the afternoon \u2014 my friend Kriya and I were heading back to Tradewinds on a Capri 22. We were ending a short yet enjoyable sail along the Richmond shoreline. As we … Continue reading