Nordhavn aground. What would you do?

[SteveE]

I saw a beautiful Nordhavn pass by a little sand beach Saturday near La Conner. About an hour later I walked around the sand spit and looked down the South end of Swinomish channel and saw the boat sitting there, not moving. I figured he must have ventured out of the channel and ran aground. I hopped in the dinghy and went over. Sure enough he was aground and the owner was asking me about the bottom conditions and what the tides were doing. He was visibly concerned, and rightly so.

He ran aground at high tide and tide was now dropping and his scum-line was about a foot out of the water already. The boat weighs almost 160,000 pounds and the owner said he heard crunching noises when he hit. There’s a small rock wall right where he stopped, so he was likely on the rocks, not the nice soft mud.

The tide was dropping fast now and would be dropping about 5 feet and then rising again. But the next high tide was almost two feet lower than the high when he hit. The low that follows this will be 10 feet lower than when he ran aground. But the high after that is equal to the tide when he ran aground, so he might just float off if he can make it that long.

What do you do? Try to pull it off at the next high even though its two feet lower than when you got stuck. Knowing you are on some rocks and your boat weighs more than a house means you will need some serious towing power, and you might cause some major damage to your boat (this boat had stabilizer fins that could easily hang up on a rock). If you decide to not do anything and wait for the high tide in 24 hours (same height as when you got stuck) you could float right off. But the big low before that is ten feet lower than when you ran aground. The boat could fall on it’s side and fill with water or just plain try to go inverted when the tide rises. Where the boat is stuck the water depth is 5 feet, but just 10 feet toward the channel it drops to over 20 feet. This boat is on a steep slope.

What would you do???

I’ll post the ‘answer’ in a day or two…. Well, I’ll post what this owner did.


But until then here are some pictures from that day and night:

[dmcb]

Even if he waits he didn't float on so I doubt he will float off.
I sure would be concerned and would seek professional help.
Unless he has shaft protection that is a lot of weight on his shafts and props.
He likely won't be much help to himself.
Doug

[Kuredu]

What a nice boat - I feel bad for the ownser.

I have no idea what I'd do - probably seek professional help. That's a lot of money/damage sitting there.

[davita]

There is an old trick called "kedging" mainly used by sail boaters.
This involves taking the anchor out by dinghy at a suitable angle and distance, then using the winch to pull the boat to deeper waters.
I would think that the Nordhaven has a hydraulic windlass and, if it also has a hydraulic davit winch and a spare anchor, this could also be utilised.
Just a thought....amazing how the adrenaline must have been running in that situation!
David

[avanti42]

call insurance company and ,,,,,,,,,,prey?..all kidding aside....that's he's only option at this point I would say....there's 2 kinds of people......the ones' who've run aground or hit a rock or dead head,,,,,,,and that the ones' the are gunna........been there done that........hopefully not in my near future...

[Stratocaster]

I also think he would have kedged off the shallows. I've seen it done around here.

[mmichellich]

With all the shallow water around LaConner it is very odd that someone with a boat like this would not have his eyes glued to the depth sounder and chart. I have gone through this area maybe 60 or 70 times and every single time I pilot my boat with the upmost caution. I did note that this year, a couple of the most shallow spots in recent years appeared to have been dredged deeper which helps a lot. With that said, for a first time boater through this area, it sure would be easy to miss one of the exit buoys on the SW corner of the waterway and cut the corner, causing such a serious problem. Seems like every year several boats do this.

[ColonyCove]

avanti42call insurance company and ,,,,,,,,,,prey?..

You mean pray. Prey is what that red boat considers this guy.

Safe and Happy Boating!
ColonyCove

[dmcb]

That just goes to show even the most experienced make an error. Usually you get away with it but he didn't.
Frankly the older I get the more cautious I become.
I was a lot more carefree when I didn't know all these things can happen.
Doug

[NATIONAL MARINE EXHAUST]

That is the same exact spot I got up on the sand at low tide on my maiden voyage from Anacortes to Everett. It sucked. That feeling of hopelessness. At the mercy of the tide change. Life and everything that was important is now on the back burner. It is pretty soft sand in that area. There are however a lot of cables on the botton. I actually was able to get out and walk around. I got to spend the next 8 hours on the boat getting to know every nook and cranny. I think because of that experience on that first day, I am now a very cautious boater. My wifes' idea of a fun boat ride is hugging the shoreline and site seeing the land. My preference is to be in the middel of the channel. We do compromise. Plus I installed a new depth finder. I don't think the stock one on the boat is working properly.