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Running aground on shipwreck, and whale sighting!

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redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/20/2007 : 09:37:36

I will combine what would be two posts to save time and battery life.

First, we actually ran aground on a submerged vessel! Morehead City, NC in the worlds smallest anchorage we spotted what appeared to be a nice spot to drop a hook right in front of a 45 foot ketch. There was an odd looking float about 200 yards away and the charts did indicate that there was a sunken vessel in the vicinity. We eased in and were just about in position to drop the hook when the most god awful screeching noise came from below. This was NOT a soft grounding! We tried backing off, driving off - nothing doing.

Called Sea Tow - worth every penny - and they sent a fellow out. problem was he had a dead battery and was delayed by over an hour sorting out his own problems. By then the tide had fallen a bit, nothing discernable, but enough that he was unable to pull us off. BTW - classic... NO KNIFE, NO VISIBLE PFD, NO DEPTHSOUNDER! the Sea Tow guy had to borrow MY knife to cut his line loose, borrow our boat hook to probe around the vessel! Still worth every penny as he hauled our anchor and a hundred feet of chain to deeper water!

A fellow from the shipyard told us about the wreck and said he had seen this happen once before. Just wait until high tide at 02:00... Great! Ever been grounded and living at 35 degrees? Not fun! the wife and I installed the charlie noble and started the diesel heater, launched the dink, and watched TV for awhile and ate crackers and cheese. Cant really cook, walk around, much of anything.

Finally, we decided to sleep until the 02:00 high tide. I should have taken one of the other 7 berths, but there was too much crap filling them and I wanted the body heat, SO I climbed into the double berth with my wife. Needless to say i spent a lot of energy trying not to roll into her. About midnight things started feeling a bit better and as predicted at about 01:45 we felt a distinct snap crackle pop that signaled out freedom. Started up and redropped a few yards away in what appeared to be the center of the channel. DID NOT CARE! Vessel in transit, not a shipping lane, write me a ticket!

OH, and did I mention that the ketch was unattended and VERY MUCH aground at every low tide! i have learned NOT to trust catamarans, I now add steel vessels to that esteemed list. They will just lay on their side anywhere and leave their vessels! If we had come in an hour later we would have seen him aground! Oh well....

Whale watch.... We left Beaufort, NC for Wrightsville Beach - a 70 mile offshore passage - and about 15 miles out we spotted a right whale! Surfaced right in front of us, we altered course significantly, and then surfaced behind us! Nice! We reported the sighting to our good friends at the Coast Guard. I hope they log all of my airtime - I should qualify for the auxillary by now! Anyhow, Right whales are endangered and when spotted you are required to report their position to the Coast Guard so they can assess and if required order commercial vessels down to 10 knots. CG asked all kinds of fun questions like: which direction was he headed? Did he appear injured in anyway or was entangled in any way? could we tell how old the whale was? Huh, I replied with "I am just not that good sir"... I know it is a whale, other than that, hmmm...

Other than that life is good. waiting for a better weather window to use to get to Saint Augustine.

Sten

DPO Zephyr - '82 C25, FK, SR
SV Lysistrata - C&C 39 - Wrightsville Beach, NC awaiting better weather window

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2007 : 09:52:14

I'm guessing no hull damage from the hang-up?

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Renzo
Admiral

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USA
621 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2007 : 10:35:13

Damn it Sten!Some guys have all the fun! Can I come sailing with you sometime? Sunken wrecks, Whales, Chatting wth the coasties, and you even have heat on the boat!

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2007 : 10:42:34

What's a "charlie noble" and why not roll onto the Admiral?

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3429 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2007 : 12:48:43

Unbelievable story!

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2007 : 13:46:24

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Noble"]Charlie Noble[/url]

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PZell
Admiral

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USA
548 Posts

Response Posted - 12/20/2007 : 15:52:19

Motel 6 is camping to my wife. No way would she be on a boat at night in chilly weather.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 12/21/2007 : 08:06:46

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by PZell
 Motel 6 is camping to my wife.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Although my wife endures our annual family camping getaways, she would rather "rough it" at Motel 6.

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redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 12/21/2007 : 08:42:00

A Charlie Noble on this vessel is for the diesel heater. Diesel heater looks just like a miny fireplace complete with a glass door. Burns less than a gallon a day set at toasty! http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/shop5/categories-heaters.asp

My wife believes this is better than motel 6 because we are on a yacht! Our C25 was a boat! OK, pocket yacht! For my wife, it's all about the mattress, the head, and storage for her clothes and shoes. Once we got everything aboard, she was and remains happy. I know, I am very lucky.

I recently wired up two electric motorcycle jackets I carried over from that hobby. http://www.gerbing.com/ That is the way to go when it's cold. We stay nice and toasty in the cockpit and during my off watch I even wore it down below. I put a 20' cord on it. My wife thinks I am god, as she has heard the ooohs and aaaaahs from the other cruisers over my "invention."

As for damage, I think we got off ok. She is solid, I was more worried about an old antenna on the boat poking a hole or something when we were on our side. no leaks down in the bilge and the prop and rudder didn't get touched. We were in 11 feet of water when we ran on "it" and we draw 6'6". We floated off at 11.9 and we didn't wait to see how much higher it went. We had clear water all the way around us, we were just pivoting on the cabin rooftop? who knows.

Sten

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 12/22/2007 : 10:53:27

Glad it worked out OK. FASCINATING tip on the heated jackets!

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 12/22/2007 : 12:57:51

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> i have learned NOT to trust catamarans<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

???

BTW - I've learned not to trust Cuban Scuba gear.

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redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 12/23/2007 : 06:40:58

Cats don't draw much, so you should never follow one blindly or anchor nearby without being very careful. We draw 6'6" and a Cat will draw what 2'?

Case in point. Our old Magellan plotter is no longer supported with chart data, so I knew we would have to do something about it before the ICW as i only had chips thru the Chesapeake. In Annapolis I broke down and wired in our new Garmin 10.5" plotter. Big enough to eat on! A couple of Cats were leaving on the same morning as we were, and while I stowed the Zodiac on deck, I told my wife to follow the Cats not really thinking and NOT having checked the chart! We ran aground! We came in in the dark with an old 5" plotter and were just fine. Have new unfamiliar toy and a CAT to follow out and we go aground. That's why i have learned NOT to trust Cats!

sten

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