[Rhodes22-list] Grounded My Boat on a Sandbar - End of the Story

[R22RumRunner at aol.com]

David,
Great story. I'm constantly amazed at how forgiving the R22 is to us stupid  
owners. Sir Stanley has built us a wonderfully safe boat.
 
Rummy
 
 
In a message dated 11/5/2008 8:10:34 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
dculp at hsbtx.com writes:

Hit the  send by mistake...

Anyway, with 1/2 a main and no jib the knot meter  was indicating 5.8 kts on
the reach and 6 + on a run.  It was a pretty  wild ride and when the
following waves would hit me, the boat sort of came  up and was almost
surfing a little bit it seemed.

I attribute the  shape of the hull to allowing me to have just enough
flotation to get off  the sand in that little bit of water.  Also, the wind
and water  pushing against it didn't hurt either.  Amazingly, I did not ship
one  drop of water during the whole business.

I don't think you can plan on  what to do when you run aground in a boat
since every situation is going to  be different.  Much better to stay out of
situations where it might  happen but it's enticing to go there because the
Rhodes will allow you in  some very skinny water.  I have been out when the
big winds come and  it usually isn't that big of a deal, you just find out
there are certain  directions you aren't going to be able to go.  In this
case, I had no  where to go but the wrong way.  Getting the sails down was
the main  thing.  Securing the rudder and anything else that can move around
is  next.  One thing that I had considered briefly was leaving the boat  and
wading/swimming to shore if the boat had stayed grounded.  I'm  glad I didn't
do it.  Not to mention the safety aspects in those kind  of conditions, just
think if the boat had come off the sandbar with no one  in it.  In those
winds, when it hits the lee shore there is going to  be a lot of damage.
Luckily this time, no damage at all and lessons  learned.

David
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