bertram31.com

Was bringing my boat from Amity Harbor to Merrick yesterday and ended up having a "soft" grounding. I was in the Amity Channel (I always called it snake cut) and was on my GPS tracks but the low sun got in my eyes and on one of the tight turns I saw I was off the tracks....

Luckily I started to slow down and slammed the throttles down seconds before impact. The front of my B28 is so thick with fiberglass the boat just stopped. Prob hit at 2-3 mph so was more of a hurt my ego situation... (actually I dont have an EGO, I been boating almost 30yrs and still have respect and dont know everything...).

Called seatow but I was able to use a boat hook and I threw an anchor as far as I could to pull us off. Took about a half hour. The tide was flooding so I only needed a few inches of water to get us off.

I dont know if I damaged anything but I did not feel any vibration (other than the typical 4BT rattle and shaking at low RPM).

I am propped at 2950+ and after I drove EZ for a half hour I brought the engines up and was able to hit 3000 and 2975 which is what I been getting all year.

At the dock the rudders looked straight but I will know more when I haul the boat next week..

Unreal but the CG pulls the buoys and you have to rely on dead reckoning and GPS previous marks. This channel is tight tho. My other option was the Amity Cut to the State boat channel but I turn up mud goin thru there too on low tide and this was "SUPER LOW"...

It was a good season so I guess I cant complain, I had my 19YO Daughter with me and only got a scratch or 2 and no significant injuries... THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING...

Seatow Capt from Freeport was great. I was on the phone with him a few times while he was getting a boat to help me. I ended up not needing it but he made sure to call me a few times till I got to the dock.

Any was that is my sad but true story to end the 2021 season.

I also just got over covid along with my wife and still coughing 5 weeks later....smh... bring on winter please....


Frank

Frank I’ve been there, pulling the bouys around Halloween is ridiculous. That being said the basin where I keep my boat was exposed mud at low tide yesterday around the edges. Many times in November I run to Bayshore as they don’t pull the buoys there and I’ve had some close calls in the Babylon cut, had a soft grounding once and my wife and I got out and pushed.

Stay healthy!

All is well that ends well!

Be happy it was mud and not rocks.

I've owned a boat since I was 6 years old. My grandfather gave me a Sears 12' Jon boat with a 3.5 Hp engine. Since then I've hit a lot of rocks, logs, mud banks, and run aground a time or two...

Note to self...reinforce the bow keel.

Frank,
First 31 I repowered with diesel ages ago was out on sea trial with owner piloting.

On full throttle running along Beach North and all of a sudden the boat lurched with a awful bang against the hull. One engine stalled, the other was vibrating really bad.

Shut down running engine and looked over transom,
The water was red with blood. A lot of blood.
Figured it was a turtle, shark or diver. Didn't see anything float up to surface.

Owner rang Coasties and reported it. Got towed in, pulled back out of water and running gear was trash.

Watched the news for a couple of days for missing divers. None reported.

I'm guessing big hammerhead or Tiger shark. I've seen some 13' Tigers outside that inlet.

We actually hit a sandbar and not mud. My daughter actually wanted to go in the water and push us off.
I told her no bc it is December and getting wet is not a good idea god forbid. The water is very cold. If it was the summer we would of pushed ourselves off gladly but I did not want to risk wet clothes and no heat...although we had blankets etc but still not taking chances with my kid or possibly myself and her not being able to do anything...

It was more of a wake up call and my bad luck...I been busy and have had limited time to move the boat. This was my only chance to do it and of course it was a sick super low tide...come to mention it I had a moon low tide when I launched the boat this same season...

I must have pissed off the tide gods at one point in my life...

Frank

at that speed, the worst you would have done is wheel knocked out of balance. I hit at night at dead idle and sat on the bar all night until morning and we could get some tide to get her off. No damage. By the way, they sit nice and level on the rudders in shallow water.

Bruce

Had a similar experience back in the 80's. Running into 6-foot seas we hit something. Water behind us turned red, but we did not have any vibration so we pushed on. Figured we hit a shark or a turtle. Ran the boat for the balance of the season with no vibration. When we pulled the boat for the winter, we found the edge of the port prop bent over and we could see an area on the keel line from the bow to the stern where we took the paint off. Figured from the mark, we must have run right over a turtle's shell.

Still cannot believe she never vibrated. Shaft ran true at all speeds.

Frank- you polished your wheels a bit.

This is getting stuck on a sandbar.





A buddy ran out of gas, drifted out of the channel touching the bottom on an outgoing tide. AND boy did it go out.

The good news is he had plenty of time to clean the bottom, get some sun, have a beer or 6, swim a bit. I made a visit or 2 with some anchors so he could pull himself off on the incoming tide. Then at 11:30 that night another friend met him out there on his own boat, tossed him a line. With a little pull, right off he came, then towed him in. His shafts and props...no problem.



Frank...great idea not going in the water this time of year. Too cold...nobody around "IF" something went south. If you have seatow...its the time to use them for sure. If it was an emergency, thats a different story. yeah...that was a real good idea.

I have done lots of deliveries after the buoys are taken some of witch were nail biters! No one was hurt and sounds like the boat is ok that’s all that really matters.