A new adventure begins.

[SuttonCS]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

7 days. From the first post to the beaching, 7 days. I bet that beach felt pretty sweet compared to the bashing you were taking.

Well, hoping the boat didn’t cost you too much, you’re safe and the experience from this short adventure will make a big difference in how you prepare for the next one.

Costs are all relative... The boat cost me around 5k$, a pittance to some about 6 months income for me, with the entire trip running about a years income.

[SuttonCS]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

I generally don't criticize sailors when they've save their own lives, and I'm not going to criticize his decision to beach his boat.

I will, however, criticize your attitude about your beached boat. Your attitude about it is very inappropriate, no guilt at all for leaving your mess behind for others to clean up? Just hitchhike out of town as fast as you can, huh? Who's picking up the bill for the clean up? I'm really trying to put this nicely, please answer these questions for us.

What made you think you could do it this way?

No, I wouldn't say that there is no guilt, but less than some would like. In the end it's like I told the park ranger, I felt my choices were beach and make a mess or sink and swim for it only making a mess somewhere else. I am as helpless to do anything about the resultant wreck as I would be if I had crashed a plane there. Before making the decision to leave the area I probably talked to 25 people about various ways to remove the boat. The quote for "tens of thousands of dollars" was for the preferred method with cranes and trucks and trailers and various permits requiring weeks to organize and was completely outside my ability to pursue. Another method was to pull the anchor to sea and winch against it at high tide (dark) while 20 or so volunteers fought that tide on the beach pulling on ropes to turn her back to sea, which would have resulted in us in a best case scenario being returned to the ocean n conditions similar to those we left and needing to guide the boat through those seas a good 15 or 20 miles to relatively calmer seas, which was not something I was eager to try and felt an awful lot like tempting fate. In the end the decision to return home was a financial one. It was costing us about 200$ a day to remain in the area after motel, food, and other expenses and at that rate I could have stayed a week or perhaps 10 days before I no longer had the resources to return home and became myself a part of the mess that needed to be cleaned up from the area.



In the end the serenity prayer applied. I had the serenity to accept the fact that the boat was beached and beyond my ability to recover, the courage to change the fact that I was stranded and quickly becoming part of the wreckage and the wisdom to tell those things apart.



As for what made me think I could do this? This simple answer is hubris.



I know these answers may not fully satisfy you or for that matter the national park service and that I may end up being required to pay for the clean up for many many years to come. However they are the only answers I have and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to do ANYTHING for many years to come.

[Fiveslide]

Originally Posted by SuttonCS

I know these answers may not fully satisfy you or for that matter the national park service and that I may end up being required to pay for the clean up for many many years to come. However they are the only answers I have and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to do ANYTHING for many years to come.

No, they are satisfactory. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted you're still among us. At first it sounded like you may have been trying to skirt the responsibility of the clean up bill, that was my concern.

I cruised for several years, you've no idea how badly I want to get back out there. But, since I've been out there, I know I that buying a cheap boat and taking off a few days later isn't how it should be done. You learned that lesson and live to tell about it. I missed the post where you changed your mind and decided to go outside.

[Southpass]

If there's a silver lining in this it's that other's might be discouraged from being so irresponsible. I suspect the Park Police will be sending you a bill for a lot more than Sea Tow or Towboats US insurance would have cost. The initial purchase of a boat is sometimes a small part of the cost of ownership. I hope it works out and I hope you'll give someone salvage rights and they get the boat before it gets completely broken up. I guess by publicly abandoning it you have but, I'm no maritime law expert.

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by SuttonCS

No this is good info. Our mast is 46' but unless things change drastically I'm ignoring all the "waterway" and "ditch advice" and will just cruise around the coast. There is much better constant wind out there.

I am, in fact, sitting in a chair on land right now, and am in no way passing any sort of judgement, nor do I have the right to.....But, this is the lesson that I'm taking away from this unfortunate situation, right or wrong: Listen to the voices of experience. Your life may depend on it.
I am relieved to hear that the OP is alright, and am certainly glad that it wasn't worse. If leaving the dock really is 90% of the battle, you have succeeded, and I would imagine that you will find a way to get that last 10%.

I have a dream that we will find our perfect boat somewhere in Europe, and Boatman's schedule will be free for an owner/dumbass assisted delivery to the US, and that things don't go perfectly so that I will have at least a little bit of experience dealing with shitstorms at sea under the watchful eye of an expert before I try it on my own. Again, no judgement here, as it sounds like your "instructor" just might have made a bad situation worse. Thanks for sharing your story, mistakes and all.

[laika]

I'm really glad you're safe! And it seems like you've got a good head on your shoulders after the fact.

But the more this kind of stuff happens, the harder it becomes for others to follow in the wake. And a little more justification for the rest of us to live in a nanny state.

(end of lecture)

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Drmanso

Join BoatUS BEFORE you sail. Get the unlimited tows for $150.00 / yr. Incredible bargain!
I'll guarantee you will run aground several times, and even an easy tow can cost you hundreds of $ If you have no insurance.

I have transversed the AICW back and forth from the Chesapeake to east coast Florida enough times that I now go on the outside and try to avoid the "ditch" as much as possible. About the only time I come in now is when I am chased in by weather.
That being said, I would say that with your level of experience, the ICW is definitely your best route for the first trip.
I would advise you to read Tom & Mel Neals BoatUS East Coast Aleats before heading out. Go to: https://www.boatus.com/cruising/tomneale/signup.asp and sign up for their alerts to let you know what to expect on your way.
A copy of Waterway Guide for the whole trip is also very good advice.
IMHO I would also recommend TowboatUS over Seatow. I have had TowboatUS for 12 years and they have never let me down. It is very cheap insurance. I had an engine die which I was unable to get going again once about 30 miles off the entrance to Winyah River and without TowboatUS insurance it would have cost about $1,500! That's not to mention a few tows after running aground in the ICW with my 6' draft.
I didn't see what your draft on your new boat is but I hope that it is shallow. There are lots (and LOTS) of places to run aground in the ICW.
Allow plenty of time for your trip - it will take longer than you think.
Best of luck and have a safe, and hopefully very enjoyable trip!

Al, S/V Finlandia

[JMitchell]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

.......
I didn't see what your draft on your new boat is but I hope that it is shallow. There are lots (and LOTS) of places to run aground in the ICW.
Allow plenty of time for your trip - it will take longer than you think.
Best of luck and have a safe, and hopefully very enjoyable trip!

Al, S/V Finlandia

Oops, too late.

[Gialdini]

We bought a 38 Endever last summer in Halafax. We spent 2 weeks working on the boat on the hard. At launch time had a pretty good idea of all aspects of the boat. We decided to go up the Atlantic and Up the St Lawance to Michigan. As is topical the first three weeks things broke. Head gasket, low pressure fuel pump exc. If you can get a good repor with present owner as we did , he can be heipful with problems as you start out. We had an adventure of a lifetime. As mentioned learn your boat. Crawl stem to stern and find out where all the machanical systems are and where the electical power for the system comes from. This should be a very exciting time as it was for us. Good luck, be safe and above all have fun

[SuttonCS]

I had SeaTow and was told they did not cover such a grounding and would only cover "soft groundings"

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by JMitchell

Oops, too late.

Oops for sure. Sorry, should have read the whole thread before I posted.

Al, S/VFinlandia

[Tafa]

Good to hear you're safe..... everything else can be fixed

[C Skip R]

As mentioned be sure to get either SeaTow or Tow Boat US before you leave Virginia. There's a good chance you might end up on a sandbar, etc and need a pull off as their are many shallow areas in the intracoastal. Best investment you can make.

[Calif.Ted]

and turning even further out to sea is not intuitive. I had a distinct instinct to get to shore.

Those are the instincts of a landsman, when a seaman is getting hammered his past experience tells him to seek "sea room".

[PLANET EXPRESS]

Just finished 10 days from Tampa to canaveral it was awesome spent time in the icw because of swell and wind making it very uncomfortable to be on the outside. There is a great site Intracoastal Waterway - Florida Route Segment - Bridges and Clearances that helps a lot with bridges. Be safe