Captain Run Aground

They say there are only two kinds of boaters, those that have run aground and those who will. It is Lindsay's Law,

WHEN THE DRAFT OF YOUR VESSEL EXCEEDS THE DEPTH OF THE WATER, YOU ARE MOST ASSUREDLY AGROUND! :mrgreen:

Charlie
 
oh how terrible being stuck on a gaming boat.....

I hope they gave a lot of free buffets and chips

Did you hear about the red ship that collided with the blue ship?… All the sailors were marooned.
 
Probably a Bahama boat. Many in the Bahamas navigate using the Brail method. That is go forward until you feel something under the boat, (or in our case, until the motor kicks up) then go a different direction.
 
Lake Erie is notorious for its sand bars and they even have the audacity to move around from time to time. A few years ago we were cruising(slowly) back to Turkey Point and my oldest granddaughter points at the chartplotter and asks "grandpa why does it show us in the grass(green area)"? MY BAD - I had been using my expert conning skills instead of paying attention to the chart! We still had about a foot of water under our skeg but it didn't take me long to make a 90deg turn and also to turn the depth alarm back on.
 
The vessel is owned by a Florida Corporation--and since it goes between US ports, or in and out from a US port--it is subject to the Jones act--and would have to be US flagged ship, which I have confirmed from registry.

I cannot find it on AIS--which is a bit strange, if it is still ag,round, should be transmitting AIS (but could be out of range of voluntary shore side station).

The vessel was built in 1973. There are a fair number of these gambling ships working out of the East Coast of US. We have them in Pensacola for overhaul or work every once and a while. The same ship is often re-named many times. This vessel has had the names: DIAMOND GIRL II, ESCAPADE CASINO, SAVANNAH LADY, RED SEAL, TIGER SEAL, RED SEAL since being launched.

On the last marine traffic AIS screen there is a large sea going tug headed for Savanah--and I suspect it may be a vessel which may be going to attempt to pull the Escapade free.
 
I wonder if the towing company will claim salvage and get all the money on board + the boat. Got wonder what that towing bill might be. Ouch. I guess the captain might have joined the ranks of the unemployed.
D.D.
 
The story I read yesterday said the crew blamed in on a faulty chart plotter. Hm, how about backing the electronics up with real charts? :cry: The photo that went with the story was taken from nearby land. And in the photo were signs warning of riptides and a reef..
 
And they didn't have a depth finder? You would think they would have done a trial run and been able to follow a bread crumb trail like Hansel and Gretel used to get home. I wonder if the captain had a Gazillion ton master license? :mrgreen: :beer :cigar
D.D.
 
Will-C":3fgj9xo6 said:
And they didn't have a depth finder? You would think they would have done a trial run and been able to follow a bread crumb trail like Hansel and Gretel used to get home. I wonder if the captain had a Gazillion ton master license? :mrgreen: :beer :cigar
D.D.
Click to expand...
My theory is that the captain from the Costa Concordia has found a new job in Georgia.
 
The "salvage" operation is a contract--and I am sure it is well spelled out XXXXXXX$ for time, XXXXX$ for each vessel, XXXX$ for personal, etc. There would be a crew kept on board and the generators were running etc. I suspect any money was taken off along with passengers.

Think of the several ferries which have run aground in the PNW--as well as the small 100 passenger cruiser ships…It is proper look out, and not proper situational awareness. Is it possible that there was a defective chart plotter? Perhaps, but any vessel this size should have redundancy. They should be plotting on paper charts, especially if in restricted visibility, and in an area where there are plenty of navigation aids. There will be a hearing--and some faults will be found. You can bet that chart plotter will be scrutinized very carefully.

It looks as if she is truly hard aground at low tide! Looking at the tide tables she may have grounded during the highest tide of the month, and today's highs are a foot lower than when she grounded--some time before another tide near what she grounded on….

escapade.jpg


BsqXGdaCYAArRsU.jpg

Nice view of the beach from the deck of Escapade. There have been several attempts to pull her off, and on at least one, the tow line broke.

Looking at the chart, and the photos, the vessel was out of the well marked channel. There are plenty of navigation aids in this area. There is an old adage I have always tried to follow, when going into a port where I am not familiar--and that is to find the SEA BUOY--then find the channel and ranges--before proceeding--in any size boat. The deep channel will not only be safer, but most likely be smoother. She was only 1.8 miles North of Tybee Island when grounded.
 
A few months after the hurricane stalled for a day over St. Martin in the West Indies, and put the whole cruiser fleet either on the bank or on the bottom of the lagoon; I watched for a week as a salvage operation dredged a canal up to a yacht stranded on a mud bank, hooked a cable around the well padded hull, and gently dragged the boat into the canal and out to the lagoon. A documented USA vessel, I am sure the cost was HUGH.

A week later, I watched a dump truck back slowly down one side of the mud flat. A dinghy dragged a hawser half way across the flats and fastened it around mast and hull of a beached keelboat. The truck slowly pulled up the bank until the sailboat slid into the deep. Antillian operation, cost 3 gallons of gas.

Hope the gambling ship gets off as easy.
 
I met a couple just out of the Port Townsend BoatHaven entry a couple of weeks ago. They were on a maiden voyage of a newly purchased, thoroughly used 22 foot sail boat. Calling for a tow into PTBH due to "ran out of gas". Since I was only a couple hundred yards from them, I offered to assist. After passing a line, and determining that there was more to their not moving than being out of gas, (they were in 4 feet of water with a 6 foot swing keel that had a broken keel pennant, so were unable to retract the keel up into the boat, or even lift it of the bottom), I knew this was above my paygrade. The tide was falling for the next 2 hours and it was going to be more than I could do to either stay on station, (they were destined to be in less that 2 feet of water soon), or get them off. Got the phone number for Vessel assist, and offered them a ride to the dock, which was declined, and then I had to leave them.

We did have a conversation about accurate determination of lack of forward motion, and we did try to lighten and move the boat as much as I was capable of. The suggestion of a boating safety class, and sailing classes

Like Bob said, no insurance, (and with an inexperienced crew, no charting equipment or paper chart, no GPS and a non-functioning sail boat, they were just out there looking for a less than happy experience.

And I Learned: Verify the situation before I get sucked in.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
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