Shelter Island
Trip Start
Jun 22, 2007
1
14
43
Trip End
Sep 25, 2007
Shelter Island Heights,
New York,
United States
Friday, July 20, 2007
We got out of the creek ok. Even though it was low tide, we made it through. We hit 5' on the sounder and even though we had but inches under the keel we made it through. Sue congratulate me, I said "luck counts".
Then we moved abound 6 miles back and into another area of the island again through a narrow pass. In doing so we found ourselves in a large lagoon-like area extending a few miles deep into the island. We wanted to go back to the rear of the lagoon to find the marina there to take on fresh water and pump out. The chart showed that we had to pass through a very narrow and thin (shallow) part of the lagoon to get there. I could not tell from the chart how to get through it as it said 5' depth. I hailed the marina to inquire if it was possible for my 5' draft vessel to get back there. The voice on the radio said "stay 80 feet off the the red nun and you will be fine". Easy for her to say.
In a prior post, I made mention that safe boating is a matter of "not doing stupid things". Well what followed shows what happens when you do stupid things. I made my way deeper into the lagoon and was looking for the green mark and the red mark I had been told to avoid. Finally, I saw them a half mile ahead. I ask Sue to call the marina on the VHF and ask how to approach their fuel dock while I focused on getting through this difficult area. Sue works the radio well, but is still learning radio procedures. I'm listening to her and offering some suggestions. This goes on for a few minutes. All of a sudden I re-focus on the water. I look back to find the red nun buoy I was told pass carefully....I can't see it!...where *&%% is it?....all of a sudden I feel First Forty strain as we glide into (what I hoped was) the mud. We were stuck. We were aground. I had gotten distracted and took my eye off the ball or mark. I cuss. I cuss. I look a the chart plotter and we are aground right next to what is clearly marked on the plotter with the words...... "rock". I think...I didn't feel a rock...I hoped. I tried carefully to use the engine to get us off...nope...very stuck.
Luckily we were on a rising tide. Had we been on a falling tide, I would have been on the radio to SeaTow. But, we were lucky...in fact very luck. It was not a rock. It was mud and in about 30 minutes we had floated off and heading back to deep water. We gave up on the marina. A lesson learned, we anchored the boat in 10 feet of water. So much for stupid mistakes. We were lucky, this one only cost us time.
We took the dink around the lagoon and had a good time the rest of the day. We beached and walked a couple miles to a very nice inn and enjoyed a couple of cold Bass Ales. Lesson leaned. No more lapses in concentration....I hope.
