Went for a motor /no-sail today, river trials with the nissan. Ran great, moved the boat right along, decided to do a little exploring across on the Washington side. They put in a new rv park, boat ramp and dock, so thought it would be a good time to check it out. Part of the indian/fish treaty deal out here. Anyway, found out it was at least 6' deep in there, so tied up and checked out the place for summer fun with the kids. All was well, water like glass, so couldn't have sailed anywhere anyway.Upon departure, i was just puttering along at idle, thinking of the Irving Johnson on the beach at Oxnard, and how i ought to maybe head a bit more offshore (can you use that for a river? lol) when sure enough, thumpity thump bump bump. Rocks. About 3' submirged. Depth sounder says 6'. Guess it hasn't seen the rocks yet! (make a note--mount transponder up fwd. a bit more--like 10' ahead of the bow!) Maybe it's a new vent from Mt. ST. Helens! Or just a continuation of the little rock point there to port? More likely. Humm, not on my old chart. Crap. Always wondered what i'd do WHEN this happened. Thought maybe it was just one lucky bugger, so went to the shrouds and rocked her side to side, no luck. Man, how DO you unstick a 5200lb. boat when it's high centered?! Looked like a good time to heat the tea water, and think about it, as i was still upright, and no breakers coming over the side, etc. Rivers are nice, most of the time. And it's actually just a big lake. But i digress.
WEll, i could lighten ship, but kinda looks like the only thing i could pitch would be the stinkin' outboard, which really crossed my mind! Never had this trouble SAILING! ONly other thing was about 200 lbs. of me, which really wasn't an option in 46 degree water. NO way i'm getting wet! So how about swinging the boom out, with me on it, tipping her more? No way am i trusting that little 1/4'' topping lift. (46 degree water enters mind again) So poking around with my 11' sweep, seems like i'm through the worst of it, open water ahead. I WAS heading out, just happend to get in behind this little bit o rock!
So now i'm thinking about blowing up the rubber raft, and hauling out the 25lb cqr a 100 yrds. or so, just like i read in a book somewhere, and winching her on ahead. The thought of blowing it up in the cockpit, and me getting in it, without getting wet (did i mention 46 degrees?) doesn't really sound too great. More tea. Wonder what a good stiff breeze would do? Now thoughts of spending a night out here surface, guess i better call the admiral at home. Glad i left the kids home too. Wonder how they'd react? Maybe some other day! Humm, forgot the cell phone. She'd just worry anyway if i did call. Ok, what are my options here? Call on the vhf? NO way. NOt today. Maybe tomorrow! Well, i think the anchor thing might work. Hey, this little 10 lbs dansforth stuck in here behind the raft bag might do it. I could just give it a good heave, and maybe it will grab good between these ******* rocks!
So that's what we did. And it worked. Ran the line through the bow chalk, back to a winch, and winched her up tight. Tight as i could. No movement. So i go up fwd, and just bend down to grad the line, and away we go! Yahoo!! Hope the dang shoe doesn't hit. Maybe with me up here it won't.
Well, the rudder still works, guess it must be ok. Humm. That wasn't too bad. Guess we better see if there's any water coming in anywhere. Don't see any.
So much for my grounding. (rocking?) Better go motor around some more, out in the DEEP water!
So, do i need to worry about the bottom, or did i just scrape off the bottom paint, maybe a bit of epoxy barrier coat? Guess i'll wait for the water to warm up a bit and find out. Might be August. If there's any water then. Did i mention the Columbia is about 2' lower than it was in August, the last time i was over the rocks? Just a couple factors contributed to my incident (old chart, lower water level, stupidity? lol) HOpe the Irving Johnson is as lucky as i was.
ave maria
Reply With Quote