The seamanship of going aground
PETE GOSS is a world-renowned racer and adventurer, and has sailed more than 250,000 miles both racing and cruising
Groundings, I suspect, are far more common than we think. It’s one of those things that falls into the category where the measure isn’t the cock-up itself but the number of people that witness it. Often private affairs, groundings are kept safely tucked away in the sheepish pen. This is such a shame as lessons and reminders not being broadcast can fan further incidents.
In this article I will share some personal reflections and anecdotal incidents to open up the subject of grounding and hopefully stir an awareness of how to prepare or react.
It is a huge subject that could fill an entire book so my hope is that the touch points I examine and discuss here will encourage further reflection and the introduction of routines that can be drawn down with immediate effect.
INTENTIONAL GROUNDING
In areas that dry out, grounding, rather than being a dirty word becomes a daily reality. This is where many lessons can be learned with the biggest influence being boat choice.
Bilge keels, lifting keels, centre boarders, legs and cradles. My personal preference is the centre board because it can act as a sounding stick that simply pivots without serious impact on grounding. Centre boarders have the additional benefit of fixed ballast to fully maintain righting moment, even with the board up. Unlike bilge keelers, good windward performance is maintained and the hull is low down for boarding when dried out. This for me is the answer which leaves a fin keel if you are dead set on windward performance. The best solution I have seen for drying out a fin-keeled boat on a regular basis is a cradle, of which there are good examples in
