Hard Aground in 3 feet of Water (5 foot draft) #sailboats #sailingadventures #sailboat

Hard Aground in Only 3 Feet of Water with a 5 Foot Draft

The other day we had quite an adventure on our sailboat. We got ourselves stuck in only 3 feet of water, while having a draft of 5 feet! That means our entire keel was exposed.

How It All Started

We had been sailing along enjoying the beautiful day on the water. Suddenly, I noticed we seemed to be moving through the water a lot more than usual, even though our sail was reduced and motor wasn’t pushing us hard.

The Hard Aground Situation

Down below and the boat started moving a lot. I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to go put a little more scope out,’ you know it’s got a lot of weight on the rudder now, going back and forth.

Trying to Get Free

We’ve gone up about 10 feet by moving from side to side with the rudder. It’s strange because I would expect us to sink or just be stuck hard aground, but we seem able to move a bit.

Handling The Situation

We decided not to risk starting the engine in case it caused us to founder or take on water unexpectedly. Instead, we kept moving slowly from side to side and using extra scope to see if that would be enough.

Successful Extraction

After a little while of going back and forth, the boat was free! We quickly got ourselves under control, reduced sail, and started motor-sailing out. Thankfully, we were able to avoid grounding our sailboat again and made it back to civilization safely.

Lesson Learned

While it could have been a more precarious situation if we had no rudder control or were deeper into the mud, we feel lucky for the positive outcome. This experience has definitely taught us to be even more cautious and pay closer attention to our surroundings while sailing shallow waters.

Be Careful Out There

Navigation is such a big part of being out on the water, and we must always be vigilant. This is a great reminder to have proper navigation tools, knowledge of our boat’s abilities, and an awareness of tides and depth at all times.