What sandbar and what a rip off

[Trojan]

Well I finally did it. I stopped for a hot dog at an up river club. In the time it took to have lunch, less than an hour. The river dropped 2 feet. I was following the same track back on my GPS and ran hard aground on a sand bar. I had 8 people on board. We were going slow about 6 MPH.. It was not a pretty sound. We figured to wait for the water to come back. The Boat US Towboat showed up along with the Coast Guard and pulled me 200 ft to deeper water. The props are gone, about 5 grand and the Towboat US wanted to charged me $ 800.00 bucks. What a day. We had sat for 2 hours on the bar. But thanks to towing insurance the tow was free. What a rip that is. Now Boat US can buy new props also. Six or more other boats in the area also went aground. That was the reason TowBoat showed up at my boat. I didn't call them. OH well I guess I was due.

BILL

 

[Vincentc]

Bill,
Hope you enjoyed the hot dog.
Check your shafts.
I got a little to close to a river sandbar last year. (Fresh water boating is not necessarily that much kinder to your boat than saltwater.)
The prop damage was not enough to be visible, but caused big vibration. Accuprop took care of the prop but the shaft damage and shaft removal anguish was the subject of another post. Curious that your old prop(s) aren't repairable. Either way it shoud exceed a $1000 deduct even without shaft repair, although I decided to not to make a claim.
Good Luck with your repairs,
Vincent
Lilly Marie 43DC 1983

 

[REBrueckner]

Some dawgs is more expensive than other dawgs.

Anyone who hasn't hit something hasen't used their boat enough.

Twin screw boats with shallow keels like Hatts just are not conducive to shallow water operations...it's not a matter of IF you will do any dmaage but rather WHEN and how much it will cost.

Seems odd that with all the above water level equipment available, someone hasn't developed an affordable forward looking underwater device. I used the Interphase PROBE but in shoal water you had to proceed at dead idle...useful only when entering an anchorage not for cruising....

Good luck with repairs. If you get them done in a single haul you'll be doing well.

 

[Trojan]

The only good in this is I'm due for a winter pull out at the end of the month. I just don't know where I want to store this winter. I have 2 options. My club or my association dock. I was going to just fire up the generator and wait for the water to come back, But the Coasties didn't like that idea. They wanted to remove all the people. So I opted for the tow. The tow was $800., but I had unlimited towing so that cost me nothing. Only my pride. I just have to contend with the props. I have a brand new set of props to put on. Its now a matter of do I want to lay up for the winter or use the boat for a month? It's getting cold early this year. I think I'm going to lay up for the winter. I have some work I want to do. It was amazing how fast the water went out. I was not the only one. The boats at the club we were visiting about 60 were high and dry. There were numerous boats that tried to beat the river and suffered prop damage. The thrill of owning a boat.

BILL

 

[Boatsb]

So the $159 I send to seatow every year is wasted? I am sure they will do the free ungrounding for the members and the more involved ones do hava an hourly rate but that is not as bad as the full on "Nice to meet you please empty the bank account here" for the non members.

 

[Trojan]

It wasn't like they had to tow me to my dock. He just pulled me 200 feet. Then you have to watch whether it is a tow or a salvage job. Salvage is based on a percentage of the boats worth. All I can say is, the tow boat had a good day.

BILL

 

[Vincentc]

Other factors in salvage are the effort, risk and skill involved on the part of the salvor, and the hazard to the salvaged vessel. It would be a stretch to call your tow a salvage. Seem that the CG was a bit pushy in insisting that you not wait for a rising tide.

Salvage claims are liens that should be asserted in court. Unless you agree with the amount claimed, don't pay it and let the claimant have his day in court. That has been my experience.

I would think that if such a claim was made, your insurer could be called in to defend it.

Regards,
Vincent

 

[REBrueckner]

"But the Coasties didn't like that idea. They wanted to remove all the people."

Did they think you would sink?? That's "crazy talk" and further evidence of government gone crazy....can they actually force you to remove pople? Were they afraid someone might fall over and get stuck in the sandbar??

Who is responsible if a guest falls and gets injured during such an evacuation???
We should adopt here an agreed upon response or at least a set of questions for such situations!! I'm a big supporter of USCG for all my life but if that's what happened, they were out of control....

 

[Boatsb]

get a few folding chairs and a cooler and have everyone "party at the bar" while you wait for the tide. What are they going to do to stop you? maybe give you a ticket for blocking a channel?