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Another boat hits a jetty...

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Pascal, May 27, 2020.

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  1. Oscarvan

    Oscarvan Senior Member

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    We all have.

    That said.... there are mitigation strategies. As a professional aviator for one of the "big three" (well, at least we used to be) I can tell you that countless hours are spent devising and training error avoidance and mitigation strategies. Standardized procedures with defined triggers and responses. Every time.

    The central pillar of all this is standardization. Policies and procedures. SOP. Every time. Short cuts are often the first step towards the accident.

    Like Pascal said.... If you ALWAYS use the NAVAIDS as designed..... your odds at seeing it wrong are a lot less. Stay in the effing channel, ESPECIALLY in the dark.
  2. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Worth repeating; Short cuts are often the first step towards the accident.
  3. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    I've noticed that the expressions we tend to use most as adults are those we heard addressed to us most often as children. How sad.
  4. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    That's the difference between a professional and a Sunday Sailor. As for the last part there's an exception to every rule. In this case following the navaids would have added 2 to 3 hours of navigating winding, narrow, crab trap infested back canals in the dark to an already late trip. Why do that when there's a perfectly good shortcut? He just missed it.
  5. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Then it was not a perfectly good short cut..
    How many times you been thru there?
  6. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Somewhere between 30 and 50.
  7. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    O K, your familiar with it.
    So, that we know the inlets, would you say that anybody not familiar with the inlets should be paying close attention to navigating and not speeding along in the dark?

    Let me ad, Even when familiar with the inlets, all should be paying close attention to navigating and not speeding along in the dark?
  8. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Familiar or not they should be prudent. I always assumed I would die in an inlet. I also cruised every minute with the thought "What if...". Unfortunately most boaters cruise with the thought 'La de DA'. Doesn't make them stupid. Makes them inexperienced and prone to mistakes like this one. There was nothing wrong with the route he chose. His problem was not plotting it properly and probably going too fast for the conditions. BTW, the reason I always take it slow through there, and probably why there's no 1 or 2 marker is that the shoals there shift. It's a big open inlet with a lot of water till you notice the 2 & 4 & 1 foot sections dotted all over it. What looks like the best route, to the north, contains many bad shoals. That's where I had to talk the big Broward in from. Lots of people make mistakes.
  9. 993RSR

    993RSR Senior Member

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    My very first trip south I was sweating that I would make some major error(45' 23 knot boat). I arrive in Georgetown SC and there is a 49 Eastbay hauled with no running gear or rudders.
    On my return trip 7 months later I was running north on the outside past Cape Romain and heading for Wynyah Bay (sp)
    Looking at the depth and the setting sun I decided to head mid way between the sea buoy and the entrance. Still 1.5 miles out from the entrance channel my wife playing with her ipad said "you realize you are heading for the rocks, right?" I zoomed in and made a hard right turn to the sea buoy. Now I see what happened to the Eastbay.
    Stay alert. Personally I think electronic charts are more effective while underway. Paper is good for planning.
  10. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Yep. IF you remember to zoom in when plotting and when approaching anything, and IF your electronics don't go down.
  11. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Just remember the world Volvo race when a super racing snail bote ran aground (high & dry) when the Nav did not zoom in well enough to avoid this mound in the middle of no where. And he was wondering why the competitors ahead were on a different course????

    Or, not racing but still at speed, this Darwin Candidate had to find the north Savannah break-water the hard way.
    F. I.
  12. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Zooming in should be part of any planning. I don’t rely on routes but if there is anything along the way which requires avoidance i put a WP where I want to pass that obstruction. Easy. Safe.

    As to electronics going down, yes it can happen but who doesn’t have a tablet or phone handy with nav app. If I m coming in somewhere at night, like some of the cuts in the Bahamas, my iPad is always on and set up so I can follow it right away should the main system go down.

    This is why I m not a big fan of integrated system. Ideally I d like the radar to be independent from the GPS so that if one goes down, I have another one. Either the plotter or the GPS can get you thru a cut

    same with the sounder. Having it on the main system is fine but I want an independent back up

    nowadays we have it easy....
  13. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Sure do. I was about to mention it... you saved me the typing
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    4 days ago, somebody did not have it easy. SFBs.
  15. 993RSR

    993RSR Senior Member

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    Yea that incident was very hard to believe with a full time professional navigator and state of the art systems.
  16. Beau

    Beau Senior Member

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    On the electronic charts, I'm guilty myself of not always zooming down. Is there a split screen model out there that gives you a reduced chart as you move along, next to the one being used for the overall navigation, or does that take 2 units?
  17. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Depends on the system. Furuno Navnet 3D allows to split the radar screen into two views at different range and settings. A feature I find. Very useful usually run one at longer range 6 to 12 miles and the second split at short range 1/2 to 1 mile

    I ve never tried to split the GPS screen but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work
  18. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    And you're experienced. Imagine amateur's. You might remember several years ago a 50' Sea Ray heading for Orient Point put his next waypoint after Pt. Jeff off the O.P. bug light, then went down below to 'make a sandwich'. Surprise!!!:eek:
    It's always a good idea to have an independent GPS aboard for emergencies.
  19. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    This is exactly why I have multiple screens. I have three total. I run one full screen chart zoomed out a bit then a second screen zoomed in pretty tight. I use the third screen for bottom/fish finding. If I need radar I overlay it on the charts. Everyone has their own preferences. I find this works well for me and I'm in an area where paying attention to charts and knowing exactly where you are at all times is a must.
  20. Capt Bill11

    Capt Bill11 Senior Member

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    Hmm...I’ve gone in and out of there quite a few times.

    Plus cut over to Hilton Head often.

    Always stayed away from the jetty. But if you look at the chart on say Navionics, it shows nothing but 12-14 of water over most of it.

    There is one area that shows 7-8 over the jetty and 6’ around it. I wonder if that’s were he hit?

    So I can see how someone could possibly be lulled into a false sense of security about going over it.

    Especially if they don’t zoom in on the chart.

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