CONTINUOUSWAVE

I went out to go Salmon fishing this morning in the rain and the dark. They are dredging Ashbridges Bay where I launch the boat. The barge was over in the outgoing channel but there was a Green Buoy on the right side of the barge going outbound. Figuring I had enough depth I crept along and stopped cold.I was in one foot of water over clay. Luckily the 1988 Revenge 20 WT has that curving narrow front keel that is well ahead of the flatter back part of the boat. It was only the front that got stuck so I put both the 200 Hp main and the 15 Hp kicker in reverse together and at full throttle managed to get unstuck. It sure felt like I was in deep trouble as there are no other boats around anymore and the dredger guys said they couldn't help me! I was contemplating stepping into the water and pushing but it's a little cold at 50 degrees F.

There is a saying: there are only two kinds of boaters: those that have run aground, and those that haven’t yet.

I got this out of my future about 34-years ago, back in 1986 when we grounded on Phantom Rock. Lake Huron was at that time about five-feet above chart datum. Navigation was quite confusing at that level of high water.

It is more polite to say "the boat briefly touched the bottom" than to use the more onerous phrase "ran aground."