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HighunDry for Options

that’s good isn’t it?

Our boat came to rest surrounded by water with mainsail still deployed. So
how long does it take to travel 300m in shallow water on a broad reach
with a 12knt easterly? “Not long” is the response. Well girls here we are …
for a while … shall we, er, put the kettle on?
I’d reached the obvious conclusion that the prep to gybe to stbd and make
an about turn was a tad too late and we’d run aground in the middle of the
widest part of the upper Humber. Having taken my eye off the ball for a
moment I failed to notice how close the
“other side” had loomed. The depth
sounder had provided an early indica-
tor, but too fast and too late for the
gybe. In between North and South Fer-
riby is a section of the river with a
North Channel and a South Channel.
Only the South is used by the commer-
Chart Position cial traffic. Between the channels lie
numerous mud banks and one very big
one. The ABP river charts on the nav table served no purpose for me work-
ing as a sail handler and the Raymarine MFD at the helm was useless be-
cause Navionics don’t cover up river past the Humber Bridge. I knew the
bank was there. I hadn’t paid attention on how close we were to it. The two
crew were looking puzzled and somewhat alarmed not knowing what had
happened or what their future world would look like as we came to a stop
still surrounded by water. Engine off, sails down, calm down, slow down . . .
Depth going down! Neaps or Springs? Provisions? Diary commitments?
DRINKING WATER! VTS or Coastguard? Who to call? VHF contact failed, so
the 999 service on mobile connected me to notify the CG and Humber VTS.
All the marine support, safety and traffic services were very reassuring and,
despite my error, unanimously affirmed that “I wasn’t the first and would-
n’t be the last” (idiot) “to run aground in the Humber” (I added the word
“idiot” in anticipation of its use by many and I wanted to get it in first!
Though the word was not said by anyone in the support chain, I’m sure
they thought it!) One of their main concerns, with this being a grounded

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