We got an early start so we could make it before dark (no running lights). Pulling out this morning at 8:00 I was a bit apprehensive but followed the buoys listed on the chart plotter instead of the buoys on the water. Cordelia was right. We saw 6-12 feet all the way out (2 hours before low tide). After leaving the anchorage we kept running into shoals reading 6-8 feet but never ran aground. After a couple hours of being in the clear, I went down to make sandwiches and work on the computer.
At 11:30am, at a place called Smith Creek , Wayne throttled back so I came up top. Wayne thought another boat was coming at us and the buoy marker behind it was green. He was trying to go around the boat and green marker (green should be to our left). He said when he went one way; the boat coming at us turned the same way. So he turned the other way and the boat then turned that way. Thud! We ran aground… The boat he was trying to avoid was a derelict boat at anchor just outside the channel. It was swinging at anchor. The marker was red. But in all honesty it was just a stick with no sign on it. The red part was missing. Wayne thought it was a green one on the chart. We were outside the channel, in the mud, in between two crab pots. We ran aground in 4.0 ft of water (5 foot actually) according to our depth sounder. Happy. Happy. Joy. Joy. At 12:30 a boat came by and waked us. No success. The wake didn’t move us at all. If anything it pushed us into shallower water. Ran the engine in reverse, no luck. We couldn’t move forward or back out. We’d run aground at to high a speed I guess. We waited an hour to see if the tide would raise us up. Nothing. Cordelia came by and asked on the radio, if we needed assistance. Wayne said, “No, we’ll wait for the tide to lift us off”. Half an hour later we still had no luck and I finally called Towboat US. “Are you the boat we heard on the radio with the other one talking about needing assistance?” “Yes sir”. “Where are you?” “I’m not sure, but I can give you our latitude and longitude?” “No I need a geographical location.” “Um oh… we’re by red marker…” “no ma’am. I need a geographical location – what city are you near?” “Um gosh, I’m not sure (we weren’t by any city that I knew of).” “We left Ft. Matanzas and went under two high rise bridges…” “You haven’t gone through a bridge you had to open yet?” “No. I think we’re not far from it though, I heard other boats calling for an opening.” “I’m trying to figure out which boat to send. Which place you’re closer too.” “Oh Okay.” Wayne pointed out on the chart – Flagler Beach. “Here. You talk to him.” “Okay. We’re south of Flagler beach near green 21.” “Oh, okay sir. We’ll send someone right out.”
An hour later they pulled up next to us and threw us a line. We were wedged in the mud tight. He couldn’t budge us. He kept cranking up his engine to higher speeds. First one way, then another. Finally we slowly started move. Inch by inch, then we busted out of the mud and back into the channel cruising at 6.5 knots. Very fast, up to the towboat. Free at last! After leaving us, we heard him on the radio calling the Coastguard. He informed them that he’d just pulled a boat out of the shallows because of a missing channel marker. He probably should have mentioned the derelict boat there too. But it was impressive that he let the Coastguard know about the missing marker. So with two and a half hours gone, there was no way we were going to make Titusville today. We stopped at Daytona in front of the Bascule Bridge past the twin fixed bridges near the Sea breeze Marina and Calico Jacks. We noticed a familiar boat there. Cordelia. But her dinghy was gone so they must have gone ashore to walk the dog - it’s a cute little one that is so mild mannered :0) They came by and said hi before going to their boat. I guess they had a problem taking the little one to the beach and had to take her elsewhere. Wow.
While chatting with them another boat (Lady Good Wind) came in to anchor and asked if we were a Bayfield 36 or 40? Well yes. We’re a Bayfield 36. I had a Bayfield 29 and turned it in for this one. Why didn’t you get a larger Bayfield? There wasn’t one. Oh. They have an Erwin 40, which is a bit bigger than ours. It's always nice to talk to a fellow Bayfield owner, or, previous owner :)
Below is a picture taken by Daytona
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