On the sand - 51° 43' 19' N 05° 06' 12" W

Whoops, was THAT supposed to happen??

Chinook high and dry on Sandy Haven Beach

We have done something terrifying.  Something that most sane yachtsmen take great care to avoid ever doing ... or even be accused of doing. We grounded Chinook and ended up sitting high and dry on a sandbank in an estuary - deliberately!

Part of our maintenance schedule requires we inspect some parts of Chinook that are below the waterline - hull and propellor anodes - and with the water temperature hovering around way-too-cold, coupled with the fact that this marvellous sailboat is designed to be able to dry out, so we decided to give it a go!  

We didn't just run her up on any random beach, there as a little more fussing, planning and worrying involved!  Sandy Haven was recommended with its big tide, flat estuary and sandy beach. We studied the tides and the weather.  We needed a calm day that coincided with a daytime low tide.  Fortunately, this unicorn made its appearance a few days hence. Darrel and Eve * offered to drive us down to Sandy Haven the day before to do some reconnaissance.

Sean noting an exact latitude and longitude to ensure we don't end up laying on a tilt in the creek channel (you can see it behind and to his left)

Eve helpfully marking a X in the sand so we know where to anchor!

Lovely firm sand

We wandered round at low tide, noting where the rocks were and where the creek channel ran out.   We took some GPS positions to plot on the chart so we had the perfect spot to dry out, not too far up the creek that we would be waiting hours for the tide to come back in but far enough that we would have time to work on the boat.  

The Milford Marina lock free flow times

We also checked the time the marina lock would be in free flow.  It just makes it easier if we can just head straight through rather than having to lock out.  Sandy Haven is only about a 40 minute steam from Milford Marina so we were able to leave the marina when the lock was on free flow and were anchored at Sandy Haven just after high tide.  This meant we had to be through the lock just after 5am - yikes!

The chart showing Chinook as the red arrow.
The green is the area that dries out.  The four pushpins are the corners of the box of our predetermined safe area

And so we waited....

Watching the water recede and the beach get bigger was both exciting and somewhat disconcerting

We anchored in 3m of water and watched as the depth dropped.  At 1.5m we took out the log (depth sensor) to ensure it would not get damaged.  We felt the boat touch the sand ... one gentle-but-definite-"thunk", then another ... and then we were no longer swinging.  As the water drained away, she settled down onto the sand, at a somewhat alarming angle.  Oh oh, just how far is she going to lean?  Did we inadvertently put her half in the channel? Are we going to tip over? 

All our fretting was misplaced as she settled down on only a slight lean caused by the water washing out a little sand on one side as it receded. And there we were, high and dry, sitting on the beach!

We had a couple of jobs.  We wanted to inspect and replace the propeller anode and give her waterline a bit of a clean. Sitting in the grubby water of a locked marina meant she was quite dirty.  While the

Sandy Haven is a very popular beach on which to walk your dog.  And a boat parked on the sand is not a usual sight so we had lots of people (and dogs) walk by for a chat.  It is very social and would have been quite the challenge to get work done if you had a long list.  Fortunately, we had only two.

The next job was to check all the anodes.  Those for the hull and the rope cutter were fine but the propeller anodes had nearly been eaten away despite being new when we splashed at the beginning of November.  This was expected.  For some metallurgical reason, the prop anodes are eaten away quickly in the first year or so and it is suggested they are checked every three months. This does slow down and the anodes start to last much longer.

The propeller anodes were very much in need of replacing,
the anode on the rope cutter looks like new

We had everything we would need organised.  The new anodes, the allen key, the locktite. The removal was simple and we cleaned the propeller ready to fit the new ones, only to discover they didn't fit!  We are been supplied with the wrong anodes.... So here we were, on the beach, miles from anywhere, without a car, with very patchy phone coverage and anodes that didn't fit.  The very last thing we wanted was have the boat in the water without anodes on her prop.  Crap!

Even on the sand, changing anodes is a wet job!

Crap! Crap! Just as we were trying to figure out what to do, along the beach came Darrel and Eve.  Darrel had phone coverage so gave Baz at the chandlers a call.  Baz looked up the Volvo Penta anode we needed (23974203 not 23974205!!!) and yep, he had them in stock.  Kate stayed with the boat while Sean was whisked off at rally racing speeds to get to the chandlers and back before the tide came in.  

Comparing the old with the new!

Time and tide does not wait, but with Darrel at the wheel, Sean was back in plenty of time to install the new anodes without waves lapping at his toes.  With the new anodes in place, we floated off and reinstalled the log.  When we had 2.5m of water under us, we gingerly motored towards deeper water and back to Milford Marina.  We even managed to catch the lock on free flow! 

So we were tied up, safe and snug in our berth with a clean bottom and fresh anodes, in time for dinner.  A huge, big thank you to Darrel and Eve for their very timely arrival and subsequent mad dash to ensure our boat was protected with fresh anodes!

Darrel and Eve - you're bloody legends!

We found time to get the drone out and take some footage of Chinook and some of the surrounding countryside.  It's quite picturesque ... even in the winter!

*  Darrel is the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) Port Officer.  This is a volunteer role within the OCC that is responsible for welcoming and assisting fellow OCC members visiting their local port.  Darrel and his partner, Eve, have taken this to new levels with the welcome and the help they have given us.  They now land firmly in the friend category!

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