02-18-2018, 12:02 AM
The article is a little misleading. The boat ran aground in a channel where sandbars regularly shift. It didn't just "capsize". One of the pictures shows the boat on its side in the middle of a marked channel (between two channel buoys). I don't know what the charts said, but somebody is supposed to be maintaining navigable marked channels.
" “We thought the channel was where we were going, but it wasn’t,” Walsh told the Post, telling the publication they were armed with GPS and paper navigation charts.
Local boat captains say the sandbars often shift in John’s Pass, the Post reported."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulates placements of navigation buoys, and they are maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Boaters are supposed to report any problems to the Coast Guard.
http://wow.uscgaux.info/Uploads_wowII/13...3dec03.pdf
"Boaters need to realize the Coast Guard cannot keep the thousands of aids to navigation comprising the U.S. Aids to Navigation System under continual observation. It is impossible to maintain every aid to navigation at all times. Therefore, for the safety of all boaters, if you discover that an Aid to Navigation is:
• missing
• damaged
• moved from its original position
• displaying an improper signal (light color or timing incorrect, sound signal not functioning)
• a hazard to navigation
Report this information by radio or phone to the nearest Coast Guard Unit or Coast Guard
District Aids To Navigation Office."
Did other boaters know about the sand bar, and not report it? Was it reported, but the Coast Guard didn't take immediate action?
The article implies that they were incompetent, but they were "following the rules". It also doesn't mention how much sailing they did for the two months they lived on the boat before they left for the trip.
I hope they are able to try again.
- Winston
" “We thought the channel was where we were going, but it wasn’t,” Walsh told the Post, telling the publication they were armed with GPS and paper navigation charts.
Local boat captains say the sandbars often shift in John’s Pass, the Post reported."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulates placements of navigation buoys, and they are maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Boaters are supposed to report any problems to the Coast Guard.
http://wow.uscgaux.info/Uploads_wowII/13...3dec03.pdf
"Boaters need to realize the Coast Guard cannot keep the thousands of aids to navigation comprising the U.S. Aids to Navigation System under continual observation. It is impossible to maintain every aid to navigation at all times. Therefore, for the safety of all boaters, if you discover that an Aid to Navigation is:
• missing
• damaged
• moved from its original position
• displaying an improper signal (light color or timing incorrect, sound signal not functioning)
• a hazard to navigation
Report this information by radio or phone to the nearest Coast Guard Unit or Coast Guard
District Aids To Navigation Office."
Did other boaters know about the sand bar, and not report it? Was it reported, but the Coast Guard didn't take immediate action?
The article implies that they were incompetent, but they were "following the rules". It also doesn't mention how much sailing they did for the two months they lived on the boat before they left for the trip.
I hope they are able to try again.
- Winston