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Restless Upbound

This is the next part of Capt Roland Shchultz journals of Tug Restless doing the loop.

Nearing Hilton Head, I make the decision to play the true part of a Gentleman Yachtsmen and spend the night at Harbour Town Yacht Basin. This is a bit of a radical departure from my normal first impression, of appearing as a Wharf Rat off a tug pulling barges from Valparaiso, Chile to Halifax on the Nitrates Run. Phoning ahead to make a reservation is actually more for reason of convincing myself that they will bother with 38 feet of boat, than availability. After being assured that they do and that space is available, I announce my presence to their dock master approximately one hour later, just off the entrance to the harbor. A rigid inflatable is promptly dispatched to act as my pilot to the assigned slip and after securing, I am presented with a complementary bottle of wine. I cringe at the thought of what I have gotten myself into at this point and consider what this stay among the heavy weights is going to cost. This is one very first class operation, having Restaurants, Bars, Shops, Pool, Tennis Courts and Golf Courses. The tab leaves me a bit dumbfounded. At $2/ ft per night as a transient and $20/ ft monthly, I'm asking myself why in the hell I haven't shown up here a long time ago. You might not want to loiter around into April however, after the first of the month the rate increases to $80/ ft monthly.Leaving Charleston, SC The morning of March 27, I find myself astern of two trawlers who are actually traveling slower than myself. I am unaware at the time that they are traveling as a pair and after passing the first of the two, slowly close the distance on the lead boat.When having a boat ahead of you breaking trail, one tends to become complacent. There is a feeling of letting them do the navigating and you following in their wake. Any hazard or mistake will be transmitted to you in relationship to speed and distance of separation. There is some truth to this theory, provided you are aware of the draft of the vessel and the competence of her navigator.

Near Copahee Sound, the markers are somewhat misleading during this rather straight section of the ICW, giving the impression of a very broad channel. At low water however it is more important to navigate by contour of the bottom, than course and position in relationship to its markers. The tide is now nearly slack and will be at low water within the next 30 minutes. The trawler ahead, is holding a course far to the green side of the channel and while I m certain that my draft at 5 feet exceeds his, I have pretty much divorced myself of his maneuvering. Although my multifunction display allows the screen to be sectioned. it does not allow the GPS Chart function to be enlarged sufficiently when Depth is additionally displayed. Instead I switch back and forth between the two full screens continuously. Depth is averaging between 1.8 and 3 feet beneath the keel and I constantly find myself shifting into neutral when observing a shelving trend as I “S” turn about this section of the channel seeking deep water at minimum speed. Off to Starboard, the lead trawler is pulling ahead and I am starting to question what he knows that I don't. Either he has Forward Looking Sonar, or he is about to find the bottom real quick.

The latter proves true in short order. Within minutes I hear him hailing the other boat on channel 16 and switch over to listen. He is hard aground and unable to move even a fraction in any direction on a muck bottom. Efforts by the other boat to lift him off by passing abeam throwing a wake, accomplished nothing. I desist from offering my services to bringing a Title Wave to the area, on the basis that these guys seem too nice to be put further in harms way. Their conversation revels that they are unaware of what the tide is doing and soon are discussing a plan to call Boat U S, for the purpose of being pulled off. This prompt's me to interrupt their conversation with my identity and presence, making the suggestion that they just sit tight to await the flood and avoid having a cleat pulled out of their deck. The skipper of the grounded boat now shows an interest in my tug, asking various questions regarding its age, construction and design. As I sign off, his last comment is “Yeah, had I not been paying so much attention to all that fancy rope work you have and been watching where I was going, I'd probably not have run aground.” So with the next publishing of the Mid Atlantic Waterway Guide don't be overly surprised should you read something like “Mile: 452 455, to Tricky Spot #115, North of Day marker Deep Water Location, Disguised by Tug Boat. Rumor has it that the USCG reported vessel no longer exists in this area.”

Photos above are view from the wheelhouse of Restless.

Capt Bob |11:20 EST |Comments (0)

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