Hi Les,

Quite a tale, to be sure, and further support of my contention that FAR less can go wrong running south outside, as opposed to running down the Ditch, where one is presented with a far greater array of potential hazards…

I don’t know, though, there’s a good deal about the way this is written that I’ve got to question… Hard to imagine, for example, that the sort of impact that created the damage pictured below would be felt on the bridge at 22 knots as “a bump… but nothing serious.” (grin) The writer is obviously unfamiliar with the area, I’d hardly call it “adjacent to the Dismal Swamp”, or within 75 miles of Norfolk… Sure, it’s a fairly remote area, but the sinking occurred directly in front of Dowry Creek Marina, and I’m a bit surprised the captain didn’t try to call them initially… And I’m sorry, but I’m just not finding the whole “CG refusal to render assistance” portion of the story to be credible. It’s possible, I suppose, but doesn’t pass the smell test for me…

Lots of lessons to be taken from this story, of course, but the one that jumps out at me the most is the importance for all boaters – yes, even stinkpotters - of ALWAYS having a knife at hand. In this case, if they’s been able to cut the straps tethering the tender to the swim platform, they could have been on their way into Dowry Creek at 30 mph with likely little worse for wear than a pair of wet feet…

Glad everyone came thru this one OK, but the captain still screwed up… That channel is quite wide through there, with the daymarks set well back from the centerline of the channel, unlike a stretch like Bogue Sound south of Morehead… No reason to be that far out of mid-channel through there, and even though the markers are pretty widely spaced through the Pungo, sounds like he wasn’t looking behind him as often as anyone should running anywhere along the ICW… And of course a missing daymarker is an extreme red flag, prudence would dictate favoring the opposite side of the channel at that point, especially in a wider portion where you have that much sea room…

Best regards,

Jon