Mud glorious mud

Stigomery · 14 March 2016, 18:08

This is maybe more appropriate for the engines sub-forum so please move if need be...

So, mud... and this is perhaps a very novice question...

My main SIBing areas are muddy... Norfolk/Suffolk/Essex... what happens if I stick the outboard in the mud, i.e. I miss judge the depth and the water intake potentially ploughs into the mud or the prop digs in...

I suspect I will fall foul of this one day and just want to understand if it's a big risk or just an inconvenience?

Thanks...

Phil18 · 14 March 2016, 19:27

Why not try using oars as a gauge until you get into deeper water.
Hope this helps

Fenlander · 14 March 2016, 19:35

Stig I think you'll come to grinding halt before the water intake blocks... then you can revert to oars/paddles and retreat whence you came. It's a risk of course but your SIB would need to be in very shallow water before it happens. Anyway better mud than the prop chewing unexpected rocks in Scotland.

One of the few navigating mistakes I've made was to rush into a huge remote shallow muddy bottom bay at about 25kts in a 4m grp boat realising that the colour of water we were stirring up signalled trouble. Just gritted my teeth and did a gentle circle at speed as to have dropped to displacement speed and hooked the skeg in the mud could have seen us sitting there all night.

The Gurnard · 14 March 2016, 19:52

I would try to keep out of the mud stigomery.. dont think it will do your prop and good. I thought I read you had a fish finder ? Keep it running and it will warn you of the depth. I never grounded ..but the fish finder is always on and its saved me quite a few times. . Although its never found me a fish yet..its great for depth

Stigomery · 14 March 2016, 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Gurnard

I would try to keep out of the mud stigomery.. dont think it will do your prop and good. I thought I read you had a fish finder ? Keep it running and it will warn you of the depth. I never grounded ..but the fish finder is always on and its saved me quite a few times. . Although its never found me a fish yet..its great for depth

Hi, yes, it was actually the fish finder that raised this question. When I was down at West Mersea heading out into open water I wasn't taking much notice of the fish finder as I was well out from the shore, 100 yds+... I glanced down and noticed I was in 2ft of water and getting rapidly shallower... to say i sh!t myself is an understatement... I just felt I was navigating an underwater maze of sand bars... has taught me to be very careful round those shores... and to take better notice of the buoyage...

Fenlander · 14 March 2016, 20:38

>>> down at West Mersea heading out into open water I wasn't taking much notice of the fish finder as I was well out from the shore, 100 yds+... I glanced down and noticed I was in 2ft of water and getting rapidly shallower..

Do you have charts Stig?

Edit: Of course you do... you have a Garmin 45. In places around Mersea at the right (wrong!) time there's only a couple of feet 1500m off the beach by the huts.

The Gurnard · 14 March 2016, 21:51

i have just a cheap garmin fishfinder..but with it..i can set it to make a noise at a chosen depth..say five feet of water.. Can you set a warning depth in yours Stigomery ?

Mud is not generally as bad as rocks..some rocks rise from the bottom like pillars..so no warning on the fishfinder... Hopefully the mud will have a wee bit of gradient...to give a short warning ? Best of luck with them..as they can move around with storms etc..at least i know where the pillar type rocks are in my boating area...they dont move much..unles a heavy boat shunts them along

Stigomery · 14 March 2016, 23:20

Thanks chaps. Yes Fenlander, you correctly pull me on my somewhat novice approach to naval navigation. That first outing was quite a learning experience in terms of cross referencing depth on sounder, charts, watching what the water was doing, land features, etc. So much to observe and interpret.

My concern, aside from grinding to a sudden halt and getting stuck, was what impact the mud ingestion could/would have on the engine... Sounds perhaps like this is the least of my worries.

Fenlander · 14 March 2016, 23:30

Do you keep glancing down at the Garmin? I flick eyes down to that screen several times a minute in unfamiliar locations and so far it's been a massive aid to keeping out of trouble.

It's well worth avoiding going aground. Yes you can raise the motor and row/paddle with a sib but sometimes in muddy shallows such as the Essex area the way out seems elusive and if the tide turns to give rough water on the shallows it all gets a bit exciting.

Or if you were on the last of the tide in a huge muddy area 1000m offshore it's no fun in a SIB if it dries around you.

Stigomery · 14 March 2016, 23:40

Yup, I did quickly learn to keep eyes on the Garmin after that 2ft of water incident! All a steep learning curve from here...

Fenlander · 15 March 2016, 00:05

>>>All a steep learning curve from here...

Well yes but you have a great start with a really nice capable outfit and reliable engine so it's a good base to start from.

I did notice on your first sea outing report with the tracking overlay your max recorded speed posn was rather close to Buxey Sands where they have a cricket match from time to time!

http://legacymedia.localworld.co.uk/...2902-large.png

Stigomery · 15 March 2016, 00:17

I do recall thinking to myself "I'm bloody miles from anywhere and it's only 12ft deep!"

SeanKent · 16 March 2016, 01:27

I had something similar late last year in herne bay, nice launch there but the water gets very shallow after high tide for a long way out. We were having a great day and stayed in the water a bit too long. Got a terrible noise and judder, thought there was a real problem with the outboard but realised we were hitting rocks. slight marks on prop (need to change it) but made it back to the beach by upping the motor and pulling it in. Some guys in a Fletcher got really stuck and had to be air lifted by raf (people, not the boat).