Oopsie… When nature calls

[OverEasy]

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/lo ... 248/?amp=1

Poor guy!
One simple glitch and there he is on National news!

[Jimmyt]

I hate it when that happens!

[Russ]

If he was on the head that long..........

[OverEasy]

So regarding a fixed keel vs. a swing keel debate, I think this really makes the case for a swing keel!

So here the poor sod ( when you gotta go you gotta go ) could have had a much more exciting event with a fixed keel, not the simple beaching that his swing keel provided!

Any time I’ve seen a fixed keel run aground near shore it inevitably flips over on its side with the mast pointed shoreward making recovery significantly more complicated. Here it wasn’t much more than secure the vessel and get towed off at a higher tide.

(He is ever so lucky that he missed those rock jettys!!! )

We love the swing keel on our Mac26X

Best Regards
Over Easy

[NiceAft]

I'm not sure how you know this would have been different without a swing keel, the boat is sideways, and not flipped on its side. Some keels are long and short. a swing keel could easily snap, making this trip even more expensive than what it now has cost the captain, and stopped the cruise dead in the water until a new part arrived. Of course we don't know this did not happen

As to having avoided the jetty:

The boat ended up hitting a rock jetty before getting stuck on the sand at 9th Street Beach in Ocean City around 4 a.m., city spokesman Doug Bergen said.

An embarrassing moment for sure.

[Stickinthemud57]

The snobbery that seems to infect the sailing community when it comes to lightweight, versatile, water-ballasted boats (Mac 26, I'm looking at you!) would be amusing if it were not so, well, snobbish. I sail a relatively small lake (Lake Grapevine, just north of the Dallas/Fort Worth airport in Texas). Most of the sailboats on the lake are fixed keel and built to handle much more challenging conditions than their skippers would even dream of sailing in. Drafting anywhere from 3 to 6 (or more) feet, these skippers have to be very careful around some of the spits and other shallow areas, and would not even consider venturing into coves that I routinely visit without batting an eyelash.

I guess their decision to purchase such a boat and endure the much greater costs of maintenance has to do with their desire to have a boat that heels a bit less. The way I look at it, if I want to just drift along while enjoying a bourbon and coke, I'll just fly less sail or heave to. Every time I take my boat out on the lake or out of the lake, I am further convinced I have the superior boat to the majority.

I liken this snobbery to people who drive huge trucks or SUV's when the most demanding thing they do with it them throw in a few bags of potting soil from Home Depot. The rest of the time they pay huge monthly payments, gas, and repair bills just for the pleasure of sneering at those with lesser vehicles.

I can see wanting a big boat (thinking 36 feet or bigger) for a roomier cockpit and that true feeling of luxury, and that's fine, but for a 26-footer in protected waters, I'll take my lightweight swing centerboard-boat any day of the year.

[NiceAft]

if I want to just drift along while enjoying a bourbon and coke,

I'm not trying to display snobbery here, but I am disturbed at the thought of someone at the helm with a bourbon and Coke. Not at the helm of a boat, car, truck, bus, plane, etc.

Just my opinion, but drinking and driving are not OK. I don't want to start a controversy, and I may be in the minority with my opinion, I don't know, but that's what I believe.

[Russ]

This whole story sounds bit fishy to me.

I've been off the NJ coast at night (or early morning) and you have to not pay attention for this to happen. The Ocean is pitch black and the entire coastline is lit up. Ocean City (a busy town) is just south of Atlantic City which is a beacon of light.

This guy blamed his autopilot. A poor carpenter blames his tools. Does a poor captain blame his AP?

Unless he was seriously constipated and was down there reading a novel trying to loosen things up, this should not have happened. You must maintain a watch. But he got quite the audience to witness his mistake and paid dearly for it. Worse than any boat ramp incident I've ever had.

My theory is he set his AP to a course and went down to sleep expecting to wake up off Cape May.


I have a friend who was sailing in the Bahamas, set the AP and went to bed. He neglected to zoom in on his chart plotter to see this was in his path. Obviously not the best navigator. Woke up to crunching sounds and water coming in.
The CoastGuard helicoptered them out and he took this sad photo.

[NiceAft]

I think there is good probability in what you state Russ.

Several decades ago, we (the Admiral and I) crewed for a friend who was bringing his Hunter from NYC to Ocean City, NJ. We changed watch every four hours. During the black of night on my watch, I saw a sailboat pass to our port going north. I remember wondering if that boat was on AP, and what could have happened if we were? One miscalculation, and

[Gazmn]

Anyone figure out what kind of sailboat that was? I heard it mentioned that it’s a swing keel; now I’m curious about the rest, size, specs… Is it trailerable

[Russ]

Anyone figure out what kind of sailboat that was? I heard it mentioned that it’s a swing keel; now I’m curious about the rest, size, specs… Is it trailerable

It's a Coronado 30.
In the discussion above, It was suggested a shallow/swing keel because it's not leaning way over as typical of beachings.

Chesapeake Bay resident Steve Strictland made the unexpected pit-stop when he left Queens, New York, where he bought a rare Coronado 30 sailboat about three weeks ago.

This captain needs to learn a few things before he tries to take this boat to Bermuda.
https://www.fox29.com/news/my-pride-is- ... m-new-york

[returnofthemac]

if I want to just drift along while enjoying a bourbon and coke,

I'm not trying to display snobbery here, but I am disturbed at the thought of someone at the helm with a bourbon and Coke. Not at the helm of a boat, car, truck, bus, plane, etc.

Just my opinion, but drinking and driving are not OK. I don't want to start a controversy, and I may be in the minority with my opinion, I don't know, but that's what I believe.

+1

I apply the same mindset I have with driving to sailing: I probably wouldn't drive down the interstate drinking a beer, so I won't do the same when captaining a boat.

[NiceAft]

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/coronado-30

Has a keel. Not long enough to flip the boat on its side.

Wonder how much this all cost the captain

[OverEasy]

I'm not sure how you know this would have been different without a swing keel, the boat is sideways, and not flipped on its side. Some keels are long and short. a swing keel could easily snap, making this trip even more expensive than what it now has cost the captain, and stopped the cruise dead in the water until a new part arrived. Of course we don't know this did not happen

As to having avoided the jetty:

The boat ended up hitting a rock jetty before getting stuck on the sand at 9th Street Beach in Ocean City around 4 a.m., city spokesman Doug Bergen said.

An embarrassing moment for sure.

Yes, Nice Aft. I stand corrected . Thank you for researching this out.

I was presumptuous based on the first reporting video I saw that he had a swing keel given the guy was standing in the water at the bow. it wasn't listed off to one side, that it was settling level and it wasn't sunk from having the bottom broken off that it didn't have a fixed central keel nor would it appear to be a pair of fixed side skegs but I doubt it given how shallow it was there and there was no significant reported damage incurred other than wounded pride. and the guy was happy enough to admit that he was in the head when the autopilot kicked off. Too bad about the hard contact issue. Ouch!

The thing about the MaC26X swing keel aspect that I was alluding to (or retractible center board on the Mac26M) is that once it was known that one is going to be inevitably blown on shore a MacGregor can pull up the swing keel (or centerboard) and execute an emergency beaching maneuver "like you planned on it" .... the ol'e 'Falling with Style' approach (like Buzz Lightyear).

Fixed keels can't even dream of doing that.
Those vessels with fixed side skegs would have a REALLY hard time of it getting properly positioned perpendicular to the beach AND have a shallow off-shore gradual bottom to was onto. Most skeg (a couple of Brits and a Dane that I had an opportunity to talk to previously) owners look for protected sheltered tidal locations that can allow their vessels to statically settle down on a sand or muck bottom if they were to "beach".

(When I was looking into designing and building a motor/sailor cruiser year ago this was an aspect I was really interested in form a self maintenance or stranded repair perspective. Needless to say once we discovered the Mac26X and Mac26M family of boats it was a no brainer! why spend a couple of years of retirement building something when a perfectly suitable affordable existing vessel ticked all the boxes!?! . We've never regretted our choice! )

Best Regards.
Over Easy

[OverEasy]

The snobbery that seems to infect the sailing community when it comes to lightweight, versatile, water-ballasted boats.....

....Every time I take my boat out on the lake or out of the lake, I am further convinced I have the superior boat to the majority.

I liken this snobbery to people who drive huge trucks or SUV's when the most demanding thing they do with it them throw in a few bags of potting soil from Home Depot. The rest of the time they pay huge monthly payments, gas, and repair bills just for the pleasure of sneering at those with lesser vehicles.

........for a 26-footer in protected waters, I'll take my lightweight swing centerboard-boat any day of the year.

Ditto!!!

I'd much rather have my multi-function Swiss Army knife 99 time out of 100 over a foot long hunting knife (like when the heck am I gonna actually need a small machete in normal life, Huh? (.... although I have run across some of the nutsy types who think having one makes them "more macho" except they haven't ever actually ever done anything remotely macho in real life).

Same goes for our Mac26X! For 99 out of 100 cases of real life for us there isn't a better choice!

We're with you on this!

Best Regards,
Over Easy