At the bar by 7:15...

 

We left port this morning at 7:05, we were at the bar by 7:15 (Sandbar, that is).

 

          My plan was to leave Sarasota and travel out into the Gulf. There was a channel directly across from the Marina that appeared to be plenty deep enough to pass. After a glance at our electronic charts I set out for the Gulf, I should have looked closer at the charts. As we approached the gulf and I notice a sign posted in the water that read "sand bar".  Being the cautious sailor that I am I passed wide of the sign toward a green buoy that marks the edge of a channel. About 50 yards from the buoy the water went from 15 feet deep to 10 and I slowed down. Then the depth dropped to 6 feet and I put the boat in neutral. Within 5 feet we slid gently to a stop on a sandbar with less than 2 feet of water, OOPS.

 

    I cut the engines and called U.S. Towboat to have them come out and pull us off . They said it would be 30 to 45 minutes before they could make it so we settled in for the wait. About 10 minutes later a fairly good sized boat cruised by (right next to the sandbar sign) he

rocked us with his wake.

 

 Suddenly we were floating free. The wake was just enough to float us off the sand bar.

 

Later today I read in one of my boating books about grounding your boat. The opening sentence was:

 

"Old salts like to say that any sailor that claims to have never grounded their boat is a damn liar."  

Well, I am not a liar.

 

The rest of the trip went well and we docked at Salty Sam's Marina, just off Sanibel, at 5:00. 

The first swing bridge of this springs trip. Florida bridge tenders monitor channel 9 on the VHF radio (most states use 13).

As you can see, sandbars crop up just about anywhere.

Future swing for my grandkids Kate and Charlie.