Swinomish Channel thin water or "A Rising Tide Floats All Boats"

    Ever heard this old saying or something like it?   

 "A rising tide lifts all boats." 

 Most of us have seen a derelict boat on shore somewhere, half-submerged, half part of the driftwood. Those boats are long past rising on a flood tide.

           Let's think about when that boat went aground.  Did the skipper intentionally run aground?  Doubtful, maybe a storm, maybe mechanical failure, possibly.  In all likelihood, someone made a decision or series of decisions that eventually led to grounding and eventual loss of the vessel. I suppose you are now thinking, that's so obvious, and your post is boring me, get to your point.  Okay,

         Okay, here is a real-life boating decision I made that others may relate to.  When planning our departure time from Shelter Bay on Swinomish Channel, I consulted my tide forecasts, noting that low tide would be around noon.  I also noted that numerous skippers have reported shoaling and groundings within the buoyed channel near Goat Island, where I was headed.  So my decision was to delay departure and time my transit so that I would arrive at the problem area, at or after low tide.

          Now, some may think that was dumb thinking, intentionally looking for thin water, and waiting until the water was the thinnest, of course, you are going to get into trouble. But they're wrong, I was thinking if I do run aground, the rising tide would soon release us, and away we go.  If, on the other hand, we went ahead and left early and still ran aground on a falling tide, we could suffer damage as the water fell further, our stranded boat with its five-and-a-half-foot deep keel could tip over, and when the tide rose, we could down-flood before the boat righted and essentially become another derelict.

           So my decision to wait a few hours may easily have resulted in another enjoyable outing, versus who knows!

         Very, very sad proof of what happens when you run aground on a falling tide  Nightmare on Swinomish Channel

          Let's see, how does the saying go?  "All skippers have run aground, or will run aground, and the rest are liars," or something like that.

        While were on the subject of decisions and choices. I would be remiss if I didn't expand a little beyond driving my boat into the dirt, but I will avoid lecturing. You can just add your own thoughts while glancing over the list below.

Decisions and Choices we make

• PFD's "life jackets," everyone has them, but do you insist on wearing them at certain times?
• fire extinguishers?
• anchors
• routine maintenance
• alcohol/drugs
• Second skipper (huh), can others besides you run the boat when you fall overboard
• checklist(s)
• float plan
• non-swimmers
• handling fuel on board
• first aid and medicines
• emergency plan, supplies
• Go or no go into poor conditions
• wake or no wake (huh)

Try adding to this list, I'll bet you can.

It's October, and I'm going out this weekend. How about you?