50 foot boat aground - Lake Norman

BillK2632

BillK2632

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2009
2,919
Lake Norman, NC
Boat Info
2014 Cobalt R5
Engines
Volvo Penta V8-300 DPS
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/50-foot-yacht-runs-aground-in-lake-norman/166572447

This happens on the lake, but not too often, at least not to this magnitude. Hate this for the owners, have no idea how it happened - that is a known shoal area that is clearly marked. It's been there since the weekend, they have brought a crane in on a barge to remove it. From what I have heard there is little or no hull damage, the pods took the brunt of it.

Funny thing is the boats name - "Shamrockin" and all this on St. Patty's day.
 
52,000 pounds on a crane on a barge. I'd like to see that. Or maybe I wouldn't. I hope the operator knows what they're doing and all ends well.
 
Is that the cocoa colored stuff the water?

The video didn't work for me first time...I see now he's in only inches of water.
 
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Is it normal for large boat like that to be on a small lake.
When we have be caught in fog you can not see we stop and anchor. A 50 footer anchored at night would have been a good place to spend the night. We have two chart plotters on our boat and paper charts. Sounds like the captain was not prepared.
 
And I guess its normal for those kinds of operators to be totally lost and up ***** creek'
operating at night at high speed WITHOUT CHARTS/
Let alone depending on electronic nav aids
Dont suppose dropping the anchor and waiting for daylight was not an option.
Money can sure buy a boat but it sure cant buy any brains
 
I'm curious to understand what "electronics failed" means. Complete power failure? Maybe he destroyed them after grounding so he wouldn't look like such an idiot.
 
Chances are he was not prepared, and did not have a backup gps but you never know. Things happen. I know some fairly experienced Mariners that have touched ground in the past.
 
blaster said:
I'm curious to understand what "electronics failed" means. Complete power failure? Maybe he destroyed them after grounding so he wouldn't look like such an idiot.
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This what I thought. I've seen captains with high end boats and extensive electronics that have run aground. One I know of just hadn't turned them on and ran aground. Too busy entertaining. Another turned the helm over to his girlfriend (no boating experience) to go down below to relieve himself and wiped out the props, rudders and shafts on a 40ft sport fisher on a rocky shoal.
 
IF? He did loose all electronics it proves that redundancy pays. I have 2 E120's, 2 IPads with navionics and Garmin blue charts and IPhone as back ups. Either one would have gotten him back safely.
 
Havana Shamrock said:
IF? He did loose all electronics it proves that redundancy pays. I have 2 E120's, 2 IPads with navionics and Garmin blue charts and IPhone as back ups. Either one would have gotten him back safely.
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So would waiting for daylight
 
I've been through that area many times, day and night. It is on the main channel, there are lighted channel markers and shoal markers. You really don't need anything to navigate through there, day or night. The channel is deep (75-80ft) and 1/2 mile wide - really in that area all you had to do is stop and look around and point it between the red and green lights. I wasn't there, but having a hard time understanding how it happened.
 

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northern said:
Is it normal for large boat like that to be on a small lake.
When we have be caught in fog you can not see we stop and anchor. A 50 footer anchored at night would have been a good place to spend the night. We have two chart plotters on our boat and paper charts. Sounds like the captain was not prepared.
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Lake Norman is not exactly small (525 miles of shoreline, covering 3 counties in NC). It's not large by Great Lake standards, but large in terms of a dammed power generation lake. Yes, there are a number of 50'+ boats, it's not common, but they are there. I would say the average size cruiser is 35', but there probably 1000's of houses and condo around the lake, so plenty of small lake boats and pontoons. No large expanses of water, but 100's of of coves and dozens of islands - you can get lost on it and it can be confusing to navigate at night. Still not a good excuse for running into that shoal - very well marked, and from a local knowledge standpoint one of the worst shoal areas on the lake. I wasn't there and don't know what events led up to the grounding, but seems like a situation awareness issue to me. Really if you just look out the window you are looking into someones kitchen, obviously heading the wrong way. The shoal he hit is at the end of an area called Governor's Island - an island with about 30 big homes on the water - it's just a big thing not to be aware of. I won't even take my little bowrider through there. During the summer you see people with jet skis out there walking around on the sandbars
 
Maybe its just me but if my "electronics fail" at night I slow down. No wait, if its night I was going slow anyway.
 
BillK2632 said:
I've been through that area many times, day and night. It is on the main channel, there are lighted channel markers and shoal markers. You really don't need anything to navigate through there, day or night. The channel is deep (75-80ft) and 1/2 mile wide - really in that area all you had to do is stop and look around and point it between the red and green lights. I wasn't there, but having a hard time understanding how it happened.
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None of the pictures from the story show any markers, but you chart show some. Seem like the color difference of the shoal and the water should be visible even at night. Our lake is bigger than LKN, and generally deeper. But we do have shoals and islands that can disappear when the lake is high. We don't go anywhere at night that I don't know by heart. That being said, we hit a submerged tree during the day in a part of the lake we had never been in. My transducer isn't working, so I had no depth awareness. We were between two docks and assumed it was clear. But, since I had never been in the area I was using caution and running at idle. Fortunately the tree just tapped the bow and shrugged the boat off. Point is, sh!t happens, but knowing your surroundings and using caution is absolutely key.
 
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