Watching a 16-inch dredge get stuck in Mobile Bay changed my whole approach to silt beds

They tried to power through and snapped a drive shaft, costing them a week and $15k in parts. Now I always send a diver down first, even if the charts look clear. Anyone else learned that the hard way?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_pat19d ago

You're right that paper charts can't keep up, but calling them history books goes too far. I keep a full set updated in the wheelhouse as a backup. When our main nav system crashed in a squall last season, those paper charts got us back to the channel. Tech is great until it isn't.

brookefox19d ago

Man, that's brutal. I read a story about a tugboat captain who hit a submerged log pile that wasn't on any chart. He said the sound was like a car crash underwater. Bent the prop so bad the whole thing had to be hauled. Now he swears by side-scan sonar for any new route, says the old paper charts can't keep up with how fast stuff shifts on the bottom. It's just not worth the risk.

william19419d ago

Paper charts are basically history books at this point. We run a real-time feed on the bridge that updates every few minutes. Had a close call with a shipping container that fell off a freighter last year. The thing showed up on screen twenty minutes before we'd have hit it. Changed course, no drama. Old gear just doesn't cut it anymore.