Wrecked boat en route to ExCel
- Tue, 5 Jan 2010
- Comments (3)
Their nearly-new J boat ran aground on the Hook Sands near Reculver Towers on passage from Ramsgate to London. As the £300,000 43-ft (13.1 metres) J133 Justice pounded on the firm sands her two-man crew sent out a Mayday, but as Margate Lifeboat pulled her clear it became clear she had lost her keel and she quickly filled with water.
The pair were plucked to safety unhurt by a Belgian air force helicopter based at Koksijde. Although at first reported sunk, Justice had enough buoyancy to keep her just afloat, and next day she went ashore a few miles along the coast at Herne Bay, where she was eventually salvaged. She had a huge hole in her port side.
Justice was on route from the Isle of Wight via Ramsgate to the marina at St Katharine's, near Tower Bridge, and it is understood the crew were planning to visit the London Boat Show.
Margate lifeboatman Kevin Andrews said the situation had "deteriorated rapidly" when the boat hit the sands, but the men "probably owe their lives to raising the alarm at an early stage."
Yachting Monthly reader Max Liberson, an experienced yacht delivery skipper, ran aground while coming through the channel 'well after low water' between the Margate and Hook Sands last summer in a boat drawing only 5ft. He criticised Reeds Almanac which recommended the channel for yachts of 2m or less draught.
Reeds, having seen Yachting Monthly's online story, subsequently said they would change the details in their next publication.
Pic: by Dick Holness , author of the East Coast pilot book
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Latest comments
January 05 16:46
Mike Wilkinson
Glad no one was hurt! The actual depth of the channel between the Hook Sands buoys has been well below what both Reeds and the latest charts all show for several years !
My yacht draws 2 Metres and I personally wont use the channel unless the calculated depths show at least 3 to 4 metres ( depending on sea state )
If you turn sparply to the North as you pass between the buoys there is a bit more depth.
January 06 19:12
Andy Du Port
I seem to remember that Max Liberson went aground at night, at LW (not 'well after low water') and at the bottom of a spring tide when the height of tide was about 0.1m. Not very sensible. Reeds says the passage is suitable 'for vessels drawing less than 2m', not '2m or less'. The January online update for Reeds shows an amendment which says that this channel carries about 2m but may be less at East Last/Hook Sand.
February 09 08:39
Russell Greig-Bartram
I learnt to sail in the Thames Estuary and this channel margate/Hook has a reputation amongst many sailors I met as being notorious for catching skippers out...on our yachtmasters we often used it but very carefully timed considering tidal height under the hull. Well said Mike Wilkinson.