Running your bareboat aground will only happen due to carelessness or negligence...and often on a warm sunny afternoon when you're not paying attention... When taking your bareboat through a possibly dangerous area or through areas of reef, motor slowly and always post a lookout on the bow of your bareboat... and wear polarised sunglasses.

If you do go aground

First, we look at the ways to free your bareboat from a nice soft bottom. Then, in the "Hull Damage" section, we tell you what you should do in the rare event that you hit rocks and sustain serious damage.

• If you hit softly, slow down and immediately turn your bareboat to deeper water. Hopefully, you will sail or motor free.
  
• Send someone below to check for damage. Look in the bilge... check for water leaking into the boat... check for any fracture, particularly where the keel attaches inside the hull.
  
• Notify your charter boat operator by radio immediately... a staff member of your charter operator will join you as quickly as possible... first set an anchor so the tide will not carry you further up the shoal... to do this, you may need to use your tender to take out your second anchor into deep water.
  
• Bring the tender up alongside the vessel after placing boat fenders to avoid damage.
  
• Do not attempt to motor your bareboat off astern before you determine that the rudder and propellers are clear of hazards or you will damage the propellers. If your bareboat hits a narrow bar or shoal and a following wave picks it up and shoves it further ahead, putting it in the position shown (below)...haul it straight ahead across the bar, don't try to back it off.

• Heel your bareboat. Heeling works for all sailing yachts, except for those with a twin or winged keel, because it reduces the boat's draft. When you hit, immediately move all the crew weight to leeward.
• Consider using the engine, but only in combination with some of these other remedies. First, check that the rudder is not stuck - or you can break it by moving the boat. Depending on the situation, you may want to try forward or reverse gear. Watch the temperature gauge - silt can clog the water intake and cause overheating.
  
• Take the sails down if they're driving you further onto the shallow area.
• Try to make your bareboat less deep... Heeling works (see comment below). Moving all the crew to the bow may also help.
  
  Obviously, the preceding procedures should be done as quickly as possible. If you're still not afloat after trying these tricks, try one of these more involved actions...This would not be attempted in a 'bareboat' situation unless under the direct supervision of your charter company and with their express permission as you could end up doing more damage unless done correctly.
  
  
• Really heel the boat. Drop and secure the mainsail, then release the mainsheet and push the main (supported at the outboard end by a halyard or other secure line) all the way out to the side the boat is heeling toward, and then have some crew climb up on it and slide as far outboard as they can. Have the crew put on life jackets first, and leave at least one person on board.
  
  You can try suspending your tender (filled with water if necessary) from the end of the boom to increase heel, as shown in the diagram. You can also overtrim the sails (if you're on a reaching heading) to generate heel from the wind.

If you become firmly grounded on your bareboat yacht charter and layover becomes inevitable because of the dropping tide, follow these procedures:

1. Pump and sponge the bilge's dry...pump the head dry... close galley and any stern basin seacocks and close and lock all portholes.
   
   
2. If possible, get your bareboat to heel with it's bottom into the swell, not it's decks -
   
   
3. Clear any coral or hard objects away from where your boat will lay over.






4. Use any fenders on the boat, boat cushions/mattresses, life jackets and life buoys to support your boat off the shoal/coral as it lays over. For obvious reasons (all of which are expensive) care must be taken to protect the hull.
   
   
5. Lay a boat anchor out in deep water to pull you off when she floats. This system called kedging or setting a kedge, requires sending a rowing dinghy (or other boat) out with an anchor to set. Put the anchor and sufficient anchor line in the boat and head toward deep water, making sure that the end of the anchor line is tied to your boat. When the anchor is set (the farther out it is the better chance the anchor will hold), start pulling yourself free. Use the winch if you have one. Meanwhile, keep heeling, powering with the engine or sails, and trying other measures.
   
   
6. Refloating procedure on the next high tide will be supervised by your charter operator. Even if you get stuck at high tide, you will eventually float free. Having an anchor set hopefully keeps you from getting pushed further aground as the tide comes in. Try to heel the boat toward shallow water so that the incoming tide doesn't swamp your boat.

Hull damage

Serious hull damage to your bareboat can be a major problem. It can happen when you run aground, especially in rocks or coral, or if you run into a solid object floating just under the water's surface. Fortunately, this misfortune is rare...but minor or medium-size leaks caused by a keel jarred loose in a grounding or a collision are more common. Here are some ways to stave the flow and save your boat:

• Plug it with any available material. Clothing or cushions can work well. You can use a paddle or convenient brace to secure the plug, as shown in the diagram... A sail can be used as an external bandage. Duct tape can also be used to plug holes.
  
• Use heeling to your advantage. This situation is one time when more heel can be good. If the hole is near the waterline along the side of the boat, you may be able to sail the boat on a particular point of sail so that the hole comes partially or completely out of the water. Remember you can also heel your boat as explained in the section: Running aground
• Get out the pumps. If leaking water is a problem, and the automatic bilge pump/s are not coping - you will have to also operate your manual pump, refer to: Manual Bilge Pumps
• Get to safety as soon as possible. In an extreme case in which the boat is truly sinking, you may have to intentionally ground the boat.