Why Sailboaters Need to Know the Effects of Squat, or, Why I Ran Aground
Why You Ran Aground
The headline photo for this article is someone who headed out of the harbor, opened up the throttle, and instead of the intended effect of gliding them over the sandbar in the channel; they grounded.
How It Feels
I realized this past couple weeks that I can now feel “squat.” Now I recognize the feeling in the channel at my home port at Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor in St. Augustine!!! It’s a weird, sucking, lowering of the stern type of squirmy action as if gravity is stronger momentarily.
The boat to the left actually has an anchor line around its prop/rudder, which would give you the same feeling on a sailboat.
Cruise Ships in Shallow Water
Coming in and out of Nassau on cruise ships; I can feel “squat” there at the harbor entrance where it’s narrow by the famous lighthouse shown to the right from one of my YouTube videos at DeepWaterHappy.
Narrow Channels
I think I learned it as a child; tugs in a narrow channel get sucked down. It might even have been mentioned in Tom Sawyer, the parts about the paddlewheelers and their trips down the Mississippi. When they displace water; they actually “squat down” a bit.
Hydro Dynamic Phenomena
“Hydro dynamic phenomena“ is exactly how I was going to explain squat.
My husband Bill calls it “stuction;” an unfortunate combination of suction and getting stuck. He also says it was responsible for the Suez Canal pileup of the Evergreen/Ever Given recently.
Next I’ll try to learn more about harmonic reporting stations – HOW have I sailed 50 years not knowing about them?
There is a YouTube video titled “Why Ships Crash.” It’s worth watching.
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