Ran aground... boat stopped like I had breaks! :-(

TurtleTone said:
Heat??? I think I was called idiot for a whole year.
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I don't recall ever calling you idiot.

gnealon said:
HAHA :grin: I think i would rather be called idiot! Wait... i take that back!
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Nope, didn't call you idiot either.

Skip said:
And yes, there are a few idiots who post without having a clue what they are posting about, but you quickly ID those guys, consign them to the "ignore list" and life goes on.
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Now wait a second! Idiot is my reserved word. You guys go find your own.

Henry Boyd said:
Gnealon,

Think of it this way, it could of been worse:

P9100315.jpg
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Yeah, you could have a Maxum like that poor schlub.

Bet regards,
Frank C
 
With respectful deference to my friend from the Garden State, I shall humbly substitute "jackass" or "Wingless" in all future references to "idiots."

For example, when observing a moronic bit of vessel operation, henceforth I shall say, or write, "wow, look at that wingless" or "damn, look at that jackass."
 
RollerCoastr said:
David, that was the DoD's "Intentional Degredation". It was eliminated on May 1, 2000. DOP just refers to the level of accuracy that can be obtained by a GPS receiver at any given time.
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Your correct. DOP is derived from the positions of the satellites. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilution_of_precision_(GPS) The intentional inaccuracy in the GPS system was dramatically reduced but it has not been eliminated altogether. If your were to switch off WAAS or differential, your accuracy would be worse. It was worse than that before the year 2000 for civilians. Better accuracy is still available with GPS but you need a unit that can read P(Y)code. P(Y)-code units are only available to the military. Same with the newer M-code units.

Basically, we still don't get GPS position accuracy as good as what is possible. How do we know this? The land based Trimble survey systems use a base station which takes a 24 hour average to get a position fix down to a few centimeters. The base station either records, transmits or does both to the mobile unit, the GPS unit the surveyor is holding. The position inaccuracy data in the base receiver can transmitted for real time survey work or recorded and then post processed...usually both is done.

A few centimeters is the ultimate accuracy of GPS, not what we are getting on our boats, 2-3 meters. I'm not complaining, we don't need better accuracy than that. :)
 
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2 to 3 meters is the distance from my GPS reciever to the bow hatch. Another meter to the bow.

Close enough for me.
 
We have all made stupid mistakes. I admire the people who have the courage to admit to them.
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Well said!

re: degradation: that was day to celebrate. Prior to that, the GPS would sometimes read 2 mph speeds when the boat was tied to the dock! The tracks would scribble all over the marina. Looking back, I'm a little ashamed at how much faith I had in a system that was intentionally sabotaged.
 
Old saying.... "There are two types of boaters, those who have run aground and those that will". I think most points have been covered except maybe this one...

There could have been a small boat that you couldn't see while you were night blind and watching your GPS. A boat could have had either 1) no lights, 2) dim lights or 3) just an small anchor light, and with some distraction at high speed, this could have been deadly. So I'm not comfortable that the problem being referred to as "just unlucky hitting something in the water". I think it's really fortunate that nobody on water was harmed.

With the 280 and boats like it, you either have to be going very slow or on plane. For my boat (with twin 5.0's), it's not an easy ride between 8 and 30 mph (bow to high), so I think it pushes people to take the higher speed. When in doubt, I take the slower speed, but my passengers sometimes push me to go on plane. I tell them to buy their own boat :)

I'm really sympathetic to lessons learned, but this seems like it should have been completely avoided. Sorry - don't want to be too hard.

Let us know the mechanical issues with your boat - I think that will be very helpful to everyone - for those who have run aground and those that will!
 
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in calm water, i can plane my boat at 13mph. It's not a nice plane and i'm burning more fuel, but I can flatten it out and cruise at nice slow speed.
 
You know, I don't own a Sea Ray. I just bought a late model boat from another manufacturer and came to this site as there is a lot more traffic. As a life long sailboater, there is a lot to learn about motor boating which is why I came here....to learn from others with vast experience. You have found out the hard way that you don't simply just turn the key and go.

This thread has shown that there are some holier than thou, a$$holes here on this site...but they are "well respected" so I guess they are allowed to be that way. Glad their life is picture perfect.

You did make a bunch of bad decisions, but I give you credit for coming here and trying to learn from them. Please do learn and I hope you have better days ahead of you.

Maybe I won't go to that get together on Block Island coming up, not sure I'll be welcome...
 
what does block island have to do with this thread?

If a boater with a lot of experience (not me) points out obvious mistakes, how does that make them holy?
 
I guess it's how that boater with experience delivers the lesson. Not sure I was talking about you.

BI has nothing to do with this thread I was contemplating going. Wasn't sure how my comments would be taken.
 
Captain Wicked said:
This thread has shown that there are some holier than thou, a$$holes here on this site...but they are "well respected" so I guess they are allowed to be that way. Glad their life is picture perfect.
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Some are here to offer advice to keep these mistakes from happening again, and others are here to tout how stupid you are for making the mistake. Oh well, it is the internet after all. You learn to just let it go. Not worth making a stink about, but I agree. :thumbsup:
 
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Captain Wicked said:
Not sure I was talking about you.
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I didn't assume you were talking about me. I get more infractions than a $2 hooker in Vegas... I assumed you were talking about jg300da.

Note to moderators: I assume I can't get an infraction for assuming someone calling a nameless member an assh0le may refer to another member that original ass hole caller was not referring to. This is an assumption and I am in no way calling said member the name other than in my mind...
 
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Well we all have opinions, sometimes they are heated, sometime they are based on fact, sometimes they are based on fiction. If you take every comment personally, you'll be a wreck. If you come here with an open mind, humble when you are wrong, don't take yourself too seriously, and can roll with the jabs, then you'll fit in just fine. After you've been here awhile, you'll get to know the personalities. you'll know when something is targeted and when something is light hearted. the only one in this thread that got nasty was Scuma. Other than that, everyone else offered good advice. some more blunt than others, but good advice none the less. If that's not what you are looking for, don't post. Personally I'm here to learn. If that means being called out when I do something stupid, so be it. I'll be a better boater for it, and if I have tough enough skin, I'll come away with some great advice and friends for life.
 
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Just a side not you mention that you weren’t at cruise speed but that you were doing 30 MPH? Do you cruise much faster than this? 30 MPH is a very fast cruise speed for the 280, how much faster do you cruise?

FYI: Did you confirm the GPS was working before you left??
__________________
Larry


My cruise speed is 31 MPH...
 
Just my 2 cents, but this thread is way off topic, now where is that bunny. We may need to put a fork in it.
 
Shoot... who knows... yelling "ass hole" around here is like a five year old yelling "mommy" in a crowded classroom on parent-teacher night.
 
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