Five Tips To Avoid Running Aground

Whether you’re a first-time boat owner or an experienced captain, boating safety is always your first responsibility. Part of safe boating includes taking steps to avoid running aground—also sometimes called bottoming out—which can run the risk of mechanical damage or physical injury. 

Remember these five tips to help your next trip off the dock run as smoothly as possible.

Study charts of the waterways you’ll be boating in before every trip.

Different bodies of water ranging from lakes to bays to rivers have different underwater geography, and some are harder to navigate than others. So, before heading out into unfamiliar territory, pull up a chart on your computer, tablet, or chartplotter, then take a look at how quickly water depth tends to grow as you get away from land, where underwater points jut out, and what obstructions may lie in your projected path.

Become familiar with your boat’s draft. 

Knowing the depth of the water you’re travelling through is smart, but it’s a lot smarter to also know exactly how much water your boat needs to float. Remember that with Bayliner boats having a trimmable drive unit means that you can change the draft a bit by raising or lowering the outboard or stern-drive lower unit. Your boat may need two and a half feet of water to avoid running aground with the drive all the way down, for example, but trimming it up part way may allow you to idle through two-foot depths without any problems. Also remember that your boat’s draft may vary a bit depending on the weight load, and if lots of people or gear are on board, it can increase by inches.

Keep on the lookout for visible surface changes.

Color changes and standing ripples or waves on the water’s surface can indicate abrupt depth changes and should always be avoided or approached with caution at slow speeds.

Be aware of changing tides and water levels.

Coastal boaters need to consider depth changes due to tidal fluctuations, but inland boaters need to pay attention to water levels, too. Reservoir water levels can change radically with droughts, and areas that were passable last season could be impassable the next.

When in doubt, slow down.

If running aground looks unavoidable, doing so at a slower speed lessens the likelihood of damage to your boat and can give you and your passengers time to brace yourselves. If you ever aren’t sure of the water’s depth, pull back on the throttle. This tip is helpful for a number of other situations like boating in reduced visibility, handling rough seas, or dealing with crowded waterways. 

Following these grounding-avoidance tips can’t eliminate the risk entirely; truth is, almost all of us have run aground at some point as waterways are constantly in a state of change. The most important thing is that you stay vigilant to avoid it whenever possible, and that if a grounding does occur, it happens at a slow speed.