Photo: Wrong colour buoy?

Well, we struck the reef and went aground. Three quarters of the way around-the-world and here we were on the rocks. It was all to end like this. I was distraught... and to say I was a little suicidal would be an understatement.

Gary had called a warning out to me, as we left the dock heading out in to Craig Harbour, that he thought we should have been the other side of the green buoy. Alarmed, I quickly checked the chart on the plotter and, no... the clear channel was marked red to port with green to starboard, the standard US IALA-B buoyage system and we were, in my mind, where we should be. We would pass the green buoy to our starboard side. But my still calm and collected step brother was somehow right. In fact, there was little point in arguing with him because our keel was now hard fast on a small part of Alaska that was submerged. In the first few minutes of mad panic we ran around checking for incoming seawater sinking the boat... but there was none. Nevertheless, it was spring tides, we were subsequently three feet below chart datum at low tide and, motionless. Help was at hand.

First came a smiling fisherman in his little skiff. "So you're stuck fast on Craig Reef?" he informed us, laughing, "You're not the first. Been on there myself a few times." I think this was supposed to make me feel easier in our somewhat new found situation. We passed him a line and he tried to pull us off. Nothing much happened but he could see how things were much better from where he was than we could. He reliably informed me that our keel was caught on the edge of the reef and we'd float off in an hour or two as the tide came in. It was the lowest possible tide right now and he was right. He considered things thoughtfully for a moment or two and then said, "Here, take these three crabs I've caught, it'll cheer you up I guess." He sped off with a friendly smile, leaving us with three enormous still alive King crabs. Then came another fisherman in a much larger vessel...

"Awe, you're stuck on Craig Reef," he said with a big friendly smile, "You got any water coming in?" I shrugged by shoulders and informed him forlornly that we hadn't and that we seemed ok. "Shucks," he said, "You ain't the first boat that's been stuck there. Just last year I was fast on those rocks myself," he was leaning out of his deckhouse window having a good look around. "Nice looking boat," he ventured, "I'd pull you off but you'll float free in an hour or two," he said cheerfully. We then had a longer conversation about the merits of a fibreglass constructed hull. "I've got some fresh crabs if you want some to keep you busy for a while?" he offered, "They'll cook up real good." I looked around to see Gary eagerly preparing the three crabs we already had. I thanked the fisherman but told him we'd been given some not five minutes ago and he throttled his big engine and left. Next came the Craig harbourmaster in his launch...

"Heard the call about you being on Craig Reef. Do you need any help?" I informed him sheepishly that we seemed ok for now and we'd wait to see what happened when we floated off with the tide. I considered abominishing him for what, in my mind, was an incorrect coloured reef marker buoy but thought better of it for now. It would be unwise to upset him when we might need his help in an hour or two. "That reefs a bummer," he informed me, "There was a Canadian boat on there a week or two ago." He asked me to keep him informed on the radio and then left, his speeding launch heading back into the harbour.

Gary finished preparing the crabs so we again decided to double check everything in order that I could relax and rid myself of my suicidal tendencies. The tide was rising. The rudder, which was caught in the kelp beds, was now free. There was still no signs of water leaking in to the boat and all the bilges were dry. I began to feel a little easier with things and now began to see that we'd got away extremely light... it was just a case of sitting in the sunshine waving to everyone who came by. I heard much boat talk on the radio about the English boat stuck on Craig Reef and the news, complete with chuckles and laughter, was travelling fast. In the meantime our three crabs were boiling furiously on the stove. Gary was working magnificently on them, unconcerned and doing his best to cheer me up. He listened without much comment to my indignant views about the American buoyage system and had his own thoughts. He's an ex policeman you see.

At 1130 precisely, we floated off the reef. We'd been fast for nearly two hours and there's no doubt we'd become small time celebrities stuck there in Craig Harbour. I informed the harbourmaster over the radio that we were fine and he wished us a fine trip to Ketchikan. We left the harbour carefully following the channel, green to starboard, red to port, just like before. For lunch we had magnificent fresh dressed crab with green salad and tomatoes... and I can tell you the crabs were just grand.

However, in my mind, I'm convinced that a red buoy should have marked the reef. Of course, I'm totally wrong, because a skipper's job is to always check the charts to know where he is and when I zoomed in to a lower resolution on the plotter the reef was clearly marked with a green buoy. We would have been in clear water if I'd done my job correctly.

But.... it should have been a red!
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