Not a Good Day

Thursday was not a good day for the DIXIE IV. We got underway early and ran into dense fog about 20 minutes later and in trying to turn around we ran hard aground in a falling tide. TowBoat US was unable to pull us off in a falling tide so we left the boat, because we were concerned that it would roll over, with the cats and were taken to the marina by the tow boat. We went back to the boat with a more powerful tow boat about 2PM and we were pulled off. It turned out that the steering system is damaged and the rudder cannot be moved. We were towed to the Isle of Pals Marina and a boat yard technician is coming today to try to identify what the problem is and whether we need to have the boat pulled for repair. This is an ongoing story. We subscribe to an unlimited towing service from BoatUS and boat insurance will pay for grounding repairs but its still a bad situation. More on this as it evolves.