Since we're doing true confessions: During my 1st BVI bareboat charter many years ago, I forgot to shorten the dinghy painter going into Cam Bay, wrapped the prop, stalled the engine, and drifted sideways to the sandy beach. I'm not sure if this really constituted a grounding, since the keel was just resting against the sloping sand in still water, but I suppose it technically was a grounding. I had to dive and cut the painter in the middle to free it from the prop, then we pulled ourselves off using the dink to set two anchors. I tied the painter back together and simply told Sunsail, when we returned the boat, "The painter is shorter than it was." They looked at it, said "Yeah, we'll replace it," and asked no further questions! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

What were they thinking?