Grounding Near Saba Rock

Just saw a credible post on another site about a grounding north of Saba Rock. An eye witness saw the Leopard 45 cat passing around the NW side of Saba (the marked channel is on the other side) toward Eustatia Sound at a fair clip and grounded on the reef. A boat from Saba pulled them off. Pretty amazing, IMO. I've taken a RIB thru there before, slowly. I can't imagine trying to take a full size sailboat thru. There was another serious grounding at the west entrance to North Sound about a month ago.
Yikes!

Saw one hit the reef and have to turn around leaving CGB not too long ago. Charter season is back in full swing!

Indeed! Great news for the tourism industry. Not so good for boat bottoms (and their owners)

I worry about this every day when I am not on my boat. Seriously. Anyone have good suggestions on relaxation methods for owners that doesn’t involve copious amounts of rum?

As a former charter boat owner for 13 years, rum is the only answer!

That marked channel has the best channel marking in the BVI and is obvious starting well out from Saba Rock. Unless you're below with the boat on autopilot I can't imagine how you could end up on the other side.

Rum was always my first choice.....!

Maybe the charter captain was a little too relaxed as well?

Cwwoody - sure sounds like it. We were there Sunday - no way you can miss that - but oh the things I have seen with Moorings and Navigare boats the last 4 days……

We witnessed the grounding. The posted account is correct. In addition the next morning they entered the proper channel south of Saba and departed for Anegada. They then went between Prickly Pear and Eustatia Island to exit the area. Doable but pretty sure redlined.
G

Do they have GPS trackers on these boats? Seems like it would be a pretty easy way to monitor compliance with the red-lined restrictions.

George - any idea of the boat name? Want to try to stay far far away from them.

Aloha was the name.

Sad and makes me a bit angry given my own recent experience. We saw Aloha - a sistership to the one we were on - a number of times, possibly with different crew. I had a conversation with the base manager in Tortola where he assured me that charterers would be held accountable for violating zones or gross negligence. I wonder.

It is sad EZ. We watched a Moorngs cat go right over the reef area in White Bay JVD yesterday, ignoring the channel markings. Was high tide but still…….