Joy of Running Aground

Like most sailors I have developed a natural fear of running aground. If I have less than 3 feet below the keel, I start sweating bullets.  Back in the UK, where tides in some places are 20 feet or more, sitting on the bottom, especially in the muddier loci is part of the deal.

In fact in much of the UK the shallow draft, twin or triple keeled stout sailboats like Dylan Winter's Mirror are very common. It's a whole different way of cruising and you learn to love it. In the video below you can see why. More to the point, you can see why the joy of sitting aground in the mud, watching the birds and generally chilling can be as much as part of sailing as blasting along at 8 kts.