Sandbar Saga: Rescuing a Stranded Boat in the Most Unbelievable Spot! | Grounding 20ft Southwind

So I got a call for a 20ft boat that was aground by Jewfish Key. When I called the guy to let him know I was on my way, he said “you can’t miss me. I’m the boat in the middle of the sandbar.” I laughed and said ok, thinking to myself that he had probably anchored a bit too close to the sandbar at high tide and was maybe 10ft or so from the water. Nope. He wasn’t kidding. He was quite literally in the middle of the sandbar!!! It’s always a good feeling when I’m able to pull off a job when everyone is watching and thinking that there’s no way that boat is going to get free!
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AI-Generated Description:
🚤 Unbelievable Boat Rescue Mission! 🌊
In this heart-pounding adventure, join me on a daring rescue mission as I respond to a distress call for a 20ft boat stranded by Jewfish Key. Little did I know, this wasn't your typical grounding situation - the boat owner claimed to be "in the middle of the sandbar." 😱
🤣 You Can't Miss Me! I'm the Boat in the Sandbar
The boat owner's confident declaration had me chuckling, assuming it was just a case of anchoring too close at high tide. Oh boy, was I wrong! This boat was literally stuck dead center in the sandbar, creating a spectacle for onlookers who doubted any rescue could be successful.
🌊 Against All Odds: The Great Boat Liberation
Witness the adrenaline-pumping moments as I strategize and execute the seemingly impossible task of freeing the stranded boat. The suspense builds as skeptics watch, convinced that there's no way this boat is getting back to open water. Spoiler alert: I love proving them wrong!
👀 Crowd-Pleasing Boat Rescues
There's something uniquely satisfying about pulling off a challenging rescue mission with an audience. Join me on this nautical adventure, and let's relish the triumph together. Who said boats don't belong in the middle of a sandbar?
👍 Don't Forget to Like, Subscribe, and Hit the Bell Icon!
If you enjoy thrilling boat rescues, maritime adventures, and a good laugh, make sure to hit that like button, subscribe to my channel, and ring the bell for notifications. You won't want to miss the next epic rescue mission on the high seas!
#BoatRescue #MaritimeAdventures #SandbarDrama #NauticalRescue #EpicBoatMission

[@DraggonCanoe]

A day like that on a beautiful bar, the only thing I would call for is more beer.

[@dallasmitchell2484]

You have the patience of a saint bro !!!!

[@CaptKenO]

Thanks Dallas!

[@jasonc470]

Great job and like others mentioned the patience you have when dealing with people makes watching your recover episodes even better. Stay safe

[@CaptKenO]

Thanks Jason! It's a good thing I don't say out loud everything that goes through my mind when dealing with customers like this 😂

[@jasonc470]

​@@CaptKenOlol man Ken you have to keep a tight lip! Glad people like you are out there!

[@CaptKenO]

@jasonc470 hahaha. Someone has to suffer through getting paid to be out on a boat... Might as well be me 😂

[@53Peterbilt]

I hadn't noticed until this episode that you're in a power Cat. Awesome boats! With those twin outboards, that's a slick set-up! Love it!!

[@CaptKenO]

Hahaha yep! It sure is! This is a 28ft prokat and we've also got a 26ft worldcat. Love the cat boat with the twins since it's a pretty stable platform, but also give spread to the engines and therefore great differential thrust control for maneuverability!

[@usmcraid5332]

Good job brother

[@primetimefishing2436]

What a gorgeous sandbar! I would have enjoyed every second until the tide came up.

[@CaptKenO]

Some people have better things to do than sit around for 8hrs+ and wait for a high tide...plus, this was later in the day, so they'd probably already been there for 4hrs or more

[@MLZ1957]

Guys got mad skills!

[@CaptKenO]

Thanks MLZ!

[@boatnz5374]

That was painful, the anchoring part

[@JohnSmith-qi9qs]

Nicely done! Twin 300 hp Power Poles! LOL! 😀

[@CaptKenO]

Nah. They're not hitting bottom

[@RossHick]

I love all the people like, "why don't they just wait." Tell me you don't have a girlfriend or wife without telling me, bro.😂

[@user-dv7hb2sc9m]

Saved him & he was setup for the day he planned, minus the tow charge but he got her out & saved the day. Well, you did but it came at a cost. I didn't think she was coming out..... nice work

[@fourfortyroadrunner6701]

I didn't realize the grounded boat was that small. I visualized some yanking LOL. I've yanked a few 4x4's out of mud, sand, etc, back in the day. Toyota FJ-40, 340 Mopar. Those days are gone. I am 75. These days, a little 12' '53 Crewstliner decked bow runabout, and a 15' 59 Crestliner Voyager. I screw around with old OMC 2 strokes, Lake Coeur d Alene, and others up here in N end of Idaho.

[@Chief61]

Impressive sand bar rescue.

[@CaptKenO]

Thanks Steve!

[@lexifiscina2370]

This was another rental from us. Wonder why they didn’t call the marina lol. By the way, that sunk boat you brought to cannons a few videos ago is back, sunk again! So sad.

[@CaptKenO]

Yeah, I heard about that... Unfortunately it wasn't my day on call so I didn't get a video of that, but it was more or less the same situation🤦

[@lexifiscina2370]

@@CaptKenO yep, exact same issue.

[@CaptKenO]

Based on the situation, I can say with 99% confidence that it's the way the boat is tied up at the dock that it keeps sinking

[@whatsupshittafabraans1926]

What’s the problem? The tide will come back eventually

[@primetimefishing2436]

Agree! Have a beer and enjoy it while the tide comes back up!

[@CaptKenO]

Eventually, yes. But that could be quite a long wait depending on when they got stuck and when the next high tide is

[@whatsupshittafabraans1926]

@@CaptKenO aryye yes- I looked up your tide charts there hardly any movement, I get in my area 2m tides max moons high n low every 6 1/2 hours,

[@CaptKenO]

Haha. Yeahhhhhh... The tides over here on the gulf coast are a bit wacky and all over the place 😂 Thankfully we have those those tide charts to reference!

[@MikeyCanuck123]

Didn't watch the video, huh. Guy beached at high tide.

[@vancity2349]

Nice job Cap. I didnt think it would come off so easy at first but then when it was beside your boat, its much smaller than I thought. When you are around those sand bars so often, do your engines ever suck in sand? Do you have any special filters or screens on them?

[@CaptKenO]

Thanks Vancity! Yeah, I wasn't sure it was going to come off seeing how shallow the water was all the way to it. These engines in particular suck up a lot of sand because they've got an extra intake on the very bottom of the lower unit. No we don't have any special filters so we do chew up our impellers quite a bit. It's also why, despite what a lot of people want me to do, I don't tie up close and washout under most stuck boats

[@vancity2349]

@@CaptKenO Ah got it. Impellers are relatively cheap and easy to replace generally...

[@CaptKenO]

@vancity2349 yeahhhhhh...as long as we keep serving it. In the summer, we tend to start having some overheating issues as we near our service interval. We just did a full water pump replacement at the start of the year, so that should help a lot since the wear plate was pretty beat up

[@vancity2349]

@@CaptKenO Well I am sure you put big hours on those engines as its your business and you need them to be super reliable.

[@user-rq7qt8qf7g]

👍

[@langstonholland9272]

Pulling that boat across the sand was quite the surprise to me. The TowBoat US contract specs "soft groundings", but that was as hard as they get, yet you knew it'd be easy. Amazing.

[@datboi5276]

It’s sorta up to Captains discretion and own standard from what I’ve heard, but of course it varies a lot depending on which towboat us they work for.

[@CaptKenO]

Langston...are you a TBUS captain or just a member who actually read down into the contract? 😂 I haven't actually read the contract since it's not mine...but yes, anything other than soft ungrounding technically isn't covered, but as Datboi said, it's really up to the captain to determine what is/isn't, and each TBUS "franchise" will have guidelines for their captains to follow, but ultimately, it's the captains call.

[@langstonholland9272]

@@CaptKenO I'm just a weirdo that read my membership contract. And _thanks_ for all the answers to my questions on your other videos as well. You are extremely good at what you do and I appreciate learning from you. I grew up just north of you in St Pete running aground on a little 13 ft. Boston Whaler, now I'm in Pensacola and into sailing - but only in water at least twice my boat's draft. : )

[@CaptKenO]

@langstonholland9272 hahaha 😂 it's good to see some people at least still read contacts! I've had more than a few members not even understand the basic limits of their coverage tier 🤦 I enjoy interacting with comments that are respectful of both me and the customer and are actually genuine questions! So keep them coming 😁

[@CaptainRon1913]

Not sure what size engines on the TBUS boat, but that little lightweight tupperware boat is no match for 600hp. It's different with a grounded sailboat with the fin keel dug 3ft into the sand.

[@dallasmitchell2484]

Hi bro what kind of boat are you in ? This looks like a fun job how do you get started doing it ? Thanks bro have a great day !!

[@CaptKenO]

Hey Dallas! This is a 28ft prokat. It can definitely be a fun and exciting job, but like most jobs, there's pros and cons. I'll be releasing a video about how I got into this sometime later this spring/summer, so stay tuned for that

[@dallasmitchell2484]

@@CaptKenO ok cool thank you bro and stay safe !!!

[@richardmccreery2979]

just watch all his videos starting at no 1 hit the thumbs up on them all and you'll figure it out !!

[@dallasmitchell2484]

@@richardmccreery2979 I have watched most of them

[@Jonsmithsrq]

Whats up with the 54 yellowfin video?

[@CaptKenO]

I removed it for reasons I won't disclose

[@markflynfloat6779]

If he is from Destin he should know crab island…must have a tow boat membership or that would have been pricey

[@lexifiscina2370]

He rented this boat from a local marina

[@CaptKenO]

He did have a membership, so it cost him $0

[@db1218-pd7mo]

@@CaptKenO, although it costs him $0, do most people at least provide you a tip? If so, what is average/reasonable? You are really patient.

[@CaptKenO]

Thanks Mate! No, unfortunately more often than not, I do not get a tip...probably only tipped about 1/3 of the time, and the average is around $30 or so

[@hotrod76.]

All them boats there wldnt pull him out??

[@CaptKenO]

How?

[@tarpanc34]

did they run out of beer.. why not just wait till next high tide and float off the sand bar..

[@CaptKenO]

Because I think the next high tide was about 8hrs later around midnight...🤔

[@Prototheria]

Situation: Aground Destination: Deeper Water lol... no shit? 🤣

[@CaptKenO]

Well, it wouldn't make sense to have the destination as shallower water... 😂

[@danielchurchill9004]

😂

[@B.Hollis]

Now we know why they were stranded, don’t know how they got there from the shore.

[@CaptKenO]

They got there at high tide and I got there about an hour before the low tide

[@mysticvalley2003]

in a rush to get to the beach and in a rush to get off when the tied went out....yap a newbie

[@CaptKenO]

Supposedly it was a rental boat

[@Steve-qn8gn]

I don’t understand backing them in all they had to do was manually spin the boat.

[@CaptKenO]

The idea is that they'd drop their anchor and then I could set it for them

[@tedathome3]

for someone who just got pulled of the middle of the sandbar, dont think he should criticize some ones anchoring skills.

[@CaptKenO]

I think you're a bit confused here...

[@tedathome3]

@@CaptKenO please correct me. Did he not get pulled from the middle of Jew fish key? Then tell the one on the front deck don't throw the anchor like that?

[@CaptKenO]

I don't remember that, but if you say so than I stand corrected and I'm sorry. I remember criticizing them, but not him about his crew

[@tedathome3]

I love your videos. Run out of that area alot and nice to see trouble spots. Have a great day

[@CaptKenO]

Hahaha. Yep. Definitely some areas are best to just avoid especially if you have a bigger boat!

[@greathornedowl3644]

🤦‍♂ARGH - clueless boaters not unlike clueless drivers, anchoring right on top of you not paying attention to what you are doing

[@robertgregory8936]

Hello Captain, your logo shows a ‘granny’ knot, which is not used in general seamanship. Rework your logo to show a proper square knot. Yes- it matters a lot. From Captain Gregory.

[@CaptKenO]

It's a stock photo and no it does not matter

[@swamprat69er]

That is one way to clean the bottom of the boat.