[continuation...]
Santa Barbara Harbor was less than 90 minutes away. I searched my chart plotter for "Santa Barbara Guest Slips" which it found, but it refused to "guide to" and it refused to "route to" the only thing it would do is "go to" which steers a simple straight line between point A and B. It did nothing to help me understand there was a fucking breakwater between those two points!
This time I was extremely lucky, this particular breakwater has about 150 yards of sandy beach, the autopilot drove straight to the middle of it. 75 yards to either side would've landed me on the rocks, my boat would've been destroyed and my dogs and I would've had to fight to survive.
I ran aground just before high tide. SB Harbor Patrol tried but was unable to pull me off. I called BoatUS, the closest was in Ventura. (Their office is connected to the work dock where we'd been staying for months, I knew all the guys that work there.)
They left me there to wait out the tide cycle, and arrived a couple of hours before the next high tide. It was the sensible thing to do. It was a light tide cycle, it only fluctuated by 2', yet another stroke of good luck.
When the boat arrived we attached the bridle to stern cleats, established signals and and what to watch for, then they patiently applied as much force as my cleats would take without breaking. Slowly but surely they inched me off the beach and towed me back towards the channel I should've taken. No damage was apparent, though I'm pretty sure my antifouling bottom paint is scraped up. Addendum: had diver swim the bottom, he said only the tip of the keel was scraped up, the rest of my anti-fouling paint is intact.
I got a guest slip and stayed for 13 days, very nice place, the most dog-friendly spot I've ever visited. My dogs were welcomed by every business on the waterfront, including a very nice restaurant. And the slip was reasonable too, only $33/day for the first 14 days. Then it doubled for the next 14, but even that was cheaper than Ventura Isle ($92/day is pretty steep.)
Addendum: I have, over the last few months, relived the experience and my bad decisions, examined every aspect, extensively reevaluated my skill set and competence. I must be able to recognize when I'm nearing a state of exhaustion, and must adjust my priorities to compensate for my aging capabilities. Luck doesn't last forever. I've tried very hard to learn as much as possible from my mistakes...
As for running aground, I need to try way harder to arrange for my first approaches to new harbors occur in daylight. I'll never use the chart plotter's named POI's for autopilot destinations, must pick a point outside and negotiate the approach once I reach it. And I must stop, analyze and backtrack any time the channel lights stop making sense. I knew better, I knew what was at stake, yet I fucked up anyway. If I can't think clearly enough to avoid that, I'll have to sell the boat and close off this era of my life, my last responsible act as a mariner, an explorer of the sea.
Addendum: My self-confidence was founded in countless outings and voyages, over decades with no incidents -- ever. No boats lost, no injuries, no lapses of reason, no need to call for assistance, no situations that had completely escaped my ability to control, no responsibility that exceeded my endurance. That confidence has taken a hit.... but it is still substantial
I believe I've gained enough insight into my limits imposed by age, and adjusted my perspective accordingly, I believe I can still do this safely and expertly -- If I didn't I would hang it up now. I may not be entirely objective, to give up sailing would pain me deeply. But safety has been the prime concern of every single voyage I have taken. If the captain loses confidence, the ship won't sail.
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