Advanced Scenario Check: Grounding, Flooding and Injured Crew

At 2310 a fictional yacht touches a charted shoal and the helm becomes heavy. One crew member falls and sustains a head injury. Bilge depth at a marked point rises from 12 cm to 18 cm by 2316. The engine is stopped; deeper water lies astern and the tide is rising. VHF contact is available.

The first six-minute observation gives (18 − 12) ÷ 6 = 1.0 cm per minute at the mark. At 2316 the main pump starts. By 2320 the level is 20 cm: a net rise of (20 − 18) ÷ 4 = 0.5 cm per minute with the pump running. The pump is helping but ingress remains uncontrolled. Bilge geometry is not known, so no litres-per-minute claim is justified.

Do not restart and motor astern merely because deeper water is available. Steering is degraded, underwater damage is unknown and the grounded hull may be supporting the breach. The rising tide changes water depth but does not prove that movement is safer. Keep the yacht controlled, investigate only with safe access and preserve the propeller, rudder, batteries and communications.

Run parallel roles: trained first aid and casualty observations; helm/lookout and position; flooding containment and timed level; VHF/Coastguard update; survival preparation. Report the grounding, injury, control state, timed water trend, pump state, position, tide and intended fallback. Escalation must reflect the combined danger rather than waiting for one subsystem to fail completely.

The next safe state may be remaining supported for assisted recovery, a controlled move after hull/steering evidence, or abandonment if the yacht becomes less safe than the raft. This scenario does not prescribe a universal MAYDAY word, astern setting, tow or abandonment time. It requires the skipper to state which observed change creates grave and imminent danger, which options remain and why the chosen transition is safer.