2011-11-18 Dragging anchors? Who me? Never!

Never say never! A wonderful aphorism. One that I learned many years ago at university.

In 30 something years of sailing I have never had an anchor drag!! and that includes riding out a cyclone on a 28 ft sailboat with my wife and 3 young children. A record to be proud of, wouldn’t you agree?

Of course, there’s always a twist. Never say never and, another aphorism, records are meant to be broken!!

A beautiful creek, anchored snugly for the night, a sailboat in front of us, a power cat behind us and a sailboat and trawler rafted together for the night. Mmmm. remember our last experience with rafted boats. Stay away from them – they drag anchors!! Should we call them up on the VHF and ask them to break the raft for the night? Forecast for 25kn winds but we are all in the windshadow of a large copse of trees.

We’ll be Ok. Yeah right….

1.10am beep-beep…..beep-beep…..beep-beep Wha… Wha’s that? The anchor alarm!!!! Tide must have swung us around. Stumble half asleep to the chartplotter and reset anchor alarm.

That sailboat that was in front of us seems awful close behind us now! Ah well, maybe we just had more rode (anchor line) out than him. But, let me pull on some warm clothes and take a closer look.

Now he seems even closer. MARY!!!! we’re dragging our anchor, START ENGINES. We gotta move NOW!!!!!

Uplift anchor and power away. Luckily there’s a full moon so can see somewhat. Try the, recently fixed, spotlight. NO, turn it off, now completely blinded!!

Move the boat forward and drop anchor behind catamaran. Anchor drags, not setting!! Up again. Motor around in dark. Current pushing us one way, wind the other, which way to set anchor? Beep-Beep….Beep-beep. Oh sh….t, what now? Depth alarm. Depth only reading 3 feet. Wind’s howling!! Close to opposite bank, power away. Use radar and depth sounder to find middle of channel.

Drop hook again. Yeah it sets

Set anchor alarm and find new feature on radar. It can set a range and distance line on another object. So I set one on the sailboat behind us. He must have been worried as he had also been on deck checking his chain!! Wonder if he was as worried as me?

Sit back and relax and discuss events with the Admiral who, although shaking with adrenalin, handled the boat with great aplomb:) Keep a wary eye on the radar.

That yellow blob representing the sailboat is now inside the previously set circle range! Dragging?? Not again!!

Engines on, up anchor, move forward, drop anchor, wait for it to set – we’re getting a lot of practice doing this at night!!! Set radar and anchor alarm. Start generator, have a cup of strong coffee, this is going to be one loooooonnnnnggggg night!

My eyes are glued to the radar and Mary’s on the sailboat behind us. Fortunately the anchor holds and no further dramas. Since we’re awake anyway, it’s a daybreak start.

Now, we all know what an oasis is, right? I call it a marina

Lessons learnt: don’t use a Fortress anchor in mud and NEVER use a Fortress (or Danforth type) anchor in a swinging tide. It won’t hold and it won’t reset.

Now we’re in Fernandina Beach where my broker, Mike Dickens of Paradise Yacht Sales is located, and I will be able to have the boat’s bow modified to carry my Manson Supreme anchor – an anchor I bought in Baltimore but, for various reasons, couldn’t fit.

Last lesson re-learnt – Never say Never!!