A strong blow and some rain came through the anchorage last night. The wake up call sent me on deck to check that everything was secure. Unfortunately, we had dragged anchor and were only a few yards from another boat. I decided to raise the anchor, let the wind push us past the boat, and then try to reset. The pic is what I found when I raised the anchor. I figured that we'd snagged a crab pot, but I kept pulling on the tangled line and raised a chain and then a pretty nice anchor. I'd snap a pic of the new anchor, but it's presently holding the boat.
I'd deduct one anchor from the "Lost to the Sea" sidebar (the total had been four anchors), but I can't find that sidebar element. I don't remember deleting it. Maybe I'll add another sidebar "Lost to the Internet." I'd have to put on that list, huge amounts of time.
Earlier in the trip, weighing anchor at 3:30 am would have put an end to a night's sleep. I'd now be writing you from a sleep deprived trance. But I've gotten pretty good at putting myself back asleep after middle of the night physical activity. I've perfected my own method of "counting sheep."
Here's another reminder why I'm a coastal, not blue water cruiser.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
What the Sea Giveth...
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6 comments:
Scott,
I noticed that 2 sidebars were missing - Amy's worry list and Lost to Sea Gods. I have copied them from Fred's journel on your voyage so that you can add them back :)
Rose
AMY'S WORRY LIST
• Tugboats
• Small Craft Warnings
• Scurvy
• Southern Belles
• Losing Cap'n Scott to the Sea
LOST TO THE SEA GODS
• One Five Gallon Bucket
• One Rudder
• One Plastic Adirondack Chair
• One Winch Washer
• Three Anchors
Wow Scott there's definitely something going on with you and anchors - at least this time the tide turned in your favor (sorry, can't resist a cheap pun).
That's an amazing hunk of stuff that you got up and I get tense just imagining the scene of you trying to manage the anchor gear while in the middle of a storm as you're being blown down on to another boat - (in the dark no less). It must've been quite the thrill ride. Frankly, I think it's a spectacular accomplishment that you could manage all of that singlehanded - especially considering that you've got a cat with lots of windage and not so much power. Very impressive!!
What is the anchor that you 'caught'? Can you discern how that other anchor was lost by looking at the rode?
Obviously the good news is that you've come out ahead - OTOH the fact that you had to be plowing the bottom with your anchor in order to snag the other one says that things weren't so secure and that's gotta be a concern.
Nice job on the generator refurb - I didn't realize that you were a mechanic too! You've gotta have a lot of confidence to undertake a project like that on your only source of power - while anchored out. BTW - I notice in the photo that there is an open cockpit scupper just below 'repair central'. I learned the hard way to always stuff something in those things before taking anything apart. At least for me they had an a mysterious attractive force that would pull loose objects right down. I remember losing a winch pawl that way - and trying to buy a replacement was a huge task since (wouldn't you know it) that particular part had gone out of production.
Thanks for the invite to 'guest blog' on something - that's a very genereous offer. I may take you up on that at some point if I get inspired.
Ross
Thanks Rose.
Ross, The storm wasn't that big, and maybe I've just gotten used to stuff. I just pushed us off the other boat as we went by. No one was aboard the other boat. There are a lot of unattended and some very derelict/abandoned boats in this anchorage.
I think the other anchor is another Danforth, but pretty large. I haven't pulled it up again since last night. By the length of rode, I'm guessing that it got loose from a cleat and pulled all the line with it. Disentangling the line wasn't as difficult as I imagined it would be.
I think that I dragged anchor for two reasons. One, the holding isn't too good with the mud bottom here, and two, the tide runs pretty fast through the anchorage. I've heard of setting two anchors, one for each direction of the tide. But I haven't tried it yet. Maybe I will now that I have another anchor.
Thanks for the kudos on the generator. I don't know that I'm much of a mechanic, but I do know that I'm a cheap-ass sob do-it-yourselfer. And I've owned a number of older engines over the years. I don't think there is a simpler engine to work on than a two cycle, one cylinder. But if there was any problem, the marina is just a short distance away, and home depot is only a little further. However, I will make sure to cover the scuppers in the future!
If you don't get inspired to write a post, I may just take one of your comments, and adapt it into a post. They are often as interesting and informative as my original post.
Scott is being bashful. He has actually worked on engines from a couple of Farmall tractors that we have and also a Gravely tractor. Probably should add to that his junker Ford Ranger truck and his 67 Sunbeam Alpine.
I can attest that he is not afraid to tackle any job.
And I'll attest that a lot of the engines were grampa's, or hand-me-downs from grampa.
I still remember stripping the threads out of the gravely spark plug head fitting.
What happened to your comment about where to anchor for the shuttle launch?
Look at the last comment on the previous blog.
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