Thanks for the recap, Jeff. I love reading that stuff.
J
From: "Jeffery L. Sheler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: catalina27-talk: Memorial Day Weekend
Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 16:12:24 -0400
What a perfect sailing weekend on the southern Chesapeake! Beautiful
weather, placid harbor on Sarah's Creek off the York, nice breezes coming
and going. Now, if only I could get the hang of anchoring...
Saturday night, the wife and I dropped hook just off the point entering the
northeast branch of Sarah's Creek, a picturesque spot directly across from
the York River Yacht Basin. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and grilled some
steaks and had a leisurely evening, turning in around 11 p.m. About
midnight the breeze picked up out of the southwest, and about an hour later
my wife peeked outside and announced we'd drifted a hundred yards or so. We
fired up the engine and moved ahead near our original anchorage and dropped
the hook.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, when we drifted backward we had snagged a
crab pot. They were everywhere. It's almost as if the waterfront homeowners
deliberately and strategically place them in front of their property to
discourage itinerant mariners from blocking their view. Anyway, it became
beknownst when I put the engine in reverse to set the anchor and the engine
shuddered and conked out. It was a sickening sound. I put it into neutral
and it immediately restarted, but it died as soon as I engaged reverse. I
knew then what had happened, but at 1 or 2 a.m., I wasn't about to go
undersea diving, so we settled back to bed. After sun-up I went under and
cut the line that had wrapped itself tightly around the blades and shaft.
(Note to self: Keep a swim mask or goggles on board for such adventures in
the future.)
Now, at this point, any seasoned sailor worth his salt would have known to
reset the anchor properly, now that use of reverse had been restored. Not
me. We enjoyed a beautiful day at anchor, did some reading, took a cooling
dip just off the stern, explored the creek with our dinghy, had dinner at
the marina and again settled in for what we hoped would be a more restful
night. The wife turned in early, having been deprived of a good night's
rest the previous night. Just to be safe (I thought), I stood watch,
waiting for the night breezes to kick in just to be sure the anchor would
hold. A couple of scotches and a clear moonlit night made it a most
enjoyable watch. The breezes arrived again around midnight. It was not as
stiff as the night before, but enough to bring the anchor rode taut.
Satisfied and sleepy, I went below and immediately fell asleep.
A half hour later my wife jostled me awake. Again we had drifted and now
were perilously close to another anchored vessel. It took me a few moments
to orient myself and begin to ponder our next move. My wife was a step
ahead of me. "Start the engine," she ordered. "We're moving to the marina!"
And so we did. We took the first empty slip we could find and tied up, and
settled in for a secure and restful sleep.
Did I mention I'm something of a newbie when it comes to anchoring? This
was my first attempt with this boat. I had done it a few times with my
previous boat back in the 1980s and I thought I knew the drill: Drop anchor
(it's a Danforth), let the anchor and chain settle in, back up until the
anchor sets, put out more rode to keep the line as flat as possible. When I
got home, I revisited the manuals. What I had failed to do was to stay in
reverse long enough to actually bring the boat to a stop. If properly set,
the boat should spring forward slightly when you shift from reverse to
neutral. I had just put it into reverse, backed for a couple of seconds,
and considered the anchor set. Lesson learned.
So our weekend was a bit more of an adventure than we were planning for,
but enjoyable nonetheless. Now we're looking forward to our next anchorage
and a shot at redeeming ourselves.
Jeff Sheler
s/v Windsome
C27TR #6594
Hampton, VA
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