We awoke to rain and wind. It was early, so we looked at the forecast and it looked like it would pass by quickly, but it had strong wind. I was watching out the window as a big gust came up and started blowing the anchored sailboat across the harbor. I watched them quickly get the boat started and push back against the wind. They did quite well recovering, and they dropped the anchor again once the wind had slowed down. Since it had stopped raining now, we decided it was time to get ready to depart. I asked Lauren’s opinion about what we should do due to the fact that she is always right and she said we should leave. I don’t know where I would be without her probably floating around lost. After walking Frank and getting prepared, we left the dock around 10:45am.
The trip took us a little over four hours. We came to the anchorage and saw there were several boats already anchored. We circled around a bit, then found a spot we felt comfortably far enough from the other boats and with enough depth for us. We dropped anchor and let out enough line so we could swing, but not get too close to the others. After making sure all was secure, we took Frank for a walk around town. We walked around the beach, and through parts of town close to the docks. We made our way back to the boat and had a Zoom meeting with some friends. I was getting hungry and since it was Cinco de Mayo, I ordered some food from the local Mexican restaurant called Tower 7 Baja Mexican Grill. I went and picked it up and we feasted!
Day 2- We had nice weather in the afternoon, allowing us to spend some time biking around. Before we left though, we noticed the boat that was behind us had now swung fairly close to us now that the wind had shifted. We were maybe thirty feet from them, but we were a hundred and fifty feet away yesterday. Hmmm… we waited to see if they noticed or were going to move? The rules for anchoring are this: first one anchored decides how much scope to put out. Everyone else should do roughly the same, or make sure you are out of the ‘swing zone’ so you don’t collide. Third rule is if you do not like it- move. Since they were there first, I had no expectations of them moving. I felt we were far enough away we wouldn’t collide, so that was fine. I didn’t want to move and didn’t see any weather issues, so we decided to take the bikes to shore. We rode all over the small town and hung out on the beach a bit. We brought the bikes back to the boat and relaxed. I was able to talk to the neighboring boat and he told me he had a hundred and fifty feet of line out. We had about seventy five feet out, which is why he was close when we all shifted. He said he brought twenty five feet of line in to give us some room. We thought all would be good for the night… We were looking at the weather and planning our next destination. It was looking like it would be an okay travel day to get to Swansboro, North Carolina as the forecast for tonight and tomorrow was fair. We made dinner and I was sitting on the back deck, just finishing eating when I noticed the wind start to pick up. No sooner had I set my bowl down when the wind really started blowing hard- very hard. I was standing there looking around and the wind just kept getting stronger and stronger. Now I was getting worried and started around to go toward the front to check on our anchor gear when Lauren popped her head out the door and asked “are we dragging?!”. The wind was now howling and not letting up; the boats were all swinging about and as soon as I looked back I could see we were indeed dragging toward the docks. The wind was now close to thirty miles an hour and gusting even harder! Holy shit- where did this come from?! The only thing I could do at this moment was to run up and try to let out more anchor line. I let out about twenty feet and ran back to Lauren. “We need to start the engine NOW and go!” I exclaimed. I ran down and turned on the breakers, came back up and turned the key- the engine roared to life and I looked out the door to see us moving closer to the docks again. F@CK! I threw the boat into gear and just tried to drive forward, ripping the window covers down so I could see. We were now moving forward against the wind, but the anchor and line were still down in the water! I had Lauren take over the helm while I went to the bow, battling against the wind to get the lines ready for retrieval. Lauren expertly was keeping the boat somewhat stationary while working the windlass. I was guiding the line in and trying to direct her in the direction of the anchor, all the while making sure we were not going to hit any other boats. Now we had the anchor up but the wind was still howling and it was now completely dark. I took over the helm and asked Lauren to go upstairs to get the upper helm ready- I have much better vision from up there, 360 degrees instead of the lower helm where I only have 180 degrees. While she runs upstairs, I am trying to drive us out of the anchorage, trying to stay clear of the other boats and their anchor lines. I realize that I had not turned on any lights or even the radio, so I reach over and turn those on. As the radio comes on I can hear other boats chattering about them dragging too and needing help, some are calling out to Marina’s to try to get a dock and the coast guard is interjecting in at points.. At this point my only worry is to get us away from other boats which would be a safer place. Lauren has come back down and let’s me know we’re ready to move upstairs. She takes the lower helm while I dash upstairs and take over from there. Lauren quickly joins me up there and we cautiously make our way out of the anchorage. Whew! That was all-consuming! The wind is still blustery and the water is turbulent, but we are clear of collisions. Lauren now is looking at the weather forecast and it is showing twenty plus mile an hour winds for the next couple of hours! This all came out of nowhere. We are now driving blind, only our GPS chart to guide us as it is so dark and the noise from the wind and waves are intense. We find a spot and drop our anchor agin, this time letting out almost two hundred feet of line. We keep the engine running during this just to make sure. The anchor has caught hold and we are now sitting there, adrenaline pumping, looking at each other still in awe of how fast that all happened. “What a team!” I exclaimed as we sit there. It truly was a team effort to get everything together and moving before any of the worst possible scenarios could happen. We continued to look at the forecast and kept the engine at idle for at least an hour. Finally, I walked over and killed the engine. At this point we were not moving and the wind was staying steady, then dropping little by little. Now the adrenaline was wearing off and I was getting tired. I knew Lauren was going to stay up for a while, keeping an eye out, just to make sure. I retired, still saying “what a team!”. I fell off to sleep while Lauren stayed up for a bit longer on the anchor watch…