SUBJECT: to loose an anchor...

Submitted by Brad from CALIFORNIA on

i have only lost 3 anchors in over 90,000nm and 750 nights on the water. I had to cut two roads... the first time was no big deal--1986 inside the outer harbor, the second time was on the back side of San Nicolas island on a blustery morning. Tried for a couple hours to pull the anchor to no avail--so finally just at sundown i had to swim down to see if i could get it free. It was a few feet shy of 50 ft.

It was getting dark but i was able to get down there and work on it a few times until i realized that it was hopeless-- chain wedged btwn two rocks--5' span of SST chain was locked in the rocks and wouldn't budge. So i spent a wind driven night secure in knowing that the anchor would not loose hold--but what would the morning bring?

I get up before the sun on a blustery morning, 15-20 knot wind driving into the shore. i stowed all the gear, velcro the wrist, neck, and ankles of the foul weather clothing. The last thing to do was to cut the road, put the engine in gear and hope to make it the 3 miles down the island in into the lee--the ramp is 78nm of whitecaps away. If the engine stalls for any reason, it would mean that i could do nothing as i was blown into the rocky shoreline.

With trepidation, i cut the road and made it past the island and safely back home. (25' of SST anchor chain is expensive)

last week i anchored off the east end of the same island. there was a 5 hour gale that night and it blew me off my set a couple hundred yards into a kelp bed. The next morning there was a raging current and wind. I waited until conditions settled down around noon before i would move around the islands looking for the right conditiions for UW photographic opportunities.

i went to pull the anchor and it was stuck as happens quite often. I drove the skiff to pull the anchor and i discovered that the heavy 20lb flutes had broken off! Here i am at noon with no anchor except a tiny spare and i wasn't going to chance another gale with that scant ground tackle, so i jumped off the island much later that i would have..

The moral of this story is that the anchor is THE most important safety device on your boat. I would rather be a hundred miles off the coast without a compass or GPS, VHF than without an anchor...

Brad

lovesthesea

PS, at least i kept the SST chain--waiting for a new Navy anchor to show up any day...