Dragging Anchor In Watch Hill

So there I was...several years ago anchored off Napatree Point in Watch Hill, RI on a very windy Labor Day.  The forecast was warm and sunny so the place had filled with hundreds of boats and the atmosphere was festive.  I had been at the beach with Kim but walked over the small sand dunes to where the dingy was left and motored out to where Eventide was anchored.  After taking care of some business I dropped over to a friends boat who was anchored nearby. As I stood in the dingy talking to Bill Turner and his wife we started hearing a series of horn blasts and soon realized that a raft-up of two very large boats, weighing over 30,000 lbs together,  were dragging their anchor in the 25mph winds and gaining speed as it headed for a five boat raft-up anchored in its path.  The horns were having no effect in getting the attention of the owners of the drifting boats because they were at the beach, oblivious to the thousands of dollars in damage and possible injury of adults and children that their boats were about to inflict.  Encouraging Bill to hop into the dingy I sped toward the moving boats and quickly dropped him off on the swim platform of one of them then headed for the anchor line hanging limp at the bow.  As Bill worked to get the unused anchor ready to deploy I followed the line in the water to its end and pulled up an undersized anchor for the task fowled with a huge clump of seaweed.  Clearing the weeds I quickly dropped the anchor and when the line went taut the boats came to a halt about 25 yards from the big raft-up generating a sigh of relief from its intended victims.  Bill fed me the second anchor and I motored it out a fair distance before dropping it. He gave it a tug or two and we felt the boats were safe to leave.  After spending  some time at the beach with our wives, Bill and I made a run out to our boats again to take care of some business and were waved over by the drifting boats owners who had since returned.  The five boat raft-up had filled them in on the drama of the day and they invited us aboard to thank us with the best of frosty adult beverages they had to offer.  After more than an hour of liquid thanks and many stories told we left our hosts with bottles of wine in hand and a promise from them to purchase a more substantial anchor that very week.  As has happened many times, our wives were wondering why it was taking so long for us to return.  That's life on the water.

Old Guy Wisdom

So there I was...kicking back at the anchorage in Newport Harbor several years ago on a sailboat named Crosswinds.  She had taken us to many wonderful harbors in the years we had owned her and now she was swinging at anchor in one of the most famous and celebrated among them.  I watched as a very old sailing vessel wandered in and anchored near us with an even older couple of guys.  I felt that they had set their hook a bit too close so I dingied over to them to get acquainted in case we bumped in the night when the boats would swing with the changes of tide and wind direction.  As I approached, their heavy British accent was unmistakable and I led with, "I'll bet you two guys have some great stories to tell."  A big smile came over their faces and they invited me aboard pulling out a bottle of wine at the same time.  They were about 75 years young with grey wind blown hair and weather worn tanned skin.  Growing up in England as childhood friends one of them was now transplanted to the U.S. and they got together for this last hurrah with a trip up the coast to Maine and back before the one sold the boat and moved to Arizona with his wife.  Somewhere in the middle of the second bottle of wine I had an "Aha" moment.  They were saying how Americans don't fully understand the concept of holiday (vacation) and they were right concerning me.  Though given several weeks off from my employer, I had never taken more than one week off in a stretch.  Then they continued to say how we will use our hard earned vacation to work on our houses.  This was insanity to them.   We discussed the days it takes to decompress when starting a vacation and to gear up for going back to work.  By the third bottle of wine it was all making sense to me.  We laughed and told stories as a couple hours went by until Kim called over from our boat asking if I was ever coming back.  That night, about 2 in the morning,  a storm came through powerful enough to knock all the lights out on the massive Newport Bridge and sure enough my new friends boat came up against Crosswinds in the middle of it.  I told them that we would ride it out together but fearing it might injure our boat they pulled anchor, motored off into the dark and I never saw them again.  The following year I took a two week vacation and three weeks the year after that.  Thanks guys, wherever you are, for the great advice and for sharing your wine and wisdom.

Missouri Snowstorm

So there I was... hiking through a snow covered field with a stranger while my wife and two month old child were back in the pickup truck half on its side in the ditch.  It all started one night, some 25 years ago, at Kims parents house in Missouri.  We had visited for the day and were about to head home late in the evening.  A snow storm was now in full swing and my in-laws tried to talk us into spending the night since we lived quite a ways outside of town, in the country.  Coming from New England and being comfortable driving in snow I declined the offer and off we went.  At around midnight, a few miles from home, we were traveling along a stretch of flat rural highway between huge fields that allowed the wind whipped snow to drift across the road.  Eventually the depth of the snow brought our sedan to a halt.  As we were trying to figure out our next move, since there were no such things as cell phones in those days, a young man stopped his pickup truck and asked if he could help.  At this hour we felt fortunate that someone would be out in this storm in the middle of nowhere and we climbed into the cab of the truck.  By this time the snow was drifting across the road to the extent that the five foot deep storm culverts on either side were full of the white stuff and you couldn't tell where the fields started and the road ended.  About a mile later, and no fault of our would be rescuer,  we found ourselves leaving the road and falling into one of the culverts in what felt like slow motion thanks to the fluff of the deep snow.  With the pickup half on its side the guy and I climbed out the high end and treked across a field to a farmers house while Kim kept herself and the baby warm in the truck.  We were glad when the farmer, first, did not shoot us when we knocked on his door that time of night (morning) and, second, let us in to use his phone.  The young man called his father, who had an even bigger pickup truck, and in a short time we were all crammed in his cab.  They got us home about two in the morning with many thanks from us for their kindness.  
I hope I've been able to pay that kindness forward over the years.  And Kim, you're such a good sport.

Why Did The Trailer Cross The Road?

So there I was...sitting in my kitchen listening to all the banging on the roof as the workers tore off the old and put a new layer of shingles on my house yesterday.  It brought back memories of having the roof shingled at the first house Kim and I owned in Missouri.  It was our responsibility to take the old shingles full of nails to the dump.  Kim's dad had a heavy duty trailer made from the bed of an old pickup truck that we worked hard to fill with the very heavy material.  I called Kim from work the next day and said I would be late getting home so we would miss getting to the dump on time.  She said she could hook the trailer up herself and meet me there.  I remember asking if she was sure she could do this but she sounded quite confident.  What she did not notice was the trailer had a two inch receiver and there was a one and seven eighths ball on the hitch.  As she drove for the dump all was well until she hit the bump at the top of a hill.  There was a noise at the back of the vehicle and then she watched as the trailer passed by her on the passenger side as it sped down the hill.  Fortunately, it headed for a culvert and flipped throwing it's cargo all over someones back yard.  Many hours were spent combing the grass for nails and the trailer now had a shape that was a bit more aerodynamic.  

Lesson learned...check the details.

As for me...I'm just happy she's willing to try.

Diving For Treasure

So there I was...gasping for air as I broke the surface of the water with treasure in hand.  The day started with Spencer, a boating friend of mine, asking if Kim and I would go out on his boat with him and his girlfriend to help them hone some of their sailing skills.  The day was beautiful in Noank CT and the sailing lively.  As we returned to the mooring, some hours later,  Spencer prepared to drop sails and turn the engine on for our approach.  I suggested we pick  up the mooring under sail alone as it's good practice for that time when your engine won't start.  I worked with Spencer at the helm and Kim went forward to help said girlfriend grab the mooring line with a boat hook.  As she worked her way around a stay, a metal cable holding the mast up, Kim's bracelet got caught on the stay and popped off her wrist and into the 10 ft deep murky water.  I had bought this bracelet for her in Block Island several years earlier.  The three thin bands of sterling silver made to look like waves with three dolphins riding them would gather compliments whenever she wore it, and she wore it a lot.  The look of horror on her face came from a knowledge that few things that fall overboard are ever found again.  I borrowed a snorkel and dive mask from Spencer and began diving to the bottom over and over again but the poor visibility and constant motion of the boat made it almost impossible to pinpoint where the bracelet would be.  As I got to the end of my energy level I made one more dive and there it was.  It was in the claw of a large Blue Crab and he was running off with it.  I was out of air but knew if I surfaced and came back down, there would be no chance of finding this jewel thief again.  I reached for the bracelet and the crab went into fight mode not wanting to relinquish this shiny object.  Avoiding the free claw I grabbed the bracelet and headed for what my lungs wanted most with the crab holding on until just below the surface of the water where he finally gave up.  Kim started crying when she saw the treasure in my hand and I was what I want to be most of all, her hero.
Later that day we got together with several more friends on another boat for cocktails and as the evening progressed so did the story.  By the time we left that night the crab was 6 ft wide, weighed over 100 lbs and I nearly lost a limb as we did battle for Kim's treasure.