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.