Well it's been a month since our last update with much more of the same, which does not leave a lot to report. We are ending our Summer with some cooler weather and overall it's been a great one. Time does appear to be flying by quickly and our 1 year mark is quickly approaching.
Friday afternoon Peyton and I pushed off the dock and motored out from the marina with almost no wind but a close destination, we headed for a nice cove around the shoreline. Shortly after Peyton and I arrived at the cove Jessica and Colby motored in with the dinghy and we setup to stay for the next couple days. Some people from work were having a get together and had decided on the same cove which made it very convenient and meant 2 days of relaxing, so we thought..
Friends of ours Jimmy and Cheryl came out and tied up to us for a long overdue dinner we had promised for helping repair some things on "Red Solo Boat" and we cooked a meal I've aptly named "Cajun Fajitas" which include Andouille sausage, red peppers, green peppers, a full onion and some special spices! Those along with some mixed drinks made in the magic bullet meant I had an extremely early night and was asleep before 9:30, actually I fell asleep in the cockpit while talking with Cheryl and Jimmy. We had a peaceful night that was cool and comfortable for sleeping and the kids slept outside in the cockpit.
Morning came right before the rise of the sun and Jessica and I enjoyed some coffee thanks to a kettle and Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee. Now I have become somewhat of a coffee snob and between the storage and the grinding of my beans only minutes before brewing, I've developed a taste for a good cup of Joe. I didn't exactly have high expectations or much hope for a cup of instant coffee but lets just say it was better than most drip coffee I've had. This means while out sailing I"m sure we will have a section of the boat dedicated to some of these since they are both convenient and easy to store, making daily coffee not a task. After coffee and a breakfast that consisted of eggs & sausage we settled in and enjoyed the sunrise.
We received a text from the person coordinating the EMS/Fire get together and they decided the chosen cove was too far from where the boats were rented. Another cove was picked out but it meant pulling anchor and sailing halfway across the lake to the new cove. There was a slight wind around 5mph and we decided to raise sail and slowly make our way over there. Sails up and rushing along with no sound but the water,,,, well that and me barking orders *whistle* We sailed into the cove with everybody already there and we anchored just off to the side. We enjoyed the afternoon with old friends and some new ones and the day wrapped up around 2pm. Now the forecast had called originally for no rain, but that afternoon it sprinkled a little and I rechecked the forecast and it said 10% of showers, however the radar showed a system off to the northwest that I thought was odd considering the above. About an hour after everybody left we noticed the thunder and lightning moving in and the sky began to darken. Attempts to recheck the rader were thwarted by crappy AT&T cell service but I could tell this was not going to be good.
We were anchored in about 20 feet of water and I had originally let out around 100ft of rode with our anchor that afternoon since there was hardly any wind. At night I always let out far more than necessary for piece of mind and I went on deck to do it before the weather got to bad. I let out around 150ft of line and closed everything up to ride out the storm. I wasn't familiar with this cove but while swimming earlier I checked the bottom and it was pure muck and silt with no real substance, it occurred to me this could be a problem but at this point we had to let it ride. Right before going below the rain began to fall and the lightning dancing all around us I thought I felt the feeling of drift and the anchor dragging. Jess insisted I was paranoid and we buttoned up the hatch.
After making a sandwich and listening to the howling of the wind, which I later found out topped out around 35 to 40mph, I opened the hatch to check since it had switched direction. Well it's a good thing I did because the direction it shifted (also not the forecasted direction) was blowing us toward shore, and well lets just say shore was less than 30ft away! We were as close to grounding our boat as you could get without doing it! I had Jess open the seacock for the engine intake, Colby flicked on the battery and I had the motor fired up in a matter of seconds. Now there were two critical jobs at this point that needed to be done. 1. keep the boat off the rocks and 2. Get the anchor up.
At first Jess tried to pull the anchor up but it had grabbed ahold of something, which was probably a rock since we were so close to shore, and she couldn't raise it. As we very quickly switched positions Jess took the helm and I began to pull. Now I"m not a little guy and if I throw my weight into something it's normally moving but this anchor was locked down! Pulling a 14,000 lbs boat against a 35mph wind in the driving rain aint fun, and it isn't something I wanna do again. (Anchor windlass is being moved way up the list now lol ) After managing to pull up all but the last 30 feet I had Jess drive over top of the anchor to try and pop it, it finally broke loose and I got the last bit in. The rain was driving so hard it felt like hail and visibility was down to almost nothing. What really makes you mad in the middle of a situation like this, is the fact that the whole reason we had to do it was because the damn anchor wouldn't hold, now it doesn't want to come up!
Maybe it was all the idling, driving in circles or just something that needs to be addressed but the engine began smoking and the snap decision was made to raise sail and kill the engine, after all this is a damn sailboat! I had Jess point us into the wind and I raised just the main sail, once up she fell off to a starboard tack and the boat heeled over hard. Here we were full sail in strong winds but moving away from land. The kids were below and the only thing they had to do was make sure everything was secured and put away so things wouldn't fly around. Not 5 minutes into our sailing we caught a stiff gust and the boat heeled over, that's when I heard Peyton scream as an entire jar of salsa along with a full tub of potato salad took flight in the cabin crashing to the floor.
Then just as quickly as it all started it was over, the winds died down and the clouds parted. Jessica and I looked like two drowned rats, cold, wet and left wondering "What the hell was that about!" The decision was made to head back, clean up the boat and regroup. The rest of the sail back was uneventful and docking was a breeze. We enjoyed the rest of the night with some friends at the dock and all was right with the world.
This was actually a great experience for us and we all did well under pressure, I'm proud of my family and how we got it done when we had to. I'm sure a few years from now we will look back and chuckle at how tame it was compared to what we have yet to face. It's hard to explain but it's moments like this when you truly feel alive, and unless you've had moments of pure excitement you won't understand.......
