The BIG BLOW

In the world of sailing, there are those who have and those who will.  We now fall in to the category of those who have.

It was a beautiful day in Ganges.  The sun was out and after a very leisurely morning, we made our way over to the farmers market.  We of course purchased some of the world famous Salt Spring Island cheese, as well as a few greens and other misc items.  Following our first shower (since Port Townsend) at the Government Marina, we stopped by BC Liquors to buy the first of what will likely be many of the very expensive Canadian beers ($13.25 a six pack), made a run by the grocery store for a few more items and then stopped at the Tree House Café for an afternoon latte and to update our blog using their wifi.

About the time we were finishing up, some very ominous clouds appeared to the south west and the wind started to pickup a bit.  Rain was on the way.  Janet insisted that we head back to the boat before things started to get too wet and it was a good thing we did.  About the time we arrived, the wind really started to crank.  It crept up over a period of about 20 minutes or so from nearly zero to a steady 35 knots plus.

Concerned about the possibility of dragging our anchor we made preparations to start the engine should it become necessary.  We opened the engine raw water through hull, turned on the engine switch, put the key in the ignition, secured the dingy and turned on all of our instruments and then just waited in the cockpit and watched.  The anchorage was tight and there was no room to let out more scope. Other boaters were doing the same.  The wind held steady at about 35 knots and would occasionally gust to 40 or higher.  And then, without notice, the anchor broke loose and we were moving backwards toward a red sailboat anchored to our stern and the shoreline not too far beyond that.

Without hesitation, Paul started the motor and we powered into the wind.  Janet went forward and began pulling the anchor.  We were thankful that we had installed an electric windlass.  Once the anchor was up we motored out of the anchorage to catch our breath and analyze our options.  It was all we could do to control the boat in the high winds.  We made one unsuccessful attempt to get the anchor back down, but as we needed to put out much more scope than previous, we found that there just wasn’t enough room in the anchorage.  We finally motored out, found a nice wide spot, dropped the anchor and got a good set.  At that point, we kept the motor running just in case and again just waited and watched.  Once we were confident that we had a good set and weren’t going to drag, we killed the engine.  An hour and a half had gone by since we first dragged and the wind was still howling.

Janet fixed dinner, while Paul kept an eye on things in the cockpit.  We made plans to do anchor watches for the evening and night if things didn’t settled down.   But, about as quickly as it all started, the strong winds began to diminish and by about 10 PM it had dropped to nearly zero.  We did not have to do anchor watches after all, but both of us were a bit on edge, resulting in a somewhat restless night of sleep.

The following morning the seas were like glass and we made ready for our departure to Montague Harbor on Galiano Island.  I am writing this blog entry sitting in the cockpit with bright sunny skies and warm temperatures. Oh yes, we are once again at anchor with what seems to be a secure set with 4:1 scope.

The fury crew vying for the coveted spot on top
 of the warm engine.  In the end, Tia re-claimed her rightful spot.