IT'S AN ADVENTURE!

Not only an adventure but a learning experience!  For as good as the weather was here in Sarasota yesterday last night was a different scene.  Sue and watched a DVD and turned in for the night.  At about 0245 hrs I discovered that we were dragging our anchor and narrowly missed hitting another boat in heavy winds and choppy seas that had developed in the anchorage.  I awakened Sue and we began our task of attempting to reset our anchor - remember, this is an adventure!  When I was finally able to bring our anchor to the surface I discovered that we had hooked TWO other anchor chains and anchors.  One was an old rusty antique, the other was a small fortress.  The puzzling think was that no other boats seemed to be affected by me bringing these anchors up from the bottom and we weren't dragging any other boats.  With considerable effort I was finally able to unravel the other anchors while Sue sharpened her helmsman-ship in the dark. (She did well - we didn't hit anything....) We made our way to the outskirts of the anchorage and was finally able to reset our anchor but due to the winds and sea state we took turns standing watch until daylight for safety.  Because were now situated very close a channel I decided to relocate closer to the center of the cluster of boats in the anchorage. Would you believe that there was another anchor line wrapped around our anchor when I brought it to the surface.  This time it was an old rope line but it seemed to be attached to something - but there were no other boats close buy so I just dropped the line and we moved on.  After three attempts to reset the anchor we decided to move to another area in the lee of a marina located close by.  The winds and seas persisted and after two attempts to set the anchor we headed back out to the ICW and to go north a few miles to a cove that appeared to have to be in the lee of tall buildings with enough depth to anchor.  Such was not the case for the holding was poor in this area also.  We decided that we had enough of this anchoring madness and made our way back to MARINA JACKS, the marina adjacent to the anchorage, to get out of the wind and choppy seas.  That was the smartest move of the day.  Getting into the marina was a piece of cake because the slip we were assigned was in an area protected from the winds.  I was able to work on cleaning the boat of all the mud we brought up with the numerous attempts to set the anchor and salt spray that covered the boat and plan for tomorrows destination, while Sue found a Whole Foods nearby and then had the marina courtesy van take her to a local super market for provisions.  The remainder of the day was R&R!  I'm certain we will have a better nights sleep tonight.

Oh, yes!  I conclude that the anchor that came with the boat is too damned small!  It held well enough in light winds the other times we used it during this adventure but this time it was obvious that it needs to be replaced.  That was the learning experience.

Y'all take care and stay vertical,

Capt'n John and First Mate Sue