A Mother’s Day to remember

Mother’s Day was a lovely affair! While we did tackle some chores (and I honestly was happy with that) the kids treated me to an amazing brunch, complete with mimosas and entertainment (Big Bang Theory). It was awesome!

Early afternoon we noticed some “excitement” near the docks. Long story short, a 31’ sailboat had broken free of its mooring and had run aground. Lots of folks were trying to tug it by hand, with a patrol boat, suggested tying it off to a vehicle on shore...those weren’t working. The tide was dropping and it was a negative tide. Frank headed over to ask the Skipper if he needed anything and as apparently the only other sailboat types around, offered some ideas. We ended up assembling our Fortress anchor (our spare storm anchor) and ran it out to keep the stern clear of the rocks. Frank was actually able to muscle the stern over a bit and I did donuts with the dinghy to try to wake the sailboat off the shoal. But...you can’t fight the tide! We encouraged the owners to head home, enjoy the day as much as they could, and let them know we would keep an eye on the boat/lines/anchors, and agreed we would all get back together when the tide was rising and hope to float her before sunset.

As sunset approached we took soundings with our handheld fathometer—their keel was on the absolute shallowest spot and the way the boat had been pulled earlier in the day was actually toward shallower water. But we were close and we knew the path to deep water! With the sun setting, the Skipper powered forward while his wife and Frank worked the anchor lines and I used the dinghy to push, first from the bow then on the hip...and she broke free! We quickly cleared the lines, and I grabbed the stern anchor line, and they were off to the dock! My job—retrieve the Fortress. It was TOUGH! Once they were docked, I grabbed Frank and headed back to our anchor. We drove over it, tugged, swung, pulled...nothing. We finally decided to just run the line to the dock and come back in the morning for a dive.

The next morning was nice and calm. The water was only about 5 feet deep so Frank held tension on the anchor chain while I dove (no tank, just skin diving) to dig out the anchor. It. Was. In. I dug with my feet, my hands...it was exhausting, but I finally found the flukes and cleared the top of them. Then I dug in and found the crossbar...after a few dives and a hearty pull, it was free! It probably took less than a half hour, but there was a bit there where I wasn’t sure if I could do it.

Happy to have our anchor back. Happy that our new friends’ boat is safe. Happy to be living this crazy, challenging life!

Happy diver with our recovered Fortress anchor!