6/6

the wind died as usual and all was fine, til awakened early morn to low rolling waves coming in from the bay entrance. All that motion i couldnt sleep, so got up, did the morning things, started the engine, let it warm up, and started to try to pull in the anchor. But it was almost impossible.

An anchor doesnt hold by its weight, rather it hooks into the bottom. Then you lay out a hundred feet or more of rode (chain, then rope). The boat drifts downwind or down-current, the rode plays out, and at its limit exerts a sideways pull on the anchor. So its hook into the bottom holds you.

To get it up, you pull in the rode. As it comes in, what's actually happening is that you are pulling the boat toward the anchor, until it is directly vertically over the anchor. At that point, if all goes well, the anchor becomes unhooked from the bottom by the vertical pull, and up it comes.

But today it turned out there was a max-ebb-tide current running really fast, and i couldnt pull the boat against the force of the current. So i tried backing up the boat with the engine, but that was likewise impossible because there's no way for me to steer inside the cabin & pull up rode outside the cabin at the same time. I did however manage to get the rode snagged around the outdrive.

So there was nothing to do but sit and wait for the slack tide. That's why I think they say "Time & tide wait for no man." Dolphins worked nearby.

There was 1 thing i could do: get the rope unsnagged. And while so engaged, i thot: "what's that? the bottom?" Indeed it was already very shallow, getting shallower, and then i was hard aground in, thankfully, sand.

So now i sit waiting for the tide to return. As many as 4 bald eagle stands patiently on the beach waiting for... something. White gulls wander among the puddles, investigating. Locals wade, collecting clams i guess.

(to be continued)