Jarad and Crystal on Catherine invited us to come over to Water Island. We've been trying to get together with them and their kids for over a month and haven't been able to make it work. Water Island is just out the back side of the harbor from Charlotte Amalie, so we headed over. When we arrived, there was only one, spot left near the mooring field to anchor. Everything else was in >40 ft of water and out past the point in the swell.
After we set the hook and made plans to meet the crew of Catherine on the beach, a nice fellow from the boat behind us stopped by to inform me that I would drag anchor tonight if I stayed where I was. I may have seemed a little skeptical, so he challenged me to dive on the anchor and check for myself. Donning the scuba tank, I quickly confirmed that the anchor was not really "set", it was sitting in a pile of rocks, waiting to move when I wasn't watching. This would not work. We went around the corner to the next harbor, but the holding there wasn't any better, confirmed by yet another dive.
So we ended up leaving Water Island and missing dinner with our friends again. We got back to CA at dusk and dropped anchor where we had set for 3 days earlier. Since we were off to St Croix in the morning, we turned in early.
SURPRISE! When I came on deck in the morning, I was only 100 yards off the lee shore on Hassel Island. We had dragged 1,000 yards in the night. After upping anchor, we motored by the boat we had been anchored next to the night before. They told us they had honked their horn and shined a spotlight in our windows, but couldn't wake us.
I guess any story where you dragged anchor and didn't end up on the beach or tangled with the neighbors is a good one, so I will just be thankful it turned out OK.
No comments:
Post a Comment