We anchored up in Hansen Bay on the East end of St. John yesterday afternoon. It’s a tough spot to anchor because it is deep all the way up to the shore and drops-off at a steep angle. Not great holding.
After dropping and diving on both the front and aft anchor I was satisfied that we would stay put for the night. The boys and I went diving and returned with two lobsters. After dinner we were working on Ben’s journal when I noticed the Bic banging on the side of the Adamo’s hull. Doug had sailed the little sailing boat from New Found Bay earlier in the day, following us in the Adamo in open ocean sailing. The trip was about 3 miles and he had a great time.
In any case, the Bic was left in the water in anticipation of the forecasted heavy winds for the following day. As the wind began to pickup, the Adamo swung between the two anchors we had set. It was a strange wind because we were nestled close to shore behind a 200 foot hill. Sometimes the wind pushed us towards shore, other times it pushed us into the bay.
When we went on deck to investigate the Bic’s behavior, we realized that we were dragging anchors. Now we had a problem. The Adamo was 30 feet from hitting another sailboat. We had 2 smaller boats, the Bic and the dinghy, in the water tethered to the Adamo. It was dark. Rocks all around. And when we retrieved the front anchor we were surprised to find nothing but chain. The anchor chain had failed and we had lost our bow anchor.
Sparing you all the details, we raised the smaller boats on deck. Pulled out another anchor from the cargo hold. Motored around and reset the new anchor in a suitable spot further out in the bay. The anchor dragged at first, but then caught. We were uncomfortably close to a cliff about 100 yards to our stern so we were going to try to re-anchor, but the anchor was stuck. Bummer. We had no choice but to stay put. As you can imagine, my confidence level in our holding and the anchor chain were very low.
We took turns sitting at the helm all night till dawn, watching the GPS for the anchor dragging or the chain snapping again. I was very proud of the boys and thankful for being there to help. It was a long night with very strong wind gusts. And still the wind was very unpredictable, blowing from all sides as the Adamo did circles around the anchor.
The light of day was a welcome relief. I dove the anchor while Phil was at the helm. Doug manned the windlass. The chain had wrapped around a rock 25 to 30 feet down. I free-dived over and over to wrestle with the damned thing until finally it was free. Then it was off to find our lost anchor from the night before. We found it right away with the help of the GPS tracks (little dots that show where you have been). Then we headed into another anchorage with mooring balls. The boys hooked us up. Finally we were secure. What a night!
