jrirvine1
Member
It’s amazing how much entertainment value can be found in a crowded harbor anchorage area on a Labor Day weekend and at no additional charge. Late Sunday evening on our way back from Oxford, we decided to drop the hook in St. Michaels behind the Maritime Museum. In about an hour it became dark with a little wind and then the fun began.
A 29’ Rinker broke loose and tangled rode’s with a 32’ blow boat. When they tried to raise their individual windlasses, the result was to join them more intimately together at the bow to the point where they were banging with each wave swell. After the deployment of several fenders, they ended up spending the night together as an impromptu raft up. In the AM the snarled anchor chains were freed and they departed after exchanging a few curt phrases that included words like “damage, insurance, settle up†– and the like.
Also shortly after dark, a raft of four boats broke loose and came drifting by with very panicky captains and crew. The conversations on board went something like, “What do we do, hurry up raise the anchor, everyone start their engines, should we break apart the raft?†They managed to use the large sedan anchor boat to pull back the group and reset the anchor with what looked like a lot more scope.
In the early AM, after taking the dog to shore and making some coffee, I decided to sit on the bow, not wanting to miss any more of the show. Thankfully, I was not to be disappointed. Directly in front, about 20 yards, a blow boat captain was removing his dink engine and then attempted to stand and step to his stern ladder. When he had one foot on the dink and one on the ladder with the engine in one hand, the dink moved further away and he ended up in the water holding the engine, which then became an effective anchor. At this point, I jumped up ready to do my best Johnny Weissmuller imitation and save this poor soul. But then a hand came slowly up, like at the end of the movie Deliverance, and grabbed the dink. I asked if he needed assistance, which seemed obvious, but he said no and then went under again. His frantic wife said yes please help. So, I took my dink over and grabbed the engine he was still holding and pulled him up onto his boarding ladder totally exhausted.
Anyone else see any fun stuff this weekend?
A 29’ Rinker broke loose and tangled rode’s with a 32’ blow boat. When they tried to raise their individual windlasses, the result was to join them more intimately together at the bow to the point where they were banging with each wave swell. After the deployment of several fenders, they ended up spending the night together as an impromptu raft up. In the AM the snarled anchor chains were freed and they departed after exchanging a few curt phrases that included words like “damage, insurance, settle up†– and the like.
Also shortly after dark, a raft of four boats broke loose and came drifting by with very panicky captains and crew. The conversations on board went something like, “What do we do, hurry up raise the anchor, everyone start their engines, should we break apart the raft?†They managed to use the large sedan anchor boat to pull back the group and reset the anchor with what looked like a lot more scope.
In the early AM, after taking the dog to shore and making some coffee, I decided to sit on the bow, not wanting to miss any more of the show. Thankfully, I was not to be disappointed. Directly in front, about 20 yards, a blow boat captain was removing his dink engine and then attempted to stand and step to his stern ladder. When he had one foot on the dink and one on the ladder with the engine in one hand, the dink moved further away and he ended up in the water holding the engine, which then became an effective anchor. At this point, I jumped up ready to do my best Johnny Weissmuller imitation and save this poor soul. But then a hand came slowly up, like at the end of the movie Deliverance, and grabbed the dink. I asked if he needed assistance, which seemed obvious, but he said no and then went under again. His frantic wife said yes please help. So, I took my dink over and grabbed the engine he was still holding and pulled him up onto his boarding ladder totally exhausted.
Anyone else see any fun stuff this weekend?
