As we entered the channel and headed for the jetties into the bay, I'd gone below and was up in the v-berth with the kiddo. We decided it would be fun to pop our heads through the hatch (life jackets on) to wave to the people on the boardwalk. Added bonus is that we got sprayed by the water every time the bow crashed into the next wave. We were having a grand old time.
Everything is great, life is wonderful, this is so much fun but then... then the loud "CA-THUNK!" grabbed my attention, I had only a moment to panic that we'd hit some floating debris before I noticed the sound of the anchor chain racing out of the anchor locker. I'm yelling at the husband to "STOP THE ENGINE!" as I'm diving out the hatch to grab the anchor rode before it has a chance to follow the chain. So here I am, the most uncoordinated sailor ever, climbing my not insignificantly sized bottom through the bow hatch, hand over hand in true She-Hulk fashion retrieving the almost 30 foot of chain and anchor that has fallen into the water. I swear it felt like nothing at that moment. I even had a slight panic thought that the anchor itself had fallen off the chain with how light it felt. It was still there, thankfully.
The boat is not quite out of the channel jetties and into the bay so we are holding up traffic as I'm fighting against the wild lurching of the boat in the waves to grab the anchor that has fallen off the anchor roller and is now pounding against the hull. I manage to wedge my knees in the pulpit, one hand holding on to the anchor chain so it doesn't drop off again and the other getting sliced open repeatedly on the safety wire that secures the anchor to the chain. The husband swears he didn't leave it with that sharp edge, but he may need to rely on his own hands for a while as mine recover...
I felt like I was on a bob damned mechanical bull but with the added bonus of having a razor blade slice across my palm with every move. The good news is that after what felt like forever, I managed to get the anchor back onto the anchor roller, and then because I couldn't find the lock that should have been securing it, just stuffed the whole damn thing the best I could into the anchor locker and secured that instead.
I got to follow that whole act by doing my impression of a drunken sloth as I maneuvered from the bow to the cockpit, all while the boat continued to rock wildly in the waves, but we made it out of the channel. No one sank. No one went overboard. I will now be double-checking to make sure that damn anchor is properly secured so I don't have to do a repeat performance.
We made it out into the bay, we secured the anchor and locker again as soon as we were out of the way of traffic. By then, the weather that had felt like it was just going to be slightly gusty was sending our boat bobbing about like a thimble on water. Any adventurous feelings I'd started off with had apparently toppled overboard during the anchor fiasco. We decided to pack it in. We turned her around, made it safely back through the jetties, into the channel, and then parked her back in our marina slip. We decided the rest of the afternoon would be relaxing in the pool.
The husband, laughingly, upon the retelling of watching me and my very super graceful waltz across the deck during all of this, asked me, "why didn't you just go back through the hatch?"
I may feed him to the next shark I find.
reported casualties:
- My right hand has several small gashes, thankfully most are superficial. There was only a little bleeding. Sore as feck today but no lasting damage.
- Scraped up shins and thighs from I'm guessing the deck and pulpit as the waves thrashed both the boat and I about.
- The boat itself seems fine. No major damage, not even a scratch that could be seen. Super impressed actually, as I was for sure that anchor (Delta 14lbs) had torn our boat a new one.