The next few hours went smoothly, as the sun set and we settled into wait for the fireworks. Sometime around 8:30pm, a Bayliner powerboat arrived with two men and one woman onboard. There really was no space for them to anchor in the immediate around around us, however the Bayliner owner went up-front on his boat and dropped anchor right over our anchor, while his companions reversed and started dragging us transverse to the current. The surrounding boaters, all of who had also settled in to wait for the fireworks, started screaming, as our MacGregor was dragged sideways, threatening to hit them. Then the folks on the Bayliner panicked and the woman on the bayliner hit the throttle (hoping to avert the danger). Instead the Bayliner lunged forward and came straight for our Mac. Moments later there was a crashing crunching noise as their bow t-boned us, drilling right into our main cabin from the starboard side. Our starboard forward window was smashed in. The anchor point for the sidestay sustained some damage also. Someone on the Bayliner regained control and hit reverse, however their anchor was tangled with ours, and as they backed away, they dragged us along, all this happening in the middle of many other boats, in darkness. Our two boats were tied together, just several feet away, my anchor held, and their anchor was tangled onto mine. Each time they eased off on their reverse throttle their boat made another side t-bone approach to our Mac.
Someone on one of the surrounding boats asked if I had a radio (I did, but it was not on) and if they could help call for the Coast Guard, which they did. Fortunately there were several Coast Guard vessels around that evening, patrolling the area given the huge boating traffic this annual event draws.
I observed the situation and realized the only quick way to separate the two boats was to cut off an anchor, the other guy's anchor. I dove down and ransacked my jumpseat storage area, searching for my sharp knife. After what seemed to me like a long time, I finally found it.
Knife in hand, I rushed back up to deck where all the commotion and swearing on the Bayliner could be observed, as they struggled to pull back and avert yet another crash, but kept getting pulled back by the tangled anchors once they eased on the reverse throttle. I bet some of my guests were wondering what my intentions were for grabbing the knife, particularly when I stepped starboard towards their boat with it.
In a surreal moment that reminded me very much of the character "Magua" in "Last of the Mohicans", I stood on the starboard side, knife in my right hand, and motioned with my left hand for the Bayliner to draw closer. At first the folks on the Bayliner didn't have enough confidence to close the few feet gap between us (or perhaps they were indeed afraid of the knife), but when I explained to their skipper what I intended to do, he began to cooperate. I had one of my fenders ready to tie to his anchor to save it after the cut, and he said he was hopeful and glad he would not lose his anchor, since he had already budgeted on paying for the damage to my boat and wanted to minimize his expanses.
When the Bayliner closed in enough for me to reach their rode, I tied it off to my fender and cut the line above. Suddenly they were free, and we were still anchored, but in a skewed position relative to all the surrounding boats. One of the nearby boats who had observed the melee agreed for us to tie up to them, which was fortunate, because I later discovered that with all the commotion and dragging, my anchor was snared on my centerboard, and I eventually had to cut it off too.
Barron Hilton's fireworks show was already in progress by now. Before we could exchange contacts the coast guard arrived, and with the help of several of the boaters in the vicinity who all pointed the way, were able to locate us (with the density of boats there, it was like finding a needle in a haystack, or a pebble on a stony beach). After a brief interview to confirm we had no injuries, they moved over to the Bayliner, where they spent the majority of their time. As it turns out, it appears the Bayliner skipper was inebriated, and was not at the controls at the time of impact (he was up-front with the anchors). He was in no condition operate his boat and had to be towed out from the area. The Coast Guard vessel tied up side-to-side to the Bayliner and removed them from the area.
After the show, the Coast Guard stopped over to take our statement (again I was amazed they were able to pick us out from the crowd of boats), and generally very polite and helpful. When it was all over, we unhitched from our raft up, cut our anchor (this was when we discovered our anchor was wrapped and snagged on our keel), and gingerly picked our way in pitch blackness back to the marina 4 miles away by retracing our GPS route, all the while several motor boaters roared by overtaking us in full speed, in pitch darkness, in the narrow winding channels that make up the Delta!
Lessons Learned:
- Always keep your radio ON, on Channel 16 and on-hand (for portable radios).
- Keep your knife / cutters nearby! Mine were in the jump-seat, with other tools, but that still was not close enough.
- In a crowded anchorage, guard your space. Had I been zealously guarding my 'space', I could have warned off the Bayliner.
- Avoid, where possible, these types of crowded events. From what the Coast Guards told me, there were likely going to be several more 'incidents' that night. From what I observed after the show, there were lots of incidents I would term 'reckless' driving from power boaters (high speed in darkness in narrow channels). Again this is from what I observe, however, if those power boaters all had night-vision googles with FLIR and radar, what appeared to me to be 'reckless' may have just been normal. One can't tell if it was night-vision+FLIR + radar, or just too much alcohol.
idiots going up in flames 
Hope you were still able to enjoy the celebration. 
Rob
Tooooooooooooooooo many idiots out on any holiday 
Really glad none of you were hurt. And...isn't fiberglass so forgiving 
No one killed thank goodness but several on the ODay injured. The guy was drunk.
Less
I however managed to preserve as much of my rode as possible by cutting at the lowest point.