Well, You May As Well Anchor
[20:36] [Sunday, March 25, 2007]
We're moored off Ranguana Caye for a couple days with Sea Dragon and Altaire. The men have been spearfishing, and we girls have snorkeled on and off. We spend sunset sharing drinks -- last night on the island; tonight in Sea Dragon's spacious cockpit. We also share plenty of laughs, and after today's several hours in the water, the reprieve allowed everyone to feel less inadequate about our meager catch.
As twilight turned into darkness, however, things took quite a jarring turn. Ana and Nate from Altaire mentioned something about a boat leaving. I glanced outside at a vessel exiting the anchorage, but the strangeness of its departure did not immediately register.
"Wait ..." Nate said -- "Is that your boat?"
Brady jerked his head around, and as the unlighted vessel slipped past us, headed toward open water, we finally looked at it. A sleek dark hull seemed to be cruising away, a just-noticeable silhouette against the white body of a massive catamaran anchored to Sea Dragon's port side.
"What the FUCK!"
Brady and I leaped toward the dink. He scrambled down the ladder as I untied it, and Rick jumped in, taking the line from me. Nate hopped into his own dink, and all three captains caught our runaway boat almost right on top of Ranguana's southern coral shoal.
Kathy dug out her spotlight and we scanned the water for any sign of our mooring ball. We couldn't see it, but in the darkness could not be sure of anything. Surely a mooring would never come undone without tampering!
Sol Searcher crept back into the anchorage with her deck light brightening her return. Several attempts to set anchor without diving it almost terminated in a collision with the massive catamaran. I watched anxiously as our boat continuously refused to set on her anchor. Finally Nate arrived from Altaire with an underwater flashlight so Brady could dive the anchor and set it manually. Brady said later rays practically swarmed the boat. And where there are rays there are sharks. The things he goes through to save our floating home!!
Being able to dive on the anchor made all the difference. With it set, Bady, Rick and Nate returned to Sea Dragon for a celebratory round.
Apparently the mooring line between the buoy we tied to and the actual mooring (essentially a permanent anchor) had snapped. The mooring buoy, our painter and about 10 ft of huge mooring line lay on the bow of the boat. Without maintenance, the ragged line had chafed clear through against the mooring chain.
And we had only just been blessing the vacancy of the mooring balls, feeling very secure in our tiny anchorage. This is just one more lesson in taking nothing for granted on the water. Just when you think you've gotten the best of a situation, the sea shakes her finger at you, and she is far too vast, powerful and dangerous to ignore.
We are glad we were on Rick's boat when this happened, though. That small mercy probably saved us more grief than we estimate. As much as our little boat rocks in even the barest swells, we may not have realized our predicament until we were well away from the anchorage. Or worse, until we slammed into a coral head!
MANY thanks to Rick and Nate for rising to the occasion! Those of us watching from Sea Dragon agreed the three who left to mend the situation were exactly the three who should have. Tomorrow we will dive on our former mooring and try to replace the line. We will also check Sea Dragon's line and -- having learned the hard way -- check all mooring lines hereafter.
We can no longer take the security of a "permanent" anchor for granted.
