We went cruising this weekend, north on Pine Island Sound in SWFL, to
a nice little cove called Pelican Bay on the north end of Cayo Costa
Island, just south of Boca Grande. It is a well protected harbor and
we had it almost to ourselves because of the chilly weather. The
dolphins were out in full force and we had a full escort most of the
trip north.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxHhfr3buOw

http://tinyurl.com/2egxdr

On our way in to Pelican Bay we noticed a very unusual trawler that
had clearly been modeled after a George Buehler "Diesel Duck" design.
It had paravane stabilizers, lots of freeboard, mast and hoist
forward, and a raised pilot house. All in all it was a very salty
looking boat and about 40 feet long.

http://www.dieselducks.com/

After anchoring we motored over in the dinghy to get a better
look, ended up meeting the owner, and were invited aboard for a tour
of the boat. He had hand built it over 4 years and something like
$100K in cost, doing virtually all of the work himself. It
was beautifully done to professional quality in almost every respect,
and he and his family were out for their first cruise since launching.

To make a long story short, we got hit with a 35 to 40 kt squall about
2:00AM on Sunday morning, and awoke at dawn to see his boat heeled
over on a sand bar about 1/2 a mile away from us. Sure enough his
anchor had broken loose during the squall, and they had dragged
aground at nearly high tide, on their very first night out. We are
not entirely sure of all the subsequent details but believe he was
required to sign a salvage contract with SeaTow to get pulled off.
I'm sure it was an expensive lesson in how not to anchor, and it would
not be a good thing to have on your insurance record.

We of course had done our usual due diligence anchoring on 5:1 scope
with 3/8ths chain, and a heavy anchor well dug in under power. As far
as I could tell from the GPS plot, we never dragged an inch even
though the anchor load probably exceeded 2,000 lbs during the squall.
Yesterday morning when we pulled up, the windlass would not even budge
the anchor off the bottom. I ended up locking off the chain and
pulled it out with the engines. The anchor was so well set it must
have had at least 200 pounds of mud and clay on it.

Moral of the story? You really can't be too careful when anchoring
for the night. The force of the wind at 40 kts is 16 times greater
than at 10 kts, and 40 kts is just a routine squall in my experience.

PS: Thank you Glenn Ashmore.

That 120 lb Spade is some awesome anchor, and it is darned cheap
insurance, especially these days when your first claim is likely to be
your last.

Thanks for that. Almost felt I was there, and not here in the cold.
This type of post really helps energize my plans to get boating soon.
On the subject of living vicariously, do you - or anybody else - know
of any live webcam sites of southern Florida?
I'm might still have a chance to convince my wife to move south, and
any ammo is useful.

--Vic

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:53:33 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

We went cruising this weekend, north on Pine Island Sound in SWFL, to
a nice little cove called Pelican Bay on the north end of Cayo Costa
Island, just south of Boca Grande. It is a well protected harbor and
we had it almost to ourselves because of the chilly weather. The
dolphins were out in full force and we had a full escort most of the
trip north.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxHhfr3buOw

http://tinyurl.com/2egxdr

On our way in to Pelican Bay we noticed a very unusual trawler that
had clearly been modeled after a George Buehler "Diesel Duck" design.
It had paravane stabilizers, lots of freeboard, mast and hoist
forward, and a raised pilot house. All in all it was a very salty
looking boat and about 40 feet long.

http://www.dieselducks.com/

After anchoring we motored over in the dinghy to get a better
look, ended up meeting the owner, and were invited aboard for a tour
of the boat. He had hand built it over 4 years and something like
$100K in cost, doing virtually all of the work himself. It
was beautifully done to professional quality in almost every respect,
and he and his family were out for their first cruise since launching.

To make a long story short, we got hit with a 35 to 40 kt squall about
2:00AM on Sunday morning, and awoke at dawn to see his boat heeled
over on a sand bar about 1/2 a mile away from us. Sure enough his
anchor had broken loose during the squall, and they had dragged
aground at nearly high tide, on their very first night out. We are
not entirely sure of all the subsequent details but believe he was
required to sign a salvage contract with SeaTow to get pulled off.
I'm sure it was an expensive lesson in how not to anchor, and it would
not be a good thing to have on your insurance record.

We of course had done our usual due diligence anchoring on 5:1 scope
with 3/8ths chain, and a heavy anchor well dug in under power. As far
as I could tell from the GPS plot, we never dragged an inch even
though the anchor load probably exceeded 2,000 lbs during the squall.
Yesterday morning when we pulled up, the windlass would not even budge
the anchor off the bottom. I ended up locking off the chain and
pulled it out with the engines. The anchor was so well set it must
have had at least 200 pounds of mud and clay on it.

Moral of the story? You really can't be too careful when anchoring
for the night. The force of the wind at 40 kts is 16 times greater
than at 10 kts, and 40 kts is just a routine squall in my experience.

PS: Thank you Glenn Ashmore.

That 120 lb Spade is some awesome anchor, and it is darned cheap
insurance, especially these days when your first claim is likely to be
your last.

Nice post Wayne. Loved the dolphins and the story.
--
*****Have a Spectacular Day!*****

John H

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:13:40 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

Thanks for that. Almost felt I was there, and not here in the cold.
This type of post really helps energize my plans to get boating soon.
On the subject of living vicariously, do you - or anybody else - know
of any live webcam sites of southern Florida?
I'm might still have a chance to convince my wife to move south, and
any ammo is useful.

===========================

This is an ideal time to visit, bring your wife for a week and take a
look around. Real estate prices have just about bottomed out and it's
a good time to be looking.

Here's a link to a few webcams around he

http://www.nbc-2.com/WebView/Diamondhead.shtml

Jacksonville Beach - you control the camera:

http://jaxsurfcam.com/

Miami - south beach:

http://rumler.com/miami/webcam.htm

Key West:

http://webcam.keywest.com/

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 14:57:45 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:13:40 -0600, Vic Smith

This is an ideal time to visit, bring your wife for a week and take a
look around. Real estate prices have just about bottomed out and it's
a good time to be looking.

Here's a link to a few webcams around he

http://www.nbc-2.com/WebView/Diamondhead.shtml

Jacksonville Beach - you control the camera:

http://jaxsurfcam.com/

Miami - south beach:

http://rumler.com/miami/webcam.htm

Key West:

http://webcam.keywest.com/

Thanks. Those are better than what I found after half an hour of
jumping around the web. The Jax cam is the cat's meow.

--Vic

Wayne.B wrote:

~~ snip ~~

Moral of the story? You really can't be too careful when anchoring
for the night. The force of the wind at 40 kts is 16 times greater
than at 10 kts, and 40 kts is just a routine squall in my experience.

PS: Thank you Glenn Ashmore.

That 120 lb Spade is some awesome anchor, and it is darned cheap
insurance, especially these days when your first claim is likely to be
your last.

Sounds like a really interesting trip.

Cool dolphin video - I could watch that all day.

You can't buy those anchors anymore, or did I misunderstand you?

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:13:40 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

Thanks for that. Almost felt I was there, and not here in the cold.
This type of post really helps energize my plans to get boating soon.
On the subject of living vicariously, do you - or anybody else - know
of any live webcam sites of southern Florida?
I'm might still have a chance to convince my wife to move south, and
any ammo is useful.

===========================

This is an ideal time to visit, bring your wife for a week and take a
look around. Real estate prices have just about bottomed out and it's
a good time to be looking.

Here's a link to a few webcams around he

http://www.nbc-2.com/WebView/Diamondhead.shtml

Who cares about the beach!! Where the Red Sox at?

Jacksonville Beach - you control the camera:

http://jaxsurfcam.com/

Where the surf at?

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:55:01 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:

~~ snip ~~

Moral of the story? You really can't be too careful when anchoring
for the night. The force of the wind at 40 kts is 16 times greater
than at 10 kts, and 40 kts is just a routine squall in my experience.

PS: Thank you Glenn Ashmore.

That 120 lb Spade is some awesome anchor, and it is darned cheap
insurance, especially these days when your first claim is likely to be
your last.

Sounds like a really interesting trip.

Cool dolphin video - I could watch that all day.

You can't buy those anchors anymore, or did I misunderstand you?

It was an interesting trip although a wee bit chilly by Florida
standards (low in the high 30s and very windy). We also had an
equipment failure with the electric blanket. :-) Guess we'll have to
find one rated for marine service before we head north this year.

As far as I know Glenn Ashmore is still distributing Spade anchors
although West Marine may not be. Glenn has been a reliable source for
me:

http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

I still have the old 44 pounder we used on the Bertram 33 up north,
and they have both been outstanding anchors. I think the 120 would
probably hold a 100 footer if you put enough chain on it. According
to Glenn, Nordhavn was offering them as standard equipment on
something in the 70 ft range.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:55:01 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:

~~ snip ~~

Moral of the story? You really can't be too careful when anchoring
for the night. The force of the wind at 40 kts is 16 times greater
than at 10 kts, and 40 kts is just a routine squall in my experience.

PS: Thank you Glenn Ashmore.

That 120 lb Spade is some awesome anchor, and it is darned cheap
insurance, especially these days when your first claim is likely to be
your last.
Sounds like a really interesting trip.

Cool dolphin video - I could watch that all day.

You can't buy those anchors anymore, or did I misunderstand you?

It was an interesting trip although a wee bit chilly by Florida
standards (low in the high 30s and very windy). We also had an
equipment failure with the electric blanket. :-) Guess we'll have to
find one rated for marine service before we head north this year.

http://www.kooleraire.com/12%20Volt%...%20Blanket.htm

LOL!!

Hey, you coming up this far again? I'd like to get some pictures of the
GB passing the Watch Hill Light.

That would be cool.

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:35:40 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Hey, you coming up this far again? I'd like to get some pictures of the
GB passing the Watch Hill Light.

The current plan of record is to be on Long Island Sound by July 4,
and quite possibly a week sooner.

We will almost certainly get down east at some point but I don't yet
know exactly when.

Howzabout a picture near Old Saybrook light or Essex? We found Essex
to be a good place to hang out except for the grocery store or rather
the lack thereof. We might bring a car north this year however and
that would change things.

Maybe we could borrow the Vette? :-)