Oh What A Night!

Wallace's Sailing Adventure on "Arbella"
Mike and Vicki Wallace
Thu 16 Aug 2012 08:49

Remember that song....Oh What a Night...well it really was that for us!  Vicki and I took turns on "anchor watch" down below, watching the waypoints I had created to show our "swing" and alert for any indications that were drifting back.  There was nobody to the south of us (our front, and the direction the wind was coming from), but there were about 30 boats behind us.  We talked about "worst case" situation...which was, we drift uncontrollably, cannot counteract it with the engine without creating a further problem, we run into boats and moorings behind us, and we quickly run aground since the area is shallow....our objective would be to keep "head to wind" and go aground if needed...we would have damage to several boats, but everyone would be safe!  Well....we saw the wind peak at 44 knots...and that was inside this protected area with high cliffs on both sides and no direct exposure to the south, and waves inside, by us, were 6-8 feet!  The bridle and anchor held up, and we did not drag even one foot!!  Below are a few pictures early the next morning, when things had calmed down a bit!  Mike

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image