Anchors!


Not what you were expecting as a topic, I bet. How often do we talk about anchors? Actual anchors, that is.

Nowadays, we use anchors as a metaphor. 'He was my anchor.' 'Such and such will anchor the program.' We sing hymns about anchors holding in a storm. We all understand what we mean by that, in a theoretical sense.

A little more than a month into our adventure, I've come to have a much greater appreciation for the value of an anchor, in a practical, tactile, 'this is going to save us' sense.

There's our anchor out front.


We've had to anchor a few times on this trip. The first time was our first night out, when we had crossed Lake Ontario from Toronto to Sodus Bay, New York. We anchored at 3 AM. (Just in case you were wondering, anchoring will test a marriage as much or more than wallpapering.) Fortunately, it was a calm, though dark, morning, without any real excitement.

We went down the Oswego Canal, then the Erie Canal. There's not a lot of opportunity to anchor in a canal, and it wasn't till we were out of the canal system, on our way down the Hudson River to New York that we had another chance to anchor. Again, it was a pretty easy thing. There's always that moment when you put the boat in reverse, throttle hard, and hope that it holds, but we were fine.

Then we hit Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on a windy, boisterous late afternoon, and got our first experience at anchoring with tides and currents as well as wind.
Rochna anchor, if you're wondering


I won't go into too much detail about the stress of yelling over wind and motor with the current pushing the boat backwards into the wind. My husband was wrestling with the 45 pound Rochna anchor and 100 feet of chain while suffering from sciatica, so you can probably imagine some of what we went through.


It wasn't an easy night. The boat was buffeted all night long, and we didn't sleep well. There were new noises, and we had to decide if they were an annoyance, or a real problem. The next morning, we found we'd moved a bit. The anchor wasn't caught firmly, and had dragged.

We re-anchored, with some trouble. We went back down, napped, lunched....and woke up that afternoon to find our boat had dragged back 400 feet.

That was scary.

We anchored again. Took a few tries to make sure the boat was set. Had the anchor alarm on, and checked every ten minutes for the rest of the day to make sure we were still in the same position compared to the other boats and the shore. It was tricky, because the boats were moving on tide and current and wind, and there was no set line. We'd look, think we'd moved a bit, try to talk ourselves out of it, and then we'd see that we were in good position, and cross our fingers.


The wind came up, and the tide, and it was nighttime. We had to trust our anchor.

We didn't sleep much again. It was now too rough to consider trying to re-anchor, so we had to hope our anchor was holding. If not, we'd be somewhere in the middle of the bay, vulnerable to ships, shoals, and any other hazards out there. The wind could send us almost anywhere, unless the anchor held. We couldn't motor to another position with the anchor weighing us down.

There was a lot of praying, a lot of double checking, an obsessive monitoring of the anchor alarm. But we survived. And I understood in a very literal sense how much an anchor could mean to survival.

An anchor can literally save your life. It can keep you safe when there's a storm raging.

I'm sure I'm going to experience more nautical based expressions as we continue on this adventure. I would be relieved if those experiences were a little less nerve-wracking than this one.

I hope everyone is safe as we've seen this past week the power that nature in the form of wind and water can exert. We need to keep that in mind, since we often become complacent about our position in this world.

Let's be anchors for each other, too. Not literally, but we all need security, a safe place.



If you'd like to follow us on our adventure, we have a facebook page, YachtSayonara. I also have an author page on facebook, Kim Findlay Author, a web page, kimfindlay.ca and you can follow me on twitter @missheyer74.

Comments

  1. You've given meaning to the metaphor with your experiences, Kim! Nerve-wracking, indeed. May it be smooth sailing from here on in. Best!

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    1. I heard some stories about anchoring during the remnants of Michael near our boat in Annapolis. One couple had two anchors out, and still were up all night checking on them. Another boat's anchor dragged, so they were up night with the motor on keeping the stress off the anchor. The things you don't know that you don't know.

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  2. Thank you for this snapshot of your current (:)) life, Kim! To be honest, I’m enjoying it more vicariously than I would in real life. But I love what you say about anchors...we sure need them, don’t we? Happy sailing!

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    1. We have a spare anchor that's been in the way the whole trip. I've bruised myself, tripped over it, and hauled it here and there. But we're keeping it on board. We may never be in a situation where we need it, but it we do, it's a lifesaver.

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  3. Thanks for the post--love the metaphor. Somehow, few people think about those nights up checking anchors, and placing and positioning two in order to ride out "weather." Or, what happens when the anchor drags. It's so apt to compare them to life situations. How nice it is when all we need is our light "lunch" anchor. (I think that's a term from the old days.) Your trip sounds wonderful!

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    1. It's been nothing like I expected, but still a tremendous experience. I'm sure you can appreciate that!

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  4. Wow, it does sound terrifying. I have new understanding for anchor as a metaphor, and what happens if that anchor doesn't hold. I hope this is your last such experience, and that his back is much better.

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    1. He's been taking Omega oils in bulk, and he's getting better. I hope when I fly back Wednesday that he's improved.

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  5. An anchor has always been one of my favorite symbols/metaphors. While I've never gone boating, I had read enough to know how vital they are to ship safety. Glad you're okay and hope your adventure has some some more smooth sailing ahead.

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    1. Just like in our stories, some struggle makes the journey more interesting. It's just during the events that we don't appreciate it!

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    2. Stories with only smooth sailing might be a bit boring. But in real life, it's true that some aspects of our adventures are more enjoyable in retrospect.

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  6. Kim, so happy to have you catch us up a bit on your excursion. It was tough watching the weather channel during Hurricanes Florence and Michael--to see some fairly large craft tossed about like toys. What do you need for an anchor to hold during a storm? Or will anything? I know the coast guard moved their boats out to sea a few times. Take care.

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    1. I wish I knew more. Generally, you need an anchor to catch into the bottom hard enough to stay. We have about 100 feet of chain as well, so that weight helps. A problem is, as I understand, that when the winds or tides move the boat in different directions, that can twist the anchor out of the place it's stuck, and then the boat can start moving. That's when a second anchor helps. But it's only so strong, and when the wind and water is strong enough, it's not going to hold.

      My guess for the Coast Guard is that they were trying to get away from the worst of it. Also, if you're out far enough, you're not near land or shoals that the boat can be blown onto and damaged.

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  7. Kim, thank you for the update! Keep 'em coming. Even though I knew you were okay I was still on the edge of my seat. I love your comment about the struggle making the journey more interesting. Especially after the fact. Safe travels!

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  8. This year, I don't think I'll have any problem coming up with blog topics!

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  9. Wow! That's so neat to hear about. I'm not comfortable with water, so I would probably never take the adventure that you're on, but I LOVE to hear about it!

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    1. A few years ago, I'd have said the same thing. Life can take you in strange directions.

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  10. This is what I love. Vicarious adventure. I feel like I've had enough of my own for the time being but after reading about your exploits, I need to wait about a decade to do anything like what you went through. So, I'm looking forward to the next blog!

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    1. You know, I've never thought I was adventurous, and yet...

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  11. I got scared reading this, which means (1) you really can tell a story and (2) I'm really afraid of water. I love sharing this adventure vicariously, though. Looking forward to the next episode.

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    1. Since I want to be a writer, thanks and thank goodness! I have a phobia about water plants, so my goal is to stay out of the water myself. ;)

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