OldBawley
Active member
I had the most ?? bizarre ?? anchoring experience of my 35 years of anchoring.
The anchorage was very crowded, but having spent last two lock downs (almost 12 months combined) at that place I knew where I could put my boat for some days during a Meltem. The anchorage is not only crowded, it is a bad spot. Lots of debris on the bottom and since wind can not go trough a 300 meter high hill it goes around it. Unfortunately sometimes you get the gusts from west, seconds later from east. Still I had to be there, my anchor winch is not operating for the moment, not broken (it is a indestructible Simpson Laurence Seatiger ) but the chain gipsy totally worn down to the point the wheel is round. I have to lift the heavy Rocna by hand and I am old. So I needed shallow water and that spot in the anchorage was just right.
I arrive under engine, skirt the rocky shore, then head into the strong west onshore wind between two already anchored yachts. Both modern light displacement yachts, some 40 yards apart. I put my bow exactly between the two boats and ask the port yachts captain how much chain he has out. Just to be polite, since I am going to put my anchor just behind them and then fall back about 30 yards to the very limit of the rocky shore.
The guy answers, I don’t recall how much chain he said he had out because he claims his anchor is not in front of his boat but just where I am now, 20 yards to the side. ???
I don´t believe the guy, it simply is not possible with the strong wind, he just don’t want anyone around. So i fall back some 10 meters from where he was was pointing and drop the hook.
Now I was anchored between both yachts but about 40 yards behind them. Snorkelling to cheque my anchor and the surrounding for metal parts from a sunken ship, all is OK.
All is OK all day and most of the night. Strong gusts, mostly from west. Second part of the night the wind starts to fall and fluctuating from west to East. So I keep watch. Old man, don’t need a lot of sleep. Everything fine for me, the other boats in the anchorage have some bump in´s. Both yachts west of me are now very far off, they have a lot of scope out, they have electric winches.
Next morning with the rising of the sun the wind backs again to west and is gusty strong, forecast to get stronger. More yachts want to anchor in that spot, a 50 feet rental yacht filled with a lot of Russian speaking men anchors before me and ends up just between my fore- neighbours. That is not good. Fenders are out with them.
At five in the afternoon I was inside doing some laptop work when I see a yacht just 3 yards away.
I got out to find the yacht is the one who was in front of me, the guy is paying out more chain by hand. He wants to get away from his new Russian neighbors, prefers my compagny.
Now, that is not good. He ends up just next to me, and I inform him that I think the new situation is no good. He has a big lightweight yacht with lots of windage, my boat is small but twice the weight of his yacht and we have 15 m² of keel in the water, our boat is more submarine, no yawing at all.
He replies that I can go, he was here first.
He is correct, he was first in the anchorage, just not on that spot.
We had some words and he pulls in a few yards of chain, I let go some more. He now swings 3 yards in front of our 10 feet bowsprit. Sometimes far away, then passes in front to far away the other way. Balloon on the water.
And just when I am thinking of leaving he puts a suitcase generator on the skirt of his boat and starts making power. The stink been pressed down my forehach trough our wind scoop.
I then was so filled with anger adrenaline that I, old as I am pulled our 8 ton boat against the wind, broke the 15 kg Rocna out of the ground and on to deck.
I left, went some miles further to a spot I knew that had much wind but no waves and that would be empty.
That is, until the shit would start flying around and yachts would see me anchor there, flocking around my boat like sheep. Ahhh, some more weeks and we are alone again.
The anchorage was very crowded, but having spent last two lock downs (almost 12 months combined) at that place I knew where I could put my boat for some days during a Meltem. The anchorage is not only crowded, it is a bad spot. Lots of debris on the bottom and since wind can not go trough a 300 meter high hill it goes around it. Unfortunately sometimes you get the gusts from west, seconds later from east. Still I had to be there, my anchor winch is not operating for the moment, not broken (it is a indestructible Simpson Laurence Seatiger ) but the chain gipsy totally worn down to the point the wheel is round. I have to lift the heavy Rocna by hand and I am old. So I needed shallow water and that spot in the anchorage was just right.
I arrive under engine, skirt the rocky shore, then head into the strong west onshore wind between two already anchored yachts. Both modern light displacement yachts, some 40 yards apart. I put my bow exactly between the two boats and ask the port yachts captain how much chain he has out. Just to be polite, since I am going to put my anchor just behind them and then fall back about 30 yards to the very limit of the rocky shore.
The guy answers, I don’t recall how much chain he said he had out because he claims his anchor is not in front of his boat but just where I am now, 20 yards to the side. ???
I don´t believe the guy, it simply is not possible with the strong wind, he just don’t want anyone around. So i fall back some 10 meters from where he was was pointing and drop the hook.
Now I was anchored between both yachts but about 40 yards behind them. Snorkelling to cheque my anchor and the surrounding for metal parts from a sunken ship, all is OK.
All is OK all day and most of the night. Strong gusts, mostly from west. Second part of the night the wind starts to fall and fluctuating from west to East. So I keep watch. Old man, don’t need a lot of sleep. Everything fine for me, the other boats in the anchorage have some bump in´s. Both yachts west of me are now very far off, they have a lot of scope out, they have electric winches.
Next morning with the rising of the sun the wind backs again to west and is gusty strong, forecast to get stronger. More yachts want to anchor in that spot, a 50 feet rental yacht filled with a lot of Russian speaking men anchors before me and ends up just between my fore- neighbours. That is not good. Fenders are out with them.
At five in the afternoon I was inside doing some laptop work when I see a yacht just 3 yards away.
I got out to find the yacht is the one who was in front of me, the guy is paying out more chain by hand. He wants to get away from his new Russian neighbors, prefers my compagny.
Now, that is not good. He ends up just next to me, and I inform him that I think the new situation is no good. He has a big lightweight yacht with lots of windage, my boat is small but twice the weight of his yacht and we have 15 m² of keel in the water, our boat is more submarine, no yawing at all.
He replies that I can go, he was here first.
He is correct, he was first in the anchorage, just not on that spot.
We had some words and he pulls in a few yards of chain, I let go some more. He now swings 3 yards in front of our 10 feet bowsprit. Sometimes far away, then passes in front to far away the other way. Balloon on the water.
And just when I am thinking of leaving he puts a suitcase generator on the skirt of his boat and starts making power. The stink been pressed down my forehach trough our wind scoop.
I then was so filled with anger adrenaline that I, old as I am pulled our 8 ton boat against the wind, broke the 15 kg Rocna out of the ground and on to deck.
I left, went some miles further to a spot I knew that had much wind but no waves and that would be empty.
That is, until the shit would start flying around and yachts would see me anchor there, flocking around my boat like sheep. Ahhh, some more weeks and we are alone again.
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