24 Days to Cast Off: Time Outs are Good...

I haven't posted for a few days.  We were busy planning for a visit from our son, David and our 9 year old twin granddaughters, Madison and McKenzie.

They arrived on Ocean Breeze Friday, July 16th and left for their home this morning.  It was a packed 3 days but a lot of fun for us and for Charlie.  He's incognito somewhere here on the boat trying to recharge his batteries.

Friday was a beach day for the girls to reacquaint themselves with Bay Point and Lake Erie.

Saturday we took everyone to the sand point off Bay Point so Charlie could join in the fun.  He had a blast in the water with the girls and they loved playing catch with him.

Yesterday was a good day to test out our new anchor and let everyone swim in deep water.  We took Ocean Breeze north of the campground on Kelley's Island.  It is a protected area from the south and a popular anchorage for transients as well as locals.

It was a good learning experience for me, using the knowledge I have gained from Loopers blogs and seminars at Joe Wheeler last fall.

We've anchored multiple times over the years.  Some of those times have been overnight at Kelley's Island as well as in Put in Bay Harbor before the moorings were established.  However, three years ago I lost my confidence after anchoring Ocean Breeze north of Kelley's Island.  We had a good grab and a sound hold, however I was using only the lead anchor chain and not letting out the attached anchor line.  I felt that 50 feet chain was plenty to hold this boat in 10 feet of water.  We ventured into town.  While we were gone the wind changed direction to the unprotected north.  When we came back, Ocean Breeze was dragging anchor badly and heading for the rocky shore.  We only had time to tie the dinghy on and move to deeper water.  When I hoisted the Danforth anchor the boat came equipped with, one of the two flukes was bent.

After that incident, I began researching anchors and holding power for larger boats.  I had always used Fortress Anchors on our last two boats and never had issue with them.  I liked them better than the traditional Danforth anchors because of their lighter weight.  They were easy for me to handle.  I was drawn toward Fortress because of their history with us however noticed most of the large boats in our marina had Delta Fast Set plow anchors.  The research I did made both anchors seem pretty reliable, so I opted for the Delta.

We've had our Delta for two years now.  Even with the bigger anchor, I was still hesitant to give her the test.  Weather and weekend plans always had a way of keeping us busy and obscuring my fear.  We just never seemed to have time to anchor at Kelley's Island, even for an afternoon of swimming.

At the AGLCA rendezvous at Joe Wheeler Park last fall and our renewal of the Coast Guard Auxillary Safe Boating Course taken in Florida during February, we reviewed anchoring techniques and little tricks to help keep a secure hold.  One thing I learned was the lead chain is not enough to hold the anchor.  The lead chain needs to be at rest for it's full length on the lake, ocean or river floor to do its' work.  Many folks even use a small mushroom anchor at the junction of the chain and the line to insure the chain is well established on the floor of the chosen anchorage.

Yesterday, we had a stiff wind from the south and great conditions to test what I had learned.  We chose our spot in 9 feet of water.  I let out the anchor chain to the junction of the anchor line, which is 50 feet of chain.  The anchor bounced across the lake floor.  I tethered off 30 feet of anchor line and let the chain drop to the watery floor and waited.  She held like a champ!  We swam for over an hour and had absolutely no loss of hold.

I can't say the first night we have at anchor when we are on the Loop will be a well slept on for me.  I do have more trust in our set-up.  And I'm certainly not opposed to more line out than is probably necessary.  At best guess, yesterday's anchor was probably more of a lunch anchor set.  If we were to spend the night, I think I would have wanted at least 50 feet of line along with that 50 feet of chain to give more of a horizontal pull on the anchor.

Yesterday evening, after we returned to Bay Point we had a big downpour.  We were out for pizza when the storm rolled in.  When we came back to the boat, the guest room bed had a huge puddle right in the middle of the mattress.  Boats...don't we just love them? A constant contest of problem versus solution.  So the twins slept on the couch in the salon.  We are supposed to have overnight guests next weekend.  I think we are going to have to take some of our entertaining time for solving problems.