Boating with Sunset Delight: 2022: Maine Part IV

8 August 2022

Depart: Duck harbor anchorage 9:50

Depart: Sand Cove anchorage 11:45

Arrive: Buckle Island anchorage 5:00

Distance: 24 nm

Being anchored between two rock ledges did not offer us good cell phone reception. Our son Jeff had a business call to attend to at 8:00 a.m. today. Lack of cell signal presented a bit of a problem. When we were exploring the trails on the island yesterday, he hunted around for a place to pick up a signal on shore. Shortly before his call, he grabbed a kayak and his cell phone and paddled to shore. Although his call was relatively short, by the time he returned to our boat, the wind had picked up and he had to work hard to get back onboard.

When we anchored yesterday, we put out a bow and a stern anchor to stop the boat from potentially swinging into the rock walls. We anchored into the wind which is standard procedure. This morning, however, the wind had done a 180 degree switch, and the stern anchor was doing the lion's share of the work holding us in place. That meant that we couldn't just let out the bow anchor line and drop back to pick up the stern anchor. The 25 knot wind precluded an easy pickup of the stern anchor.

Clark positioned our son Jeff at the stern to attend the stern anchor, me at the bow to work the anchor windlass, and Clark at the helm to keep us off the rocks! Clark orchestrated the operation. He and I had headsets for communication. Even so, with all the action, it was hard for me to understand all that was happening. Poor Jeff did not have the benefit of a headset, so he was worse off than I was as far as knowing how to proceed. Sierra, age 8, came out to sit on the bow and observe the operation. Pretty quickly she was being called to duty as well.

Clark had the forethought to realize we might have to release the stern anchor completely. He tied a small fender to the end of the anchor line in case Jeff had to let the line go overboard. Once we were all set, Clark gave me the go ahead to start bringing in the bow anchor. He had Jeff letting out the stern line. He hoped that, despite the wind, we could get the bow anchor up with the stern line played out to its fullest and then bring the stern anchor in afterwards.

Unfortunately, this plan was not explained to me, so I thought we would let out the bow line to bring up the stern anchor first. Clark kept telling me to bring in the bow anchor and I would do it a little at a time expecting him to want to remain anchored. He kept saying more and more and more. It would have helped a lot if I knew the ultimate objective.

Meanwhile, Jeff was having to let out more and more line for the stern anchor until, ultimately, he ran out of line. As I was yelling for Sierra to come help me on the bow, Jeff started calling Sierra to come help in the stern. I told her to go and she ran back to Jeff. The fender that Clark had tied to the stern line was caught by the boat railings stopping it from leaving the boat. Jeff wanted Sierra to give it a push to help it through and on its way. By the time she got there, however, the force of the line pulling on the fender yanked it through the posts and that was that.

After that Jeff appeared at the bow to help me. He pointed off to the port side and said look there. I saw our fender floating in the distance. "Did it fall overboard?" I asked. "No", it's tied to our stern anchor!" he replied. "Ahh, got it!" Okay, so now we just had to focus on the bow anchor. That turned out to be yet another ordeal.

When the bow anchor appeared out of the water, it came up with a surprise attached. Not one but two lobster pots were hanging from the anchor. The line connecting them had wrapped itself around the anchor and had no intention of letting go any time soon. As Jeff and I used a spare line and a boat hook to wrestle with the lobster pots, Clark worked diligently to keep the boat away from the rock wall and other lobster pots in the area.

Jeff and I were both pulling with all our might on the anchor chain, line, and boat pole while Clark said we should go get something to cut the line. I felt torn between doing what Clark suggested and abandoning Jeff to the mess we had up front. Later, we all agreed that getting something to cut the line would have been prudent; however, at the time it felt like an impossible request to fulfill. Using brute strength, Jeff somehow managed to unwrap the lobster pot lines from the anchor.

We gladly waved goodbye to this mess as it sunk below the surface. As we pulled away, Clark was concerned that we might collide with the pot or its lines again after release, but it was so very heavy that it went down like a rock once Jeff got it off the anchor. Perhaps some other poor sole will pull it up in the future with their anchor. The traps had obviously been submerged and abandoned long ago as they were old and crappy looking.

With that ugly job done, we still could not leave the anchorage. Our stern anchor and the fender were waiting for us to come back and retrieve them as well. To accomplish this job, Clark positioned the boat so I could snag the fender with a boat hook. As the crew on the bow pulled in the stern anchor, they asked to stay in neutral while they brought the line onto the boat. After some time, but before all the line was retrieved, Clark had to go into reverse and steer the boat away for the rock wall which by now had become dangerously close.

Once away from the rocks, Clark and I switched positions. I took the helm and Clark and Jeff worked together to pull in the stern anchor. Initially they pulled it in at the bow of the boat up to the chain, but eventually they had to move to the stern to bring the anchor up onto the swim platform. The 55 pound anchor was on thinner line and easier to lift onto the swim platform than haul up the 8' side of the boat and over the bow railing.

Meanwhile, I had my hands full. I had rock walls to worry about, but more problematic than that was the wind in conjunction with numerous lobster pots scattered about. Having just gotten rid of a pair of lobster pots on the anchor, I sure did not want to wrap one around a propeller.

Clark told me to "station keep", and that is what I tried to do. However, staying put was easier said than done. Later, after they had managed to get the anchor up onto the swim platform and then into the cockpit, Jeff asked me what I was doing at the helm. He said that a few times it felt like his arms would be ripped off as the anchor was basically "water skiing" behind the boat. He certainly got a workout today! We started pulling in the anchors at 8:45. About an hour later, we were done.

With that anchoring nightmare behind us, we made our way to the sandy beach at Sand Cove to let the kids dig in the sand. Many beaches in Maine consist of rocks. The kids were happy to visit one where they could use buckets and shovels for a change. When they got into the dinghy for the ride to the beach, they had on warm clothing to keep out the the chill in the air.

Clark returning after dropping them off at beach

After dropping the family off at the beach, Clark returned to "Sunset Delight" where we hung out to wait for a request to be picked up again. Every once in a while we would look over towards shore to check on the family. Not long after they landed on the beach, we noticed a change in the girls' attire.

As it turned out, on shore had a different climate altogether from the boat with a sea breeze. When they realized how warm it was on land, the girls were disappointed they had not brought their swimsuits to shore with them. With no one within miles of the beach to see them, Devon suggested they play "au naturale"! Before she could finish making her suggestion, Sierra was already ripping off her clothes. Violet and Zoe soon followed her example.

Looking over from the boat, I thought, "Oh, the kids look naked, but they must still have on their underwear." Clark had binoculars and said, "No, I'm pretty sure they are wearing nothing." Devon confirmed Clark's appraisal of the situation when they got back on board. (wearing clothes!) The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

Once we had everyone back on board, we headed to the harbor at Buckle Island to drop anchor for the night. One would think we had enough excitement for one day, but they would be wrong. We had one more ordeal to get through before we could call it a day.

Clark and Jeff had the helm. I sat in the salon with the girls working on some crafts. Suddenly I heard a bang from under the boat. I knew we hit something. I assumed it was a trap and ran to the back of the boat to see if I could see evidence of an encounter with a trap. As I watched I saw a trap marker appear and yelled up to the upper helm what I saw.

"Do you see one or two floats?" came the reply. "One!" I yelled back, "No signs of a second one."

Clark had me stand in the cockpit as he engaged first the starboard-only prop and then the port-only prop. I heard nothing unusual with the port side, but with the starboard side, I heard "bang, bang, bang" as something hit the bottom of the boat hard. Clark said, "Looks like I'm going for a swim", put on his wetsuit, grabbed some tools and his diving mask, and jumped in. Knowing the float was impacting the starboard side saved him a lot of time.

I always feel like a nurse in a surgery with the doctor when he is working on something. He calls out the name of the tool he needs, and I hand it over to him. After a quick look under the boat, he came up and said, "Cutters!" I handed him the cutters and down he went again. One snip and he was done and back on board. That was quick!