...or, perhaps more properly titled "Things I had Forgotten, Should Have Known Already, or Simply Dismissed or Chose to Overlook"... (grin)

Never, EVER underestimate a named storm... This one definitely packed more of a punch than I was expecting. It was frustrating not having a functioning masthead wind speed instrument, but things started getting 'interesting' just after dark last night, I'm guessing sustained winds in the low 40's, gusting to 50...

Straight out of the N, blowing straight down the length of Lake Tashmoo... But the fetch still wasn't too bad, I doubt I ever saw the chop kick up to more than about 2 feet. For a boat of her size, mine rides pretty quietly anyway, so pitching wasn't much of a problem.

I wouldn't say Tashmoo was necessarily a bad choice, but I won't come in here again in a forecast northerly blow (grin)... One of my mistakes was placing too much emphasis on Passageweather's and Sailflow's call that the wind would shift more NW fairly early on, in which case I would have been fine. But that never happened until well after midnight, when all it took was a wind shift of 10-15 degrees to quiet things down considerably. That consideration was the main reason I chose not to go into Lagoon Pond and tuck up into the NE corner tight to shore, for I worried what would happen when it came more NW... but as it turned out, that might have been a better spot. Hadley right up in the lee of Bull Island might have been better, as well, but I've never been in there before, so was more inclined to go with a spot I knew...

As always, the biggest mistake I made was one made even before I left NJ (grin) I don't regret the decision to come out here like I did, but I should have gotten it together to leave a day earlier, and allow myself a full day to check out more options, maybe could have scored a mooring in Eel Pond in Woods Hole, or in Falmouth... Or, perhaps considered some semi-illegal options, such as going up into Menemsha Pond, or Katama Bay near Edgartown, and dare the authorities to kick me out of there with a hurricane approaching. Or, maybe paid whatever it cost to lay alongside near the fuel dock in Menemsha where I bought fuel yesterday morning. So, while coming into Tashmoo wasn't the worst decision, it wasn't the best, either - and I likely would have made a better one, had I allowed myself more time to explore all the various options at my leisure...

If I had it to do over, late yesterday afternoon when everyone was in place, I should have just grabbed one of the large unoccupied mooring balls upwind of where I was anchored. They certainly appeared to be sized to handle boats much larger than mine, and would have saved me some worry later on last night. As mentioned, all these unoccupied moorings really restricted where I could anchor, and I wasn't quite in the spot I wanted to be... One spot I wanted to be, was occupied by a small, unattended POS which was the first boat to drag when the breeze first started to come up. I seriously considered moving to that vacated spot at that time, and probably should have done so...

The primary drawback to where I was, is that it was pretty close quarters, a tight spot... There was not much room for dragging, and not much for swinging. On the other hand, being so close to shore, I had no shortage of landmarks and handy ranges to help indicate the first sign I was dragging...

Which I did, of course... (grin) I estimate during the height of the storm, I probably moved about 3 boat lengths, 100 feet or so...

When I realized I was beginning to move, I started the engine... In a situation like that, one can only marvel at the seamanship of people like the Pardeys, and how they've managed to voyage around the world for decades without ever losing a boat... I could have been in deep shit last night, without an engine, and a powerful anchor windlass. As a singlehander, having a remote windlass control in the cockpit was nice, as well... I generally don't like the idea of operating a windlass without being able to stand there watching it, but it came in handy last night...

Of course, putting the engine in gear at anchor only works if you're gonna try to STEER the boat to keep it head to wind... So, I wound up steering my boat at anchor for about 4 hours, until 0130 or so this morning...

My boat, like many, sails back and forth a fair bit at anchor... My first mistake was letting out too much scope. Don't listen to people who claim "You can never have too much scope", for beyond a certain point, excessive scope simply allows you to veer thru a much wider arc. I found when I shortened up to about 5:1, my situation was greatly improved. And, I think that might be one of the unappreciated virtues of the New Gen anchors, is that they seem to be able to maintain their holding power with minimal scope. I think I may not have dragged at all had I started out with a shorter scope to begin with...

However, running the engine was surprisingly effective, and I was able to greatly reduce the amount of veering the boat was doing, and the snatching loads on the ground tackle they can impart, which I believe led to my bit of dragging to begin with. Even in 40 knots, with the engine only running at idle, there were still times where I could 'overrun' the rode's catenary to have it go completely slack... Not good, as the first couple of times that happened, the bow would fall off so violently that I thought I had lost the anchor or set completely, so it can be a surprisingly delicate operation that requires a lot of concentration. I was exhausted after 4+ hours of doing so, hot chocolate with a dollop of rum was helpful, and I'm afraid I went thru about a month's supply of Costco Trail Mix to keep me energized...

By about 0130, conditions had settled to the point where I was comfortable leaving her to her own devices, and could take some 20 minute catnaps... But before doing so, I wanted to re-anchor further up wind... NOTE TO SELF: Never anchor in a big blow directly upwind of a beautiful Jarvis Newman lobster yacht, it adds to the overall stress level immeasurably (grin)... Dragging into the SAVING GRACE was my biggest concern throughout the entire night, I couldn't have hurt any of the other potential targets downwind of me too badly, and the shoreline all around me would have offered a fairly soft landing. But I definitely wanted to get clear of that guy, before going below for any time... So, I re-anchored without any real drama, although the other moorings about were my biggest concern. By that time, the rain had stopped, so I could see clearly, no problem... (BTW, a 2 million candlepower handheld searchlight is worth it's weight in platinum during a night like last night.)

Another thing that came in very handy, for those of us who wear eyeglasses. I have a dive mask with prescription lenses, and during the height of the storm when the rain was torrential and horizontal, and I had to go forward to check my snubber, etc, that was definitely the way to go, and if nothing else, it eliminates the risk of losing your eyeglasses in a situation where you could so easily do so...

Finally, to the biggest mistake or failing on my part, probably could have lessened the drama significantly during this one. The water depth was between 10-12' where I was... In such depths, mostly in the Bahamas, what I have often done in anticipation of a good blow that will come with the passage of a front in the winter, or whatever - is to more or less 'dangle' my secondary anchor (a 33 lb. Bruce), so that it just sits on the bottom directly below the bow, to inhibit the amount of sailing the boat will do at anchor... Especially in the softer sort of bottom found in a place like Lake Tashmoo, it could have proven to be very effective...

For the life of me, I have no explanation for why the thought to do so NEVER occurred to me in preparation for this storm, or during last night... First time it did so, was when I was setting the alarm for the first of my 20 minute catnaps after things had begun to settle down a bit... Of course, I went forward and lowered it, and it had its immediate beneficial effect, and after a a series of 20 minute checks until 0330 or so, was able to sleep soundly until the morning...

Completely baffling, this oversight on my part... An example of 'over-thinking', forgetting the fundamentals amidst all the other stuff running thru your mind in such a situation, perhaps? Am I getting to the point where I might need to resort to some freakin' laminated Anchoring CHECKLIST , for chrissake ? Anyone who knows me, realizes that just ain't my style... (grin)

Or, maybe just an early Dementia/Alzheimer's Warning Sign ? LMAO

One last shout-out to the owner of the beautiful home here on Tashmoo I was anchored in front of... Twice last night, during the absolute height of the storm, he trudged down across his expansive lawn, and out onto his dock to check on me, see if I was OK... Nothing he could have really done to assist, of course, but his concern was greatly appreciated, and encouraging...

I just hope any of those racers returning from Bermuda are all as lucky as I am this morning...

best regards,

Jon