[gwilli]

No, not a problem holding anchor in Key Bay. Perhaps we found a sandy patch. Our 35 lb. CQR and all chain rode (5:1 scope)held well although because of the steady strong offshore wind we checked regularly throughout the night (our first night at anchor). I normally anchor overnight with 2 anchors but the crew was not motivated to haul the 35 lb. Bruce with its 50 ft of chain out of the cockpit locker and deploy it. Because we would drift away from shore and were not in a crowded anchorage I succumbed to their grovelling. However, in Manchioneel Bay when we anchored because all the balls were gone (except mine) I prevailed on them and we set the second anchor. The Bay was extremely crowded and I did not want to play dodgem cars all night if we slipped anchor in this grassy bay. As it was, the wind shifted many times overnight and we awoke to find a nice knot of chain below the boat that we couldn''t simply haul up with the windlass. We had to snorkel down to unravel much to the amusement (no doubt) of a 6 ft. baracuda that came by to supervise. We none the less got untwisted and were soon on our way again. After that it was early into harbour and grab a ball even at the standard rate of $20.00US per night.