My latest escapade on our boat. Let me preface this by saying...even a "new" boat will have issues that can be scary. Less than 80 hours on the meter when this all played out.
Our whole family is in town, so lets go for a sail! Day starts out great, we leave the dock right on time even, which is a feat for my parents, brothers since they're all pretty much nocturnal and have trouble making morning appointments.
We navigate the bridges of Fort Lauderdale with nary an issue. Even Jungle Queen is no where to be seen! We make it to the ocean in bright sun and nearly flat seas with a nice 12-15 knot northwestern breeze. Its a great sail north all the way up to Galt Ocean mile. We tack back and make it all the way to the inlet under sail alone. I'm tempted to even go through the inlet under sail, but alas...common sense and a sportfish at full speed put to bed that thought.
As we're going in, we come upon the turn for the New River, and I say..."hey, anyone wanna go to Lake Sylvia!" My wife shoots me a look that says no, we're not there yet. My mom says she'd love to go. We've had trouble with the windlass and our last anchoring trip was not so hot...but I listen to my mom. I think I was hexed by my wifes strong caribbean mal-jou right at that point. Island women possess strong magic, you see!
So we pull into Lake Sylvia...and our anchor technique is rusty. We line up into the wind...drop the anchor, pay out chain...and immediately start dragging. Reset! This time it looks like we held....or so I thought. Here is where things start going pear shaped.
I stupidly killed the engine, thinking we were set. Only to see a boat getting awful close all of a sudden. Our anchor didnt hold, ugh, so I go to start the engine. Lights...camera....no action.
*PANIC* sets in. The trawler behind us is only 20 feet away and getting closer. I run up to the bow and try and reset the anchor, yelling at family to FEND OFF (only to not have them know what that meant). Wife digs out the fenders and ties a few to the stern....just as our anchor catches. THANK GOD. Go back to the control panel and turn the engine crank. Idiot lights on, no buzzer...no crank. WTF? Go to the voltage meter...13 volts solid. What is going on?!?!
By now, trawler dude from Canada (who looks like he just woke up...its 1:30 pm btw) comes out and I ask him for a hand. He doesn't seem amused...but obliges. Trawler dude takes me to shore (bad move...more on that later) and I set about looking for help. He goes back to his boat and disappears. I immediately call Tow Boat US and realize my membership JUST expired 3 days ago...*UGH* and they're busy today anyway...wont be available for another hour or two and to call them back.
So I call my dealership..and he says, sorry...due to the holidays, no mechanics are around and you'll just have to tow back to your dock. But let me call around and see what I can do. He says he'll call me in a second and try and diagnose over the phone. I realize there is no way for me to get back to my boat out in the middle of Lake Sylvia, with my family....I have the cell phone and they have nothing. Dealership calls me back and says that I should check the Solenoid wire on the starter as its probably come loose...I tell him thanks, but I'm staring at my boat bobbing in the distance with no way to get back
By now, I'm just in shock at the series of bad moves I've made. Starting with not listening to the Admiral. I committed mutiny and this is my penance.
Thankfully, this is when my luck starts turning back around. I see kids using their dinghy and wake boarding around. Usually, I'd be annoyed at the kids creating noise and wake in my quiet anchorage...but I was able to flag them down and they gave me a ride to Jendai. I thank the kids and make it to the engine compartment. Peel off the rear cover to expose...*TADA* a disconnected solenoid wire!
I connect the wire, go up to the cockpit, turn the key and VROOM....
Immediately, we pull up anchor and head back out. Thank the kids again as we pass by and head up New River and get home.
One last insult to injury...Andrews Avenue bridge tender decided to be a real joker today and made me come up *RIGHT* on the blast pumps before he started his opening...I was wise to his game and was able to keep control of the boat as thousands of gallons of water blasted my stern as I went through. He's my least favorite bridge on the New River...a real a** at times.
Anyway, alls well that ends well. Here are my takeaways for the TL;DR crowd:
1) Listen to your Wife...she's Admiral for a reason
2) Dont turn off your engine until you've had your anchor TRULY set...for like 20 minute
3) Dont get off your boat unless you have a way to get back on...or carry a dink at all times (duh?!)
4) Make sure you have a Tow Boat US or Sea Tow membership active at ALL TIMES. (duh?!). This is now part of my pre-departure checklist spreadsheet.
5) Make sure you tell your family what all the terms you intend to you use actually mean...and tell them where all the relevant equipment resides!
Alls well that ends well, I guess...but a few months taken off of my life
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