Cheryl's Notes:

We were going to part ways with Wes and Deann today. They were heading out on a long haul to Fishing Bay, and we were going to stick around Hampton and do laundry. But the best laid plans usually get tossed aside. I will let John give you the hairy details, but we woke up at 5:00 am to discover that we were dragging anchor. While we were wrestling with the anchor and trying to decide if we could even get it reset, the Liberty was weighing anchor to head out. We decided to skip town after all, and followed them out of the harbor.

We set out on a northern route with wind from the southwest. We sailed all day averaging 4.5 knots. Our best for the day was 6 knots. Were we racing? The standard answer is that whenever two boats are on the same tack, they are racing. Liberty is a cutter rigged ketch. For non sailors, that means that they have a headsail, a staysail, a mainsail and a mizzen sail. That is a lot of canvas compared to our boat. We are a sloop with a headsail and a mainsail. Our biggest advantage is that we weigh a lot less than they do. They were the lead boat and got a jump on us getting their sails up. We had a lot of wind when we started out, so we stayed cautious and put a reef in our mainsail. Of course, even that didn't work out right. We had a reef line malfunction and lost time in getting it corrected. By the time we got everything corrected, Liberty had about a 2 mile head start. Did we ever catch them? I will let John tell you all of the details.

The day went well, although a 48 mile sail can drag on. We were both tired as we hadn't got much sleep during the night. We took frequent turns at the wheel to try to nap. At about 5:00 pm we started our turn into the Piankatank River. We were originally going to anchor in Fishing Bay, but it wasn't protected for southwest winds. Instead we headed into Godfrey Bay and both dropped anchor. The bay was calm and a perfect spot to get a good night sleep. We were too exhausted to party on Liberty, so we had some dinner and headed to bed. As we laid there, we heard a strange sound. It sounded like the entire boat was filled with Rice Krispies, and someone had just poured in the milk. The popping and cracking was coming from under the boat. Luckily, our friends had warned us about the noise. It was from thousands o f tiny shrimp coming up to feed at the algae on the hull. Thus we ended our 15th day without spending a dime on overnight dockage.

John's Notes:

We've been lucky for a very long time. I can't recall that I have ever dragged anchor. Maybe I have but it never actually affected our position enough to pose a problem. Well, last night we must have dragged about 15-20 feet. We knew that we were in a tight anchorage and only had out about 50' of rode. All chain though. I had mentioned to Wes that I really didn't like it. We were pretty close to a small channel marker (floater). He thought we would be fine. We had backed down on our set anchor as had he and figured that we would keep a watch on it before we headed to bed. About 5:00 am we heard something plunk against the hull. I went topside and looked. Sure enough, on our port quarter was the little red channel marker. It was so close to daylight that I thought that I would just shorten up the rode a little and we would be fine till we decided to get up. There really wasn't much wind. Wrong decision. Less than a half hour later we hear the clank again. This time the marker is on our starboard bow. I'm seeing a problem here. We are definitely closer to the other shore than we were a half hour ago. It's time to re-set the anchor. Cheryl does the driving and I do the anchor retrieval. Works perfect every time.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we pulled up a big honking cable with our anchor? This will probably be something like that. NOT! Almost immediately I realize that our anchor has become shall we say "involved" with the buoy's own security system. I can get whatever is holding it to the bottom to the surface. Looks like a small line is all that is holding it. Well, it was a small line. To be more precise, a small stainless cable. Before we left Minnesota I purchased a small cable cutter (Note to self, get a bigger one). First thinking it was a line, I tried cutting it with my Leatherman knife. Two swipes with that and I'm off to find the cable cutter. Just getting access to this cable is taking all I have. I have to extend myself well over the bow pulpit with our own bow cleats making serious inroads and marks on my chest cavity. Fortunately, a few snips and we have "liberated" our anchor from the buoy. So far so good. Unfortunately, just a few feet away on the other side of the channel are a bunch of fishermen waiting to board a charter boat. They are watching the whole thing. With the buoy now happily floating in their direction, I'm sure that they are writing down the name Leprechaun and the fact that our hailing port on the stern says Bayfield, WI. Probably more than one of then has already called the Coast Guard and reported our vandalism. We are probably facing Bernie Madoff time here. What to do? My first indication is to fess up and call the Coast Guard. There is probably a $50,000 fine for something like this. My retirement fund can only stand so much. It's time to escape and evade. Just like old times in Nam. Put it in gear Cheryl. It's time to haul anchor and ass. It's now been over 24 hours and we have been listing for Coast Guard PAN-PAN's asking for anyone who has seen the elusive Leprechaun. Nothing so far. Maybe we are in the clear. For sure, we probably won't stop in Hampton on our way back south.

With regard to our little race yesterday. Wes and Deann have a bucket full of sail compared to us. After allowing them an almost 2 mile heard start, I told Cheryl that it should take us at least 2 hours to catch up with them. However, we were running with a reefed main and small headsail. The wind was blowing about 17-20kts. As the day progressed we closed the gap between us. At one time, according to radar we had closed to within .43 miles. He is flying everything except his staysail. We are still showing small sails. As we near our destination, I realize that if we are going to catch him I have to shake out the reef in the main and go with the 150% genoa. About 2 miles from the finish we pass them. I called him on the radio and told him that he should be prepared to hand over his "booty." Maybe in the open ocean, but not in 15-20kt winds and 2-3' seas is a big old Tayana going to blow us away.