To make a short story really long...
...while tied to the relative security of the dock at the Clipper Yacht Harbor, we decided to take off our jib and do some much needed furler maintenance and forestay adjustment. In the process, I had to remove the long stainless steel pin that holds the bottom of the Harken furler to the forestay. I got it out no problem and placed it gently in my pocket. I did a few other things then stood up for whatever reason. At this point, time stood still and I remembered I was wearing the shorts with a hole in the pocket...the very pocket I put the pin in. As all this is going through my head, I feel the cold cruel steel of the pin slide down my leg and fall right into the water. It was in slow motion so I should have been able to catch it, but I was paralyzed just watching the thing fall.

After some screaming and shouting, I reviewed my options. I could walk over to the rigging shop right down the street and see if they had any extras. I could hire a salvage diver to dig around on the murky bottom and see if he could come up with it or I could put on my wet suit and scuba gear and go look for it myself. I decided on the latter. So, I spend the next 30 minutes digging my scuba gear out from under the v-berth and putting it all together and on my body. I slip into the water and head towards the bow of the boat where Tami had lowered our lead line right in the vicinity of where I thought the pin had dropped. This would help with my orientation and search pattern.

After a few minutes trying to get used to the 55 degree water, I was ready to dive down and look for the missing part; however, my wet suit was so buoyant that I could not seem to get down - even with 15 lbs of weight on my belt. So, back to square 1. Tami suggested that we lower the anchor a bit just so that it touches the bottom, then I could crawl my way down the anchor chain. This worked great! I pulled myself back together and slowly began to lower myself down the anchor chain hand over hand. The water was only about 12 feet deep but visibility was less than 1 foot and it got dark and murky very quickly. Besides, there was a bit of a current running and the silt was just flying by. Once I reached the bottom, I rested my knees in the silt and held onto the anchor with my left hand. I removed my glove from my right hand so that I would have more dexterity and feeling while searching through the soft sand and mud. I mentally calculated my position in relation to where I thought the missing part was, and put my hand out to touch the bottom and begin searching. Keep in mind, I couldn't see a thing. As soon as my hand hit the soft bottom, I felt it! The palm of my hand landed right on the part! I couldn't believe it. I quickly scooped it up, brought it close to my goggles to verify that I indeed had the right part, and then tucked it safely in my zippered vest pocket (no holes in this one).

Ecstatic, I worked my way back up the anchor chain and to the surface. I had been under water a total of 3 minutes and it didn't cost me a cent. Now, I just have to get the furler back together without dropping the critical pin in the water again.

Oh, the life of a sailor.