WED. 21 NOV 2018 - Thanksgiving EVE... (so to speak).
Interesting day... started fine, especially after a FULL nights sleep in a fairly quiet anchorage, when we didn't have to get up an hour before "first light"... OR in the ocean.. .stay awake...
Then Earl Davis texted and had volunteered to pick me up and drive me over to Rocky's Boat Yard, to arrange a "haul-out" for AB... (on land, so I can fix and paint the bottom of the AB)...
NO Joy in finding Rocky himself, but I did talk with Kevin, the yard manager, and he pointed to the spot where they would put AB when we came... COOL!!!
So... back to the boat for me... and Fayetteville for the Davis's... (Thanksgiving with the Moms)...

Back at the AB.. .I was having another cup of coffee, and boats were coming in by the dozens... One tried to anchor immediately to our bow... Between s/v "Dalmatian" and AB.... HUMMM perhaps I should stay here in the cockpit and watch.... (I said to myself)....
Good Thing....
This single handing captain was getting closer and closer to AB... drifting back with the current... HUMMM ???? anchor chain off the bow of his boat, but he's getting a LOT CLOSER.... The captain is running back and forth... I could see he was upset... I got out on the side deck as he was nearly off our beam, and said "you're not going to anchor right there, are YOU?"....
He calmly said.... "WELL, NO...as my anchor has been pulled out of the bottom, by my anchor Buoy line, WHICH is RAPPED around my propeller. SO...............I have no anchor down, and no motor.... (and I might add... no motor on his dinghy)..."

SO he was basically drifting through the anchorage, without any control, in MAX EBB current... (about 4.5 knots of current in the St. Mary's River is max ebb).

I don't "KNOW" if he was a beginner cruiser but when he mentioned "his anchor buoy line" I surmised he was NEW....
and here's why.... Every book that talks about anchoring along the ICW, talks about "always mark your anchor location with a buoy, so you and others know where your anchors relative to your boat..." WELL... to do this you have to tie a line onto your anchor, and then to something that floats... The trouble is that you anchor in different depths of water every night... SO how long do you make that 'line' that holds the floating marker... 15 feet, 8 feet, 30 feet ????? Anyway... IF you make it too long, as this gentleman did... and then anchor in a high current situation.... The anchor buoy line gets swept under the boat as the anchor and CHAIN are going straight down... and in this case... swept under the boat and INTO his Rotating propeller.... BAMMM engine stops.... Anchor not set...
SO I jumped in our dinghy, "George"... and rushed over there, just as the captain was fending off a moored vessel... that he was drifting down onto.... I secured George to his port side... and goosed the Mercury outboard to just keep him stable, and keep him from hitting anyone else.... WHILE he searched through his lazeretts for his secondary anchor.... He finally found his anchor buried deep in a locker... set it.... Then asked me to CUT the buoy line OFF his anchor and hand it to him... so he could try to "unwind" it from the prop....
Interesting Morning....

BTW... every seasoned cruiser, pretty much agrees, you NEVER PUT an anchor buoy line OUT there... IT WILL always cause you problems.... with wrapping around the KEEL, the PROP, or something else that you can't control....

The rest of the day was spent with Pete and Bunny and Tom and Marylou (Dalmatian).. shopping at Walmart, and getting propane fill.
Tonight was the last "happy hour" get-to-gether at Seagle's saloon, before the Thanksgiving day dinner...
We had a great table of cruisers, and great conversations.... FUN night..
I'll be going in early in the AM, tomorrow to help set up tables and chairs.... For the dinner, then come back and get Susan and our contribution to the dinner...This year I'm not cooking... two PIES !!!