The wind whistled across Puffin's decks last night, as she lay anchored deep in the salt marshes of the Carolina low country. We were a few miles north of Charleston off Dewees Creek. I played some music on the iPad during dinner to drown out the pervasive whistling of the wind. As we readied for the kip, the anchor alarm sounded. This is not a gentle chime. This alarm has the raucous sound of a police siren that wants your attention - a loud wah, wah, wah!. (It's an app from Jeff Siegel called "Drag Queen"). The persistent 20 knot wind and a current nearly two knots in strength certainly had the power to move Puffin if the anchor were not firmly embedded.

I shouted to Nancy to get dressed while I bolted to the pilothouse to see what was happening. Pitch black skies and a nearly limitless vista of Spartina grass in every direction didn't provide much of a reference point. I started flipping on instruments to orient myself and prepare for any needed move. We still had sufficient depth, so immediate action wasn't needed. The current had begun its ebb and now we were stern to wind with the bow overrunning the snub-line to the anchor. There should be little pressure on the anchor, I reasoned, but the track line on the chart plotter showed boat movement of over two hundred feet......we must be moving.

I started the engine and powered up the radar, not looking forward to a midnight move in rain, wind and a Carolina swamp.......Another glance at the depthsounder showed we still had time to think this out before moving........We remembered that the windlass clutch had slipped at little while anchoring. And Nancy had lost count of the paint markers on the anchor chain.

We realized we must have more chain out than we thought, probably at least 150 (we were in about 18 ft of water at low tide.) That could give us a swing radius of 300 feet. More than I had figured on when I set the alarm. Hmm...... I suggested Nancy return to bed. I would stay up awhile longer and watch. Truly it was to let my heart stop thumping because sleep is not possible for me at those elevated rates. Later, after resetting the alarm, I dozed off.

Preparing to leave this morning, we reeled in two hundred feet of anchor chain. We stop marking the chain at 150 feet and that's why Nancy couldn't see any more depth marks on the chain. We've always figured 150 of chain is more than enough for anyplace we might want to anchor. I think we'll add some more marks.