There are several sections of the West Coast that I was a bit nervous about sailing past; Cape Flattery, Cape Mendocino, and Point Conception. These are all areas known to produce strong, often gale force winds. We always listen carefully to the weather on the VHF, then try to make our passage around these points when there is minimum wind. We succeeded for the most part, only getting caught in high winds a couple of times, and for short durations. When we rounded Point Conception there was very little wind (we were motoring), it was perfect. A few miles past (around) Point Conception is Coho anchorage, it’s a very popular place for those who just rounded Point Conception to anchor, and regain their senses after being beat-up by the winds and seas that frequent the Point. When we pulled in to Coho we noticed 2 sailboats on the beach! They had obviously been caught there in a dangerous and rare Southeast wind storm, and dragged up onto the beach. Very sad. When we dropped anchor the wind was coming from the Northwest (normal for this time of year), leaving the beach directly in front of us. We went below, had dinner and turned-in. Just past midnight we were awakened by the change in the movement of the boat, and then the GPS anchor alarm went off. When I went up into the cockpit I realized that the wind had increased and changed direction. When I shone our spotlight behind us – there were the 2 sailboats on the beach!!! And we were dragging anchor, seemingly to join them! We fired-up the engine and managed to pull up the anchor, re-position ourselves, and drop the anchor further away from the beach. The anchor eventually grabbed on to something, and I sat up in the cockpit for the remainder of the night. This was the scariest incident of our entire trip so far.