We pulled into Daniel's bay around 4:00 pm from Taiohae and followed our standard anchor procedure: drop anchor in 20 feet of water; put out 110 feet of chain; set anchor at around 1800 RPMs; and attach snubber. It was a clam bay and, after a rough ride, we felt happy to be some place new.

We went and talked to the only other boat in the bay that was anchored 300 feet directly behind us. The boat was full of young, really good looking, twenty something's from the U.K. and South Africa - four guys and two girls. I told them I was from California and had a couple of chicks on my boat too. Kathy ruined the whole thing by telling them that they were my daughters.

They were leaving soon, they said. They were waiting for two of their crew to show up from a mountain climbing expedition. It was clear later on that they decided to stay for the evening. They, obviously, wanted to hang out with a cool dude like me. I waited for them to call me over on the VHF, but for some reason it never happened. I was too tired, anyway.

We watched a show, read a little and around 10:00 pm, exhausted, we all decide to go to bed. It was a calm bay and we spent the previous two nights rolling uncomfortably. We were all looking forward to getting a good night sleep. Truth is, we've been sniping at each other quite a bit and needed some rest.

At 11:00 pm I was awoken by a gust of wind. It was quite a large gust of wind and I decided that I, probably, should set the anchor alarm. I had forgotten to do it earlier in the evening and if we dragged and ended up on the rocks, I'd never hear the end of it.

I set the anchor alarm, and checked the anchor, even though it was raining. I was really tired and everything looked okay. The snubber, which is designed to take pressure off of the windlass and lower the angle of pull on the anchor, felt good. I quickly jumped back into bed confident that we were anchored well for the evening. I closed my eyes and after 30 seconds I was nearly back asleep.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

Now for those of you that don't live on a boat, beeping is never a good sign. Our alarm clock beeps, the smoke alarm beeps, the carbon monoxide alarm beeps, the gas alarm beeps, and the GPS anchor drag alarm beeps. Beeping is never good.

I jump out of bed, tripping on Kathy. A huge gust of wind hits and Adventure turns sideways. I quickly rule out fire, carbon monoxide, gas, and alarm clock. It must be the anchor alarm.

Having been in lots of wind conditions, now, and getting used to hearing different whines I'd guessed that we'd been hit by a gust of around 30-40 knots. Our windmill really starts to turn at this amount of wind and it makes noises that make you want to run for cover. The GPS is still beeping.

I run up into the cockpit, after putting on my shorts. (I'm still not feeling French enough to go out in my skivvies.) Kathy quickly follows me, wearing only her skivvies. I look forward and can't see anything. It's dark and cloudy. I can't see any stars. I can't see the cliffs that surround us. I'm tired and disoriented. I'm not thinking clearly.

It's then I realize that I our sunshade is up. The reason I can't see anything is because the sunshade is blocking my view. I look around the sunshade and my heart stops; I still can't see any thing. There are no stars; I can't see the cliffs; and the boat behind us doesn't have their anchor light on.

Kathy comes back into the cockpit loaded up with clothes that she set out to dry on our lifelines early in the afternoon. Kathy is muttering, "This always happens when I put the laundry out." Noticing me she asks, "Are we dragging?"
"I'm not sure," I reply. "I can't see anything."

I run down below and turn on the sonar and radar. The radar requires two minutes start-up before it'll paint a picture.

02:00
I look at the GPS. I'm not sure if it's a false alarm. I start looking at our lat and long. The numbers are increasing. The gusts are strong and I keep thinking that Adventure is just pulling on the chain and will rebound to its original position as the each gust subsides.

01:50
Kathy yells, "We're dragging. We're getting close to the other boat. I'm not sure how she knows that; it's too dark to see anything. She's not wearing her glasses either.

Tara and Casey are awake now and are awaiting orders. I ask Tara for my headlamp. She asks for its location and I give her vague instructions as I run about. I'm starting to get a bit frantic.

I yell to only use red lights; I'm trying to save my night vision. Casey asks why and Tara turns on normal lights, out of habit. My night vision is wrecked.

01:20
Tara hands me my headlamp and I struggle to find the correct configuration of the head band so that it sits on my head correctly. I never do. It sits on my head upside down. I run up into the cockpit.

00:58
"We're getting close to the other boat. I think we should move forward." Kathy yells over the wind. We're being pelted by rain and major gusts. The windmill is making take-off sounds. Kathy has the engine started and in neutral.

I wonder for a brief moment how the other boat is dragging towards us and the wind is blowing the other way. I'm still in denial.

00:47
I'm still waiting for the radar to paint a picture. I can't see anything. There are cliffs and reefs all around us. We need to stay towards the middle of the bay and we can't do that until we know where we are.

"Kathy! Listen to me!" I yell. She's distracted by the big blob that's quickly getting closer.
"We need to move forward!" she yells.
"Kathy! Listen to me!" Kathy completely ignores me and puts Adventure into forward and guns the engine.
I look incredulously at her because 1) she just disobeyed my order; and 2) she's driving the boat blind now. We're turned sideways to the wind. I tell her to straighten the boat out and she quickly informs me that she hard to starboard. The wind is so strong that bow won't come around.

00:40
I run up to the bow and switch on my headlamp. It doesn't work; the batteries are dead. I scream for a light and start bringing the anchor up. Casey quickly runs forward and assists me with the flashlight. Tara stands amidships and does relays for Kathy and me.

Kathy hears a yell from the other boat in the anchorage. "Hey guys! What's going on?" Kathy informs them that we're dragging. Their boat lights up like something from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. DUN-DUHN!!

A voice from the other boat gives Kathy some instructions: "North is straight ahead!"
Kathy's confused. She finds this instruction completely useless. She doesn't know if that's where the beach is, or not. "Is that where the beach is?"
"Yes!"

00:00
Our radar is working now and Kathy is able to straighten Adventure out. As soon as the anchor clears the water I run to the helm to help Kathy find a new place to anchor.

Using the radar we pick a new place 300 feet away from shore and 400 feet away from the other boat. We anchor with much more scope, 8 to 1, and pull really hard once the anchor is set. The wind then dies. Kathy yells to the other boat, "We're good!" She yells this is some cool manner as if we were never out of control.

We spend the rest of the night checking and rechecking the anchor at the hint of any wind. It shook us up pretty good, but we're okay now. Shared crisis - it always brings a family together. We're all getting along better now.

Okay, here are some boring facts. If I don't put them in Kathy will and she'll get all the cool comments.

We think Adventure dragged 200 feet. I did hear a clunk just before we started dragging. I think we anchored on some rocks. The water was too murky for me to dive on the anchor. There are sharks in the water too. I think we were moving too fast for the anchor to reset. We came within 75 feet of the other boat. It was all Kathy's fault.