We were anchored in the mouth of the Endeavor River by the village of Cooktown –named after Captain James Cook—in northeastern Queensland, Australia and the wind was piping and swirling between the headlands in great gusts. Rosie, the boys and I had dinghied over to our friend Rona’s boat for morning coffee and to go over our route north inside the Great Barrier Reef to Cape York. But, sitting in the cockpit, I couldn’t take my eyes off Clover because she was dancing back and forth on her anchor chain. She was literally sailing to the extreme length of her chain and then back again, tack after tack. I was afraid she would rip the anchor, a 60-pound plow, loose from the sandy bottom. What to do? We decided, as we often do, that it was time for a second anchor. Tim, Si and I dinghied back to Clover, grabbed the second anchor from its bow roller, dumped the 20-feet of chain and 100 feet of rode into the dinghy and motored out at a 45 degree angle from where the primary anchor was planted and dropped the anchor and rode over the side. We’d left Tim on Clover so he could take up on the rode and as he did, the anchor set, and gradually the rode grew taught. At once, Clover stopped dancing and settled down to lie stable and secure with her bow to the wind. The whole procedure took less than five minutes, but we could rest easy and not worry about our floating home dragging ashore. A lot of cruisers don’t have a second anchor always at the ready, but we always do, just for moments like that morning in Cooktown. Do you have an anchoring story you’d like to share with CC readers? Send to: george@bwsailing.com
