Well, we've had a change in the wind pattern in the last few days and the boat has been getting closer and closer to Pachuca. This morning "Puttytat" in the nearby catamaran hailed me on VHF 22 and expressed alarm at the position of that boat, which is a large ferro cement hulk with no engine or rudder. I told him my story and someone from a boat named "Sunbury" broke in and said that he's been watching that boat drag anchor back and forth for 3 weeks.
They could see that this hulk was only 20 meters up wind of me, and when I told them that I could not move because my engine isn't running the level of concern went up. None of us speak good enough Spanish to describe the problem to the port captain so the person from Sunbury said that he'd call the marina.
I called the marina a few minutes later and the woman said that they had been alerted and a boat would be sent out to have a look. "Does that mean that they will have the boat moved?" I asked. ... Well ... no, they were going to look at it. I'm not sure what "they" are going to look at.
Anyway, Puddytat will be on board monitoring the gap between me and the hulk. He says he thinks that other boats will be able to pull me out in an emergency. But he mentioned the problem of crossed anchor lines which I was aware of - we don't have to collide to have a problem.
I'm done what I can to help myself, because if a crisis happens during the night I will be on my own. I've used line and not chain to fix the bitter end of my anchor chain to the boat so that I can sever the connection with a knife if I have to cut and run from the anchor. I've got a boat fender with 7 meters of line ready to tie on to that anchor chain so that I can retrieve it later. Also, I've partially assembled my 50 lb storm anchor. It is already connected to my spare rode. The plan would be to cut myself adrift then spend the minute or so to fix the stock through the shank and be ready to throw it over the side. This would not be pretty because I would be at the mercy of the interaction of the current and wind.
... Even as I write this I've thought of another possibility. I could attach my spare rode to the existing chain an pay it out as far as I have to in order to separate from the hulk. This would buy me time until the morning.
Welcome to the cruising life, Robert.
This is a photo of the dragging hulk. By the time I took this photo, just after noon, the wind had changed and moderated. The problem is that it seems to get closer every night during the SW winds.
2 comments:
I wondered what happened to the dragging boat -- now I know.
Newcomers should be warned about anchoring near the hulk, maybe with a big sign installed by the port captain. But, I suppose even a sign is too much to expect from the "captain."
Great name for a ship - "Puddytat"! Was a good cat to Pachuca.
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