Anchor Wench humbled

Anchorage Porto Kagio, Peloponnese, Greece---It’s 5:30 AM and the wind is howling outside causing the Windmills to spin so fast they make sounds like they are ready to break apart. But they will not and sounds like this mean “free electricity” to the boat.

The boat is gently rocking side to side which I love. Even though it is July 14, there is a chill to the air this early in the morning.

We arrived here yesterday about 8am after the all night sail. We were ready to anchor and slip back in bed for a little while longer. The protected bay was a tiny Hamlet with 3 tavernas and an overpriced Mini Mart.

There were 4 boats anchored from the night so we slipped between two and dropped anchor. It didn’t hold. Tried another spot. It didn’t hold. Another, then another. It was a deep holding but we had done this before, many times. We were the anchor champs, patient, smooth, methodical unlike so many Charters we had seen racing in to a bay at full speed, dropping the anchor while still moving forward and lurching the boat in reverse. No, we were great at anchoring.

One by one, all boats around us pack up and leave the bay. Humiliated and embarrassed I contemplate taking the American flag down until we are set. After 6 tries, the 7th one barely catches on it’s side. After diving on the anchor, the captain decides to put out the second anchor: the Danforth. Using the dingy the haul the 2nd anchor to a spot about 15 degrees away from the other giving us a strong hold.

It took us 4 hours.

Never will I look on to another boat struggling to anchor, never will I assume the first drop will catch. I have been Anchor Wench humbled.