[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

lol.

there are just too many snarky/humorous responses available at this point especially between ex-USN types.

seriously, were you steaming to Sacramento when you went afoul of fuel and the wind?

No, we were just off Vallejo, slightly east of the I-80 Carqinez bridges returning eastbound from our every-Friday sailing(8 years!) in the SF Bay. Within hailing distance of the marina entrance, the motor sputtered and died as the evening ebbtide tide & the Sacramento River's 10-knot current combo forced us rearward. With absolutely no wind to even unfurl the 150% jib (my job as bowman), our only recourse was to swiftly drop anchor and summon the tow service. The boat being old, (5000.lbs) I didn't trust just one mooring cleat, so I threw a loop around the bow-pulpit pipe, and later the mast-base also. In two hours, having hauled the boat back up 150' directly over the anchor site, the tide probably got the anchor under a log; and when the tow vessel finally arrived, the 50lb. kedge was unretrievable for both of us pulling together. So we had to cut it...I saved 150' of very old line. Lesson learned: this was the first time I'd actually opened the anchor locker, much less used the thing!!? We were lucky! In 52 years of sailing, incl. a '69 summer as an 18 year-old YMCA instructor, this was my first open-water emergency anchoring.