I got down to the boat about 7:30 or 8:00 pm and it was still light out. So just spur of the moment I decided to motor out to waities island and anchor out for the evening.
One of those deep seated needs/desires of mine is to do this sort of thing. Only I always seem to just end up doing the day trips going out and sailing. When I invite people out they always need to be back to make that date in the evening or take care of the dogs or any one of a thousand things that people are responcible for. I understand it and even have my things that I have to go do in lieu of hanging out on the boat sometimes, but this evening I didn’t have anything and there was no one else to worry about. Talk about that feeling of ultimate freedom..
As I left the marina it was deep dusk with the light fading fast. I idled down the engine and ducked down into the cabin to turn on the running lights as Sea Puppy steered herself for the 40 seconds it took to do this. (I still lust after a tiller pilot…. It will be on the project list for before the end of the year..)
For the most part I was the only one out on the water. I saw a few smaller boats and a couple sports fisherman coming in and one very long tow of barges. I actually took a few pictures of the barges and tug boats but most of them simply didn’t come out right as it was full dark by then. I was impressed. the full tow was easly half a mile long or more. Barge after barge loaded down with massive pumps and long steel pipes. One barge was actaully under water with just the pipes on it being above water. There were two massive tugs pulling the barges and three smaller tugs running up and down around the barges nudging them into a straight line or around the curves in the waterway. Here is a picture of the lead barge pulling the tow as I closed on them. They were going the opposite direction from me.
Here you can clearly see both of the pulling tugs.
another shot with some of both tugs in it.
I didn’t get any other pictures of the rest of the tow that came out. It was just to dark and all I got were black pictures.
I did take a couple pictures of the Little River water front again as I was passing though that I like.
After passing the Little River water front and docks I came up on the ramp and dock at Judys subdivision. Scooter her dog had not been doing well. We displays of loss of voluntary muscle control. I had talked to her a couple times during the day checking up on him and she was sounding pretty stressed out. So being the good friend that I am 🙂 I pulled up at the dock and tied Sea Puppy up. Then walked up to her house to check on scooter myself. Poor scooter was not doing well at all. I don’t pray much anymore but I did say a prayer for the little guy.
(Breaking news on the scooter story… after gradually loosing all muscle control and being totally paralized they found a tick on him and diagnosed him as having Tick Paralysis. Last I heard he was starting to get control back and doing better)
So after making my sick doggie call it was back to Sea Puppy and another 35 minutes of motoring through the dark to waities island…..
There is something about the water at night. it is so beautifull and peacefull.. I just can’t get enough of it. I anchored about 70 feet from waities island just off the channel and behind and down from the green marker behind waities. It was just a hour or two from high tide. I put out the main anchor which is around a 10 lb danforth style anchor. It got a good bite the first time but I had misjudged where I was and I felt like I as to close to the shore. That possibly when the tide changed that I could swing up against the shore. So I pulled the anchor up and re-set it another 40 or 50 feet out from the shore in about 16ft of water. I then get the smaller anchor out and set it off th stern (just in case). The smaller anchor did not hold when the tide changed.. however the main anchor did hold nicely.
I worry about the danforth style not resetting as it pulls around. I think I would like to get a bruce or cqr style that will pull around and you not have to worry about it fouling or not resetting.
After anchoring I switched the running lights off and turned on the masthead anchor light. ( I ran the battery down pretty quick running the running lights for a couple hours and the anchor light all night. By the time I got back to the dock in the morning it was discharged to about 30% according to my chart of battery voltages. I ran it back up to full charge saturday at the dock)
I straightened up in the cabin and made a cup of hot chocolate.. 🙂 the temperature dropped to 70 degrees F this evening so It was a welcome warmth going down. Then I layed down in the V berth with a light blanket over me, the hatches still open, and drifted off to sleep to the gentle lapping of the water against the hull. With a two knot current it was loud enough to faintly hear the sound of the water running by the hull only inches from my head.
As always seems to happen when anchored out I slept lighter than normal and ended getting up a couple times through the night to check if the anchor was still holding and just make sure everything was ok.The next morning I awoke to Sea Puppy rocking to the wakes of the early commercial fisherman heading for the ocean and the light whine of the crab fishermens dingy outbords as the went around the the islands pulling crab pots in the dawn light. As I stuck my head out the hatch for the first time one slowly powered by me, the crabber in his waterproof coveralls and heavy gauntlet gloves silently nodding to me in acknowledgement of my presence as he gosted past, heading to his next crab pot.
In a little bit I pulled up the small anchor and stowed it and then got the motor running and gently ran up on the bigger anchor and retrieved it. I had promised to do breakfast with several other members of the sailing club so I turned the helm to head back to the dock with a sense of loss. I almost turned back around to spend the rest of the morning alone on the water. It’s that whole responcibility thing.. I said I would be there….. but you know… next time… … next time.. I might just stay out there on my own….. and enjoy a second and third cup of hot chocolate as dawn breaks over the marsh and island.
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