118: Dragged Anchor into SHIPWRECK CORNER in Simpson Bay Lagoon, Sint Maarten

We have a very hard story to tell. One of the scariest... I'm like... We're back in the freaking rocks! The beast had no teeth! So there's one thing for sure. If you're cruising and you're out in the elements, you're going to make mistakes. Because you're dealing with so many factors. And you've got to be prepared for it. And every now and then, something freaky is going to happen. So we want to tell you guys of one of the scariest things that's happened to us. Just a horrible, sick feeling. We want to share this with you. Not just to share our story, but we've learned a lot of lessons. And we want to pass those on to you. So hopefully, what happened to us will not happen to you. This could save you a lot of money and a lot of heartache. And also, if you love videos like this, we would love it if you would subscribe to our channel, Bluntway. Hit that like button, right babe? Yep. So you want to explain what happened? Sure. So we were really excited. We got off the work dock. And we went over to Island Water World, to their work dock. The reason we were going to the work dock was because we wanted a new anchor. And we figured out that an 85 pound Mantis 1 anchor It has a big ol' hoop over it. was the best anchor that fit our boat to the best specification. And it was bigger than what we needed. But given that we want to be able to sleep at night, we wanted a bigger anchor. We left the dock around 4, 430, feeling confident in this anchor. And came out to the lagoon, and the wind gusts picked up. They were 40, topping 40, 45 knots. It was haunted. It was gusty. It was really, really difficult. And after seven and a half weeks of not practicing anchoring, we struggled a bit. We had some workers on the boat. And it was chaotic. Those guys were asking us questions while we were anchoring. And we had a party that we were supposed to get to. We were kind of under a schedule, weren't we? We were under a time pressure. And that's never a good thing. And we really, we attempted to set the anchor three times. And the third time, we thought we had it right. And we pulled back to make sure it was set, it was holding. Then we let up, and we're like, this is okay. We had to hurry up and get to the party. And get the electricians back to the dock. And we did not dive the anchor to make sure she was in there. Big mistake. And we didn't stay on the boat. And observe things for about an hour. Which is what we should have done as well. Put the anchor alarm on, pick some fixed points on the shore. At 530, we hopped in the dinghy and headed over to the party at FKG. Celebrating that we had finished. We were really excited. And we spent a few hours there having a great time with the staff. They're just amazing. The food was great. They made an incredible Trinidadian dish. Palau, which is like a paella. It was brilliant. Chris, one of the senior managers, I guess you would call him. He's just so talented and loves to cook. And loves to just do things monthly for the staff. And because of COVID, they've been reluctant to do that. And this is something at FKG we like to do at least once a month. Every now and then we do a little cook. We have a few drinks. Just to have a little bit of a family atmosphere. And all of the guests on our dock have really been wonderful people. They've recommended us. They spoke very highly of the work we've done. And they've actually brought us more business by referring us to other people. We haven't got the bill yet. They haven't got the bill yet. But you will soon. But your boat's gone, so we're in trouble with you. We can't chair you to the dock anymore. But we just felt it was appropriate to do a little thank you to all of our team. They did such a great job. And also to thank our guests and our clients for supporting us during this time. And dinner is served. Around 9, 8.30, 9 o'clock we came back to the boat. And she was doing great. She was holding steady. The wind gusts were pretty strong. But we felt confident that we had set her and we were good to go. We were checking out a fireworks display that was happening on the beach on the French side. Little did we know about the fireworks that were going to happen later that night. Tell them, babe. So we went to bed. And our anchor alarm actually went off. And so, of course, you wake up and your heart is racing. And you think, oh my gosh, the boat is drifting. And it's done that before. And we've not moved. We use Anchor Pro. And for the free version, they give you a really tight setting. And that's fine in a lot of settings. But, I mean, our boat is on the hook. It's swinging around. We're just like, this thing is going to go off anyway all night long. We're going to get no sleep. And we're going to get no sleep. And the anchor is fine because we've got the boost. And I'm like, sweetie, don't worry about it. We've got all this. So we first stupid mistake. First time ever. Cut it off. Then we did an upgrade. We didn't want to pay. Big mistake. Five dollars for an annual fee. So we went to sleep. And we were sleeping soundly. And at 2 o'clock in the morning, I woke up to what sounded like we had hit something. It was loud enough that it woke me out of my sleep. And I sat up straight in bed. And I said, Brown, what was that? What was that? And, of course, what did I say? Just a couple of stupid things. It's nothing. It's a waking gun. We've got the beast. If it pulls out, it's going to roll over. And it's going to bite back in. No problem. So we went back to sleep. So I went to lay back down. Brown actually got up. I got up. I had a little call of nature. And I said, let me just walk up. It's really nice to look around late at night. It's very peaceful. I come out into the back cockpit where we're at right now. And it's almost like I'm being run over by traffic. We are up against the rocks. The jetty. The airport jetty. I am looking out. And we're so close to the road. I'm like, I feel like we're getting ready to get hit by a car as it was that close. And I'll tell you, the sickest feeling that I've ever had in my entire life. Was it the sickest feeling for you? Well, Brown actually came in. I was still in bed. Locked the sliding glass door and came down the stairs. And I thought, well, he locked the sliding glass door. It can't be that bad. But we still need to move the boat if we've dragged. And he said, oh no, you're never going to believe this. And I was like, okay, did we drag? How bad? And I came up and I unlocked the sliding glass door and went outside. And that's when I noticed that our starboard side was up against the jetty rocks. And the wind was pushing us. The wind was pinning us against the rocks. But thankfully, there was no surge and there was no bouncing. It was just literally pinning us. We were really, really fortunate. But we really didn't know what was going on. We were half asleep, still half asleep, and trying to think, what do we do? Because at any moment, if the boat goes up on the rocks, it's going to rip the hulls. Everything looks dry. So we checked the hulls, checked the engine room. There was no water in them. And we thought, okay. New bilge alarms going off. Bilge alarms going off. We're okay for the moment. But we didn't know how bad it was. We could look under the boat with lights and see that the rudder was in the sand, probably about three or four inches in. We didn't know how badly it was jammed. We were not really moving. We were just being pressed. And I think that's because the anchor and the chain, the weight of the chain, was still holding us. Five feet of water, we had like 125. 130 feet of chain out, yeah. No, it was 10 feet of water. 10 feet, okay. So we're trying to be super cautious. So we had plenty of chain out. We probably dragged 100 feet in four hours. So it was a very, very slow movement. And Eileen had the great idea to call our friends and almost our family members at FKG. It's a miracle. That afternoon I had just set up our SkyRoam, which up until this point we had not had data. So thankfully we had that data. And thankfully I had Valter's number because he was very generously going to come out and show us how to sail our new parasail. So I happened to have his phone number, the only phone number I have in my phone from FKG's staff. And a miracle. Yes! He picked up the phone and he said, who is this? And that's when I said, this is Eileen and Brown and we have a little emergency. We are in the rocks at the airport jetty and we don't know what to do. He got up immediately. He said, I'm coming to help you. Which was just, those words just meant so much to us because he's an experienced captain. He knows the scene. So to know that he was coming just made us feel so much better. So we asked him, should we take in the windlass? Start reeling in the anchor chain to see if it could pull us off. And he said, anything you can do to get away from the rocks. If you're not on the rocks, go ahead and try it. So we did. So we pulled the windlass in and miraculously the windlass pulled the boat off of the sand and away from... Little pulses so we wouldn't burn out the motor. And thankfully a week earlier, I think it was just a week ago, we learned without having to start the engines, the port side ignition, if you turn it on, the windlass works. And we had not known that. I can't remember who taught us that. But someone taught us that, which they said, this is going to be really handy for you someday. Total miracle because we didn't want to turn the engines on because we didn't know if the sail drives were in the sand. And we didn't want to break anything. What was our next stupid move? I don't know if the anchor's set. That's the problem. Babe, keep going if you can. What you can't see is we are on the rocks of the airport. And we're just pulling the windlass in. We're not taking on any water. We don't know if we have damage. So much for what we thought was an anchor that would hold in any storm. We're like 25 feet away from the shore now. That was scary. That was the worst feeling ever. We've got plenty of power. How are we doing on the rocks? We're off the rocks. But, you know, I don't want us to drift either. The water's still on. I can't believe it. I wonder if we'll last 50 feet. You know, I would just keep... Oh, because you don't want me to be anchor up. About 30 feet. In the worst case, we know the port engine works. Babe, I don't think the anchor's holding. The anchor's not holding. I don't think we have an anchor. Oh my gosh, yeah, we're back. Okay, go, go. Alright, they're coming. We just got to get out of here. We're back in the freaking rocks. Turning the engine off. Man, I thought we had it. Well, it could just be dragging, the anchor. Nah, I mean, I don't think that's accurate to drive. So we're back on the rocks. They've just come off 30 feet and now we're pulling back on. Come on, doctor. I think we were so elated to be 30 or 40 feet away from the jetty wall that we just blanked. I think we thought the anchor was going to hold. But that's stupid thinking because we're up against the rocks, right? And even stupider was that we reeled in chain, which meant that now the weight of the chain wasn't going to hold the boat anymore. So literally within 20 seconds, we were back on the sand near the rocks. At that point, we were crushed. Well, Valter called back and he said, Chris and I are on our way. And Chris is the senior manager of EKG. And he's just amazing. Both of them are so amazing. And to know that the two of them were coming out to help us, I just, there was just such peace about that. It was like you're having a fire and you're calling two family members and they're like firemen. And they have their own fire truck. Right, exactly. At their disposal. 10 minutes later, they arrived in their boat, Bimbo. Bimbo, saved by Bimbo. Bimbo is the name of the boat. Hey guys, thank you so much. We are cleared off of the train. They're going to have a hard time with the wind. That's not good. We've got the battery light on over here. Oh, thank God. Brad, do you see the three lights? That's where we're going to go in. And they pulled up alongside and we tied off on our side cleat. And they were able to, with Bimbo, pull us off the shore, which was amazing. And as soon as we pulled off the shore, they told us, start your engines. Well, he didn't have to say that twice. We got those things cranked up. And amazingly, the rudder was functioning, the sail drives were functioning, both engines were fine. And thankfully, Valter came on board with us just to calm us. And Chris is in Bimbo up front and he is guiding us through because everything is really, it's disorienting. It looks totally different. Yeah, totally different at night. And we were, you know, first of all, we have adrenaline running through us. We're still sick to our stomach because we don't know what damage has been done. But we're thankful because we have health and there's no water coming into the engine room, which was the key one. We didn't know if that rudder had been bent. So there are so many emotions going through us at that moment. And Valter said, we're taking you back to the dock. And I thought, we're going home. We're going home. So they took us back to the dock and we tied up. And I have never been more thankful. And it's been a heck of a night. But we think, we don't know. We don't know what the damage is. But the engines worked. The engines worked. The steering worked. We didn't take on any water. We're thankful for Chris and Valter at FKG. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad. It could have been really, really bad. So scary. Tomorrow, we're going to check up underneath. I'm going to check up underneath and see how much damage was done to the boat. Hopefully, it scratches. If any damage was done to the rudders, we had steering, which is great. Hopefully, we got through this one. I mean, this is our first scary moment on the boat. And unfortunately, my wife, she worries. We're never leaving the marina. I'm staying at the FKG dock. Why did we drive? Take a look at this. Whoa. I can't even see the point at all. No point. It's not even... Man, this is just totally... Look how it's clogging up the hammer. I still don't feel the point. Well, I feel the point now. There it is. Finally. Wow. After digging... Oh, man. Look at that mess. It's really... I mean, this is kind of not easy to get. It's like cement. Got the audience. Let's see what it is. That's a piece of... It's wood. Watch your flip-flop. Your flip-flop's going to... Oh, man. Whoa. Unbelievable. Thank goodness we had all that chain out because we just drove slowly. Took us a lot of time. Have you ever seen anything like this? This lagoon, because of Irma, is strewn with all types of boat pieces. And this is the reality of the lagoon. Literally, it was like dragging a heavy basketball around. Like a ball and chain. And the point of the anchor couldn't dig in because there was no point. The beast had no teeth. So, babe, while we still have sunlight, what are the lessons learned? Let's start, and this is the most important part of this video, how you can learn from our mistakes. Well, first of all, don't be on schedule. Everyone's like, oh, if you're on a schedule, that's when accidents happen. And we looked at each other and we said, oh, we'll never be on a schedule. Well, we were, and that's one of the reasons why we didn't do the things we were supposed to. We didn't dive the anchor. We didn't set the anchor alarm. We didn't wait on the boat for an hour. For at least an hour and look at relative positions. Yeah, to see if it's set. So those are a few of the initial things. Data and safety. If we did not have data, we would have had to have called the Coast Guard. Having data, having someone to call, knowing in an emergency what your protocols are, thank God we didn't panic. We were nervous. We definitely had adrenaline running through us, but we did not panic. We thought through the situation carefully and we acted. I think we made some good decisions, but then we didn't make some good decisions. And we had had no exposure to this type of situation, being up against the rocks. So we really didn't know what to do. And I think if we were listening to this video, we would have said, well, of course, start your engines. When you're in the situation, you don't always think logically. We were deer in the headlights and we didn't want to ruin the prop. We didn't want to rip a hole in the hull. Know your surface. Always pick sand if you can. So you got to be selective. You may miss it the first time, but make sure you find that sandy spot. Yeah. And if you drop anchor a couple of times, make sure when you pull it up, that the anchor is clean. The morning after, huh? The morning after. Thanks for smiling. The sailing stuff's easy, isn't it? Yeah. Here we are at Lagoonies after our traumatic evening. And one good thing about being on the rocks and dragging your anchor and almost destroying your boat is that you have great cruising friends that'll buy you breakfast the next day. And that's why we did it. For the free breakfast. Oh, yeah. We don't do anything for free breakfast. And let me tell you, Lagoonies. It's not cheap. Oh, yeah. Next thing we're going to do is take a look at the keel. Okay, it's time to go in this poop-infested water. Upon looking at the rudders, both rudders, there is just some scraping on the starboard rudder. But both rudders are intact. None of them are bent. Also, the keel on the starboard side just has some scratching on it. There's no... The sacrificial keel is intact. And the starboard port keel is fine. The props are fine. Besides that, everything's good. It's amazing.