# A Windy Day on the Water



## Dameon (Dec 30, 2014)

So this is a bit of a cautionary tale for those of you who want to get into boating. This literally has been my day so far. It's been a crazy one, and it's only 2 pm.

A bit of background: Me and my dog live on a sailboat in Richardson's Bay, which is just across the Golden Gate bridge in the San Francisco bay. It's a gorgeous anchorage, protected from the wind on most sides. Seals follow me around, birds of all types flock in the hundreds, pelicans splash down into the water like cannonballs and come up swallowing whole herring.

The downside is that in Winter, winds can be brutal. For boats at anchor, wind is a merciless enemy, sinking boats and sending them to shore to be smashed on rocks. Swells get large, bows dip in the water, boats drag anchor, lines chafe through, boats take on water and sink, leaving a mast standing out of the bay like a gravemarker.

The first boat I saw go today wasn't even the interesting one. I called the owner, we got it in to a dock with only a few mishaps. The second boat I saw going, the Coast Guard was on before I could call them. The interesting one was the one I was on that went.

I was visiting a friend's boat before going home to sit out the wind, which is currently about a steady 35 mph, gusting up to 45, coming from the northeast, where this anchorage is not well protected by the surrounding mountains. I was just about to head home when I realized the boat wasn't attached to the anchor anymore.

The anchor line had chafed through, leaving us drifting straight out into San Francisco bay, where we'd quickly be sucked out under the bridge and into the open sea. In a power boat. With no working motor.

"We're going," I said. Amazingly enough, I'd just given the Coast Guard emergency number to my friend's girlfriend. She got on the phone, and we scrambled to the bow. There was a tiny emergency anchor we tried to throw out, but the line tangled inside the chain locker, a spot inside the bow that stores anchor line and chain. The only outcome of this was that it snagged on the anchor line of another boat, so that we were now stuck against the side of the last boat between us and the Golden Gate Bridge. This is an incredibly bad situation for both boats, which could quickly smash each other to pieces.

We're now stuck trying to physically hold the two boats apart, against high winds and swells. The other boat's crew eventually manages to get the anchor off their line, and we're off, the wind shoving us toward the ocean surprisingly quick.

And that's when my badass knights in shining orange lifevests showed up in a Coast Guard cutter. With a minimum of fuss, they got hold of us and towed us to the Army Corp of Engineers, secured us to some pilings, and were quickly off to save somebody else's ass.

Of course, this place was about a mile from my boat. Against the wind, now in full force at a steady 35 mph. No biggie, until one of my oars snapped in half before I got 50 feet. So then it was just a matter of rowing with half an oar for the next 45 minutes or so, me and my dog getting drenched in cold water from the swells we had to row almost straight into.

Boats rock. Pun intended.


----------



## Kim Chee (Dec 30, 2014)

Its moments like this that make me feel good to be alive.


----------



## Tude (Dec 31, 2014)

Dammmmmmnnnn ---that was one hell of a day!!! Glad you're all ok!


----------



## Kal (Dec 31, 2014)

Glad to see you made it out alive, now on to the next adventure.


----------



## Dmac (Jan 1, 2015)

glad you are OK and that you were able to save your friends boat! I would say he owes you some beer, or better yet, Rum, since you are on a boat!


----------



## creature (Jan 1, 2015)

Yah.. very glad yer safe!!

my thoughts are with you, brother.. as wishy washy as i may be....

you make a call, though, & i'm in yer pocket, if you need it..


----------

