Today was interesting. Here's a chronology of events:
This morning at 0400 we woke up in some heavy gusts and noted the 53' boat anchored in front of us had dragged to within a dinghy length of our bow! This was a single hander on a 53' vessel, and he was the only boat in front of us, as we had anchored in the front row of boats in the harbor, and he was a new arrival. After hailing him on VHF 16 with no reply, repeatedly blowing our air horn into his cockpit, and shouting as loud as I could, he finally awoke and retrieved his anchor, all in lousy conditions and without hitting us! Exciting stuff.
At daybreak, squalls were rumbling thru. White out conditions occurred and the VHF was busy with lots of boats dragging and reanchoring. Now...there's a reason for this....Pago Pago harbor is renown for difficult anchoring conditions. Here's why: there used to be three tuna canneries here that for years dumped their debris in the harbor. Then a tsunamai occurred two years ago that washed tremendous amounts of crap into the water. There's all kinds of stuff on the bottom: corregated metal roofing, building materials, tables, cars, fencing, tires...you get the idea. We helped the catamaran next to us when he dragged as his Bugel anchor had snared a tire exactly in the middle of it! (he got a ringer!) It took two of us to get that anchor out of the tire! In the meantime, with heavier winds, calls were going out as other boats were dragging, snagging old mooring lines, wrapping their props in old cables, experiencing engine failure...hmmm. We launched our dinghy to run out some fuel to another dinghy that was towing a disabled boat to the government dock. I had just got back to Infini when a 35 knot gust blew us off our anchor and we dragged. Again, no telling what you get when you anchor and use the engine to pull down on it. It might feel good, but not be a secure hold. So...we reanchored and, so far, things appear OK. The winds are blowing 25, but that's a lot better than 40! There's about 20 boats anchored here, and most have dragged, reanchored, set anchor watches, and the crews are a bit fatigued, all of us waiting for the weather to abate!
Meanwhile, while all this was happening, it was a good day for baking! So...Sue got busy and decided to bake a banana bread. She heard a popping sound in the cockpit (our propane solenoid) and the propane breaker shut off. Racing into the cockpit, she noted the solenoid smoking! Not good. I quick shut off the manual valve to the propane tank and cut the 12 volt wires to the solenoid. There was a hole in the casing of the solenoid, smoke was pouring out, and it was apparent the unit had stuck, overheated, and blew a hole thru its casing! Never enough excitement around here. Of course, let me mention that the solenoid is in line within inches of the propane tank....Well, I dug out our old solenoid and replaced the failed one, never being one to stand in the way of a chef and a banana bread, so all's well. I might mention that Sue was on a roll...she also baked a peach cobbler for dessert and an artichoke-crab dip for dinner. Good stuff.
We're planning on being on anchor watch tonight, as most boats will be doing. If conditions permit, we'll check in with Officialdom tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Picture - Michael and Dennis from sv Lardo off to help other vessels in distress.
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