hmason
Guru
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2013
- Messages
- 2,766
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Lucky Lucky
- Vessel Make
- Pacific Mariner 65
I am facing a most unusual situation and would love some input from TF'ers. I'm anchored at Atlantic Highlands, NJ in the harbor waiting out the weather to make my run down the coast of NJ on my trip south to FL from CT. I arrived here yesterday and anchored securely, had dinner and went to bed.
The wind really picked up during the night and we were rocking and rolling. I was not in the least concerned as I anchor very frequently and have the latest generation ground tackle. However, a foreign flagged sailboat in front of me must have dragged during the night and was about 15' off my bow this morning. He was a good 600' from me the evening before.
I was able to get his attention (woke him up) by using my hailer. I politely informed him that he was dragging and asked him to please remedy the situation as he would eventually hit me. He said that he was not the owner of the boat and that the owner was not aboard. Then he changed his mind and told me his windlass was broken and he couldn't lift the chain and anchor by hand. To add to this mess his boat was directly over my anchor as best as I could determine making it impossible for me to retrieve and move.
I decided to call the Harbormaster; I was advised it was his day off. I called Towboat US and they said there was nothing they could do. I called the Coasties and was told to call the Municipal Marina. I called and was told there was nothing they could do. Finally the guy on the other boat came out and retrieved about 15' of chain by hand before he gave up. This gave me a bit more room but not enough to let me sleep tonight.
Now this you won't believe---keep in mind I am in New Jersey. About a half hour later a New York City fire boat shows up! They told me that they heard about my predicament on the VHF and decided to come across Raritan Bay to my location in NJ to see if they could help. I was dumbfounded. They went to the sailboat and offered to come aboard and help them retrieve their anchor and move to a safer location and help them to reset their anchor. They refused the help.Can you believe this? The FDNY said that they were not LEOs and could not order them to move.
I have now let out another 50' of chain to separate us more and here I sit waiting for a wind shift to retrieve my anchor. Any wise advice short of physical violence would be appreciated. And yes, I took a lot of pics but go chase a foreign flagged vessel.
The wind really picked up during the night and we were rocking and rolling. I was not in the least concerned as I anchor very frequently and have the latest generation ground tackle. However, a foreign flagged sailboat in front of me must have dragged during the night and was about 15' off my bow this morning. He was a good 600' from me the evening before.
I was able to get his attention (woke him up) by using my hailer. I politely informed him that he was dragging and asked him to please remedy the situation as he would eventually hit me. He said that he was not the owner of the boat and that the owner was not aboard. Then he changed his mind and told me his windlass was broken and he couldn't lift the chain and anchor by hand. To add to this mess his boat was directly over my anchor as best as I could determine making it impossible for me to retrieve and move.
I decided to call the Harbormaster; I was advised it was his day off. I called Towboat US and they said there was nothing they could do. I called the Coasties and was told to call the Municipal Marina. I called and was told there was nothing they could do. Finally the guy on the other boat came out and retrieved about 15' of chain by hand before he gave up. This gave me a bit more room but not enough to let me sleep tonight.
Now this you won't believe---keep in mind I am in New Jersey. About a half hour later a New York City fire boat shows up! They told me that they heard about my predicament on the VHF and decided to come across Raritan Bay to my location in NJ to see if they could help. I was dumbfounded. They went to the sailboat and offered to come aboard and help them retrieve their anchor and move to a safer location and help them to reset their anchor. They refused the help.Can you believe this? The FDNY said that they were not LEOs and could not order them to move.
I have now let out another 50' of chain to separate us more and here I sit waiting for a wind shift to retrieve my anchor. Any wise advice short of physical violence would be appreciated. And yes, I took a lot of pics but go chase a foreign flagged vessel.
Last edited: