Last night was pretty active at anchor. There have been strong and gusty winds out of the east since I got here, and a very strong, 2-3 knot current which switches direction every six hours. (The Matanzas River empties into the Atlantic just a half mile south of here.)
As I do every time I anchor, I set my “anchor alarm”. An anchor alarm uses GPS to warn you if you’ve drifted too far from where you set your anchor. My GPS chartplotter has a built-in anchor alarm, but that would require keeping it on all the time. Instead, I use an app called Anchor Pro. What is nice about it is that I can set it up using my iPad, and if it detects I’m dragging anchor, it will alert my iPhone. So if I take a trip ashore and the anchor starts dragging, I will know. That way I can run down to the shore and watch first hand as my boat plows into an expensive yacht. 🙂
It also has a map function that shows the boat’s movement in relation to where the anchor was dropped. This is a photo of that from last night. You can see the two main tidal shifts, first on one side of the anchor, then the other.
The dot is the boat’s current position. The circle is a self-defined radius. The alarm will sound when the boat leaves the circle. In this instance, I have about 75′ of rode out and had set the warning for 130 feet. Seeing where my actual secure drifting is, though, I have since tightened that up to 110 feet. You can also see a bit of land off to the right of the screen shot.
My boat has a full keel, i.e. the keel runs almost the full length of the boat, unlike racing sailboats which have a very thin, long keel.
Generally, when a boat is at anchor, it points into the wind. However, often boats with full keels are more influenced by any current that exists. This can lead to awkward situations where the current and wind is contrary or 90 degrees to each other, which can make the boat sit uncomfortably or do all kinds of crazy dances when the tidal currents change, as mine did all last night. For the first time I experienced what I eventually realized was the anchor chain dragging against the hull as the boat was pivoting around to some new, unique position. It woke me up, and my initial thought was that another boat had drifted into me. It was loud and very metal-contact-sounding. At this anchorage, it has now become a routine sound every six hours. Hope it’s not rubbing off my bottom paint! I hear there’s not much left!
So, after waking up this morning and still feeling pretty pooped, I’ve decided to make this a day of rest at anchor. After all, why not? The scenery is lovely:
I’m virtually alone here, so it’s quiet, and the weather seems like it’s going to be comfortable. And I deserve some rest! Lol
I’m bummed that the fort is closed today. Although I can still theoretically go visit it, there is no one there, so I’m not sure if I’d be able to get into the fort. It’s also about a third of a mile away downwind. It would be an easy paddleboard ride there, but very difficult to get back against the wind. I had planned to paddle along the shore next to my boat to the visiter center which has a free ferry that goes across to the fort, but they are also closed on Tuesdays. Bummer.
Although I will mostly rest (and will definitely nap) today, there are some things that need caught up on that I might do today. I’ve realized that my engine is due for an oil change (like I haven’t spent enough time on my engine lately!) so I might do that.
I also should change how my new electric fuel pump gets energized now that it’s going to be running whenever the engine is on. Right now there’s just an on/off switch next to it inside the engine compartment. Having to access that each time I start or stop the engine will be a real pain.
My engine is under the companionway steps, so I have to remove the trash can, anything that’s stored behind them, and the steps themselves before I can open the engine compartment and turn on (or off) the pump switch. So, I need to either mount that switch somewhere outside the engine compartment or directly to the ignition switch on the engine so when I turn on the key, the pump automatically starts. I may get a hold of Nicholay today–if he hasn’t departed the Dry Tortugas yet–to see what is involved in the latter.
I also need to catch up on my missing blog entries from the Keys to Daytona, so will probably knock out a day or two of those. I think I will also cook some good food. Ssausage, eggs, toast, and OJ sounds good for this morning, and some kind of chicken or sausage and rice thing this evening.
And of course, yoga and a quick workout using my rubber bands things. Come to think of it, it’s not looking like much of a day of rest at al!!!
More later….