Mystery Injury Log II



At left, our bent 60lb CQR anchor and the 45lb backup on the right.

We've been having some trouble anchoring lately. About half of the time, when we try to back the anchor in, it just drags along the bottom. We have to pull the chain back up and try again. And in some cases, again. This is very frustrating because a: we've been doing this for a long time now and setting the anchor has become pretty routine and b: it almost always happens at the end of a long day when we're both in the 'it's 5 o'clock right here, mode'. We didn't give it too much thought, we have a lot going on right now, what with all the socializing and stuff.  But one day, after yet another double attempt, Steve walked back to the cockpit and said with amazement: "It's bent." I gave him my best "         "   blank look.  He pointed to the anchor and repeated "It's bent."  The entire head (?) is bent off to one side, so when that side hits the bottom first, the tip can't hit the bottom to dig in. There is our reason for it only setting half the time.  Somewhere between St Thomas and The Bahamas we managed to bend the anchor.  The funny thing is, we didn't anchor anywhere between St Thomas and The Bahamas. There were no pilings to hit and no bad weather.  This ranks right up there with Steve's mystery broken elbow.  I realize that to some this isn't an injury, per se, but since we tend to feel every bump and scrape Celebration gets, this may take some time to heal.

ahem: I guess I can justify not noticing the bent anchor by saying that our anchor hangs under the bowsprit, we can't see it very well from the deck.