The Entertainment Committee Award!

Also known as adventures in anchoring! We’ve had our Florida friends, Vic and Jim, aboard this week so we’ve been on the move. From Mamora Bay we went coastal cruising back to Jolly Harbour, north to Five Islands Harbour, and then back south to Falmouth. We’ve shown them the sights from Nelson’s Dockyard to Shirley Heights to the public market in St. John’s, and sent them on the helicopter tour of Montserrat. We’ve indulged in our share of fabulous dining, from veggie omelets for breakfast to rack of lamb for dinner aboard Equinox, to the unbelievable ambience and great food at Sheer Rocks, to the incredible Italian fusion food at Sun Ra down in Falmouth. We’ve covered a lot of ground and had a great time!

One thing we’ve covered is a lot of anchoring, as well. After a noisy, surgy night on anchor in Falmouth, we decided to move in a bit closer towards the eastern shore to escape the swell that was creeping into the harbor. As we pulled anchor, a large 147’ sailing yacht, the Salperton, was leaving, so we thought we’d tuck into its place after it left. As it pulled anchor, it hauled up a massive rock, wedged tightly between its flukes and the shank. Despite much prying and pushing, it was not to be removed! The vessel moved out of the channel at the entrance to the harbour and spent a good half hour with crew clambering over the anchor pulpit and even down onto the anchor itself before the boulder was finally set free. Anchoring, even on a large yacht with crew, has its moments!!

The beautiful Salperton at anchor

We in turn, won the Entertainment Committee Award ourselves for attempts to anchor where Salperton had been. The boulder they pulled up should have been a clue (don’t you think??) because try as we might – and we did try mightily—we couldn’t get our anchor to set at all! We dropped it down several times – at least 5 different tries – but the anchor and chain merely rumbled and bounced through a rocky minefield without nary a bite, much less a set. How the Salperton managed to anchor there was a mystery, although perhaps they were really only fouled on that boulder, rather than truly set? In any event, we provided plenty of entertainment as we traipsed back and forth in vain attempts to anchor.

I was waiting for Captain Ron to run aground in frustration, but instead, we opted for a mooring. Falmouth has several large moorings for vessels up to 70’ and happily, one was open, so we snagged it. Per the info on the mooring, we called John Bentley, off MV Sea Pony (VHF 68) to see about mooring for the night. John said he’d come by the following morning to collect the fee, and in confirming our location, he asked, “Are you the little motorboat?” (Ouch!!) But, well…yes. Compared to the many mega-yachts in abundance here and the plethora of sailboats, we are indeed, the “little motorboat”! An award winning one, no less…!

Enjoy your travels!