We're Not in Kansas Anymore

First, let me apologize. I'm about to get a song stuck in your head. It just seemed so fitting:
Just sit right back
And you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from Baltimore
Aboard this Regal ship.
The sun was shining hot that day,
The sky was clear and blue,
Four passengers set sail that day,
For a two night tour,
A two night tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The Regal ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
Luv’n Life would be lost.
Luv’n Life would be lost.

A Trojan set ground on the shore
A SeaRay broke away
With sideways rain,
And pelting hail.
With eighty-mile
Winds that night,
The bow anchor went loose,
The stern anchor saved the day,
Here in Sue Creek.

So this is the tale of our mighty crew,
That experienced
The forceful storm that started,
At 11:30.

The captain and his admiral too
Did their very best,
Along with help from friends
Avoided disaster.

By 1 am the storm had passed,
The bow anchor reset
The soaking friends dried off
And finally found some rest.

The rest of the weekend was great,
Many more boats rafted up,
Until it was time to remove
The anchor dug in deep!

We went to Sue Creek this past weekend, just like we did around the 4th of July last year. Once again, we were the first to arrive and spent Friday evening anchored alone. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner:

And we relaxed until I received a text message from my mother at 10pm. Strong storms with fierce winds were coming our way. No big deal, we had weathered storms before. We tightened the anchor lines and waited for the storm.

This was like no storm we had experienced before. It turned out that we were anchored broadside to the winds and it wasn't long before our bow anchor was loose. Doug quickly pulled it in and we put the engines in gear just in case the stern anchor didn't hold. Our back canvas was still up and the rain and hail soaked us all. Waves crashed on the swim platform as we kept a close eye on a SeaRay that had broken free from its raft-up. Around 1am, the storm calmed enough to reset our bow anchor. We all laid down but I slept restlessly hoping that another storm didn't hit.

The next morning we learned that a Trojan had been beached. He was able to push off when the tide came in. A docked sailboat had its sail torn to shreds. And the fireworks barge had to be put back in place. Tree limbs were down and power was out all over the place. We may have had a rough night, but at least we had power through the generator.

By noon more boats had shown up. Everyone relayed their experience from the previous evening and then the festivities started. It was another hot day so we spent most of the time floating in the water. Did you know that baby floats can serve as beer holders?

Don't worry. The can was only there long enough to take a picture.

And the best way to get trashed is by using one of these coozies?

The Middle River fireworks were Saturday night. The house in front of the bow also set off their private display. There were fireworks all around us.

We stuck around until mid-afternoon and finally decided we had to head home. Normally we can center the zodiac directly above the stern anchor and pull it up by hand. We tried but knew it was never going to work this time. Friday night's storm had set the anchor very deep. One of the guys in the raft-up had a smaller powerboat and he tried to help us out.

That didn't work either. We ended up having to leave the stern anchor line with our friends while we retrieved our bow anchor. We pulled back around the other side of the raft-up and they used the paddle board to bring our stern anchor line to us. We tied the anchor line to the stern and tried using the strength of our own boat to pull it free. Again, no luck. We were only in 6 foot of water, so Doug dove down to see what we were dealing with. We have 6-feet of chain attached to the anchor before it goes to rope. He could only get to 2 feet of the chain. We were not ready to give up. So, we tried tying the line to the stern. After numerous tries, and then many more tries, and then many more tries....success! A friend took pictures of the whole process from her boat. I'll post a recap once I have those shots.

It started with adventure and ended with adventure but the fun in the sun in between made it all worth it.