Seize the Moment

by Dave and Jaja Martin

One of those 40-foot boats with the funny glass windshields went drifting sideways through the anchorage dragging its anchor. When it was obvious that no one was aboard, and that no one else was going to go to the rescue, Jaja and I reluctantly sped across the harbor in our dinghy to save the day.

The Caribbean trades were blowing hard, and already the runaway boat was rocking to a surge in the outer harbor. I hopped on its deck to let out some scope when a foreigner popped out of the companionway.

	Dave and Chris during a mid-ocean calm between New Caledonia and NZ.

"What are you doing on my boat!" he screamed.

I pointed at the open sea to leeward.

"Pirates!" He then reached for his handheld VHF radio.

"No!" I shouted.

"Just a little joke...what do you plan to do?" he asked.

"If you'll start the engine, we'll pull up the anchor."

"Are you taking me hostage?"

Jaja rolled her eyes and whispered, "I think we woke this guy from a deep sleep."

Too annoyed to use the windlass, we began to pull the anchor up by hand. We were surprised at how light his ground tackle was until the chain came whipping up over the roller, nearly wonking me on the nose. Jaja was in a fit of laughter.

"You've lost your anchor," I called back to the cockpit.

"There is another one for you to steal in the chain locker," came the reply.

By the time we had the spare anchor untangled he had motored us back to the anchorage. From years of habit I checked the shackles: they were all unseized and only finger tight.

"Anchor's ready to go!" I sang out.