Spring Break - Part Six
By Dave and Jaja

There was a slight chop roaming into the anchorage but it was not uncomfortable. What proved nerve racking were the violent gusts of wind which were shooting down the steep mountain slopes then slamming into DRIVER with a vengeance. After an hour the gusts became stronger and the snow more intense. It was obvious that the leading edge of a cold front was sweeping over us. It was lucky we got back from our ski trip when we did.

Chris, Holly, and Teiga played contentedly. They were ecstatic to be back aboard for a week. They still considered the boat to be their real home and they felt cozy and comfortable. Teiga had lived three of her five years on DRIVER.

During the storm we passed the time learning how to operate our new mobile telephone. It came with an information CD that we could insert into our Mac iBook. We had bought a cheap mobile phone the previous autumn so we removed the activation chip and put it in our new phone. As soon as the phone was charged-up the kids took turns playing the built in games. Our "old" phone did not have games.

A strong gust slammed into DRIVER so I poked my head out of the dodger to see that all was well. Our transom was about two boat lengths from a steep, rocky point of land but I trusted our anchor to hold. We had sat out a blow once before in Gullvika and I knew that the bottom was good.

Jaja was laying in the V-berth reading to Teiga when another gust bowled into us. I sat in our enclosed spray dodger, watching the scene. I looked behind us at the shore line again. Was it possible that we were closer than we had been five minutes before? I looked to windward. The snow had eased off for a second and I saw another gust approaching that was lifting a curtain of white water before it. It takes sixty knots of wind to do that. The gust came closer, and closer, then POW! DRIVER's bow blew to port, we heeled violently, and at the moment when the anchor should have tugged the bow back into the eye of the wind, it kept falling away. I knew then that we were dragging anchor. I looked astern. The foreshore was one boat length away.

Calmly, I said, "Jaja, we're dragging. I'll start the engine." I had learned years ago that panicking did not improve the quality of emergencies.

Jaja dropped the book, and without stopping, she bolted up the companionway wearing only wool socks, thermal long underwear, and a long sleeved T-shirt. I was already in the cockpit trying to coax the cold engine to start.

"Come on!" I said to the engine under my breath. "Come on you bastard, start!"