Stern Tie Lesson
You must have afternoon tea in the garden, it is what they do here, and it is fabulous. We were settling in, had ordered our tea, life was good…. until Keith’s phone rang…. it was a Canadian number … this can’t be good.
The caller was with our boat advising us we were on the rocks (good thing we have our emergency information in the window). So we head back, expecting the worst. We were indeed on a rock but it appeared we had just settled down on it as the tide went out and the lines slacked too much - we apparently didn’t have enough pull on the anchor. We had to wait for the tide to come in and pray there was no damage. While we were waiting, we learned there was a sailboat at the back of the inlet laying on the beach, also waiting for the tide to come in. It can happen to anyone!
While we were waiting, being the specticle we were right at the front of the inlet, a couple paddled up. “We saw your burgie and wondered if you know Andy and Sari”, they asked. “Why yes”, we replied and we spent the next 30+ minutes chatting. Funny thing was, we knew who these guests were from Sari’s stories. What a coincidence we were in the same place at the same time. Rob and Susanna were also stern tied farther in the inlet and suggested we move down next to them and they would help us tie up again, giving us little pointers and tips along the way. We thought that was a great idea. They had just left when the tide lifted us off the rock and all was ok… a little damage to the bottom paint and gel coat which can be easily fixed when we get home.
David and Sheila (trip mates) were now also in the inlet and took this picture, commending us on a perfect (second) stern tie…. with a little help from friends of course. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Rob and Susanna… they were great people. The next morning, I made homemade blueberry scones to share with them as a BIG thank you.
Most nights, there is happy hour somewhere, either a dock, a boat or wherever we land. This night we were all on the Little Wing.
Next morning, it was time to head north, but before we do, we dropped some shrimp pots, hoping to catch dinner.
The only thing we caught were these very small strange looking creatures called Galatheoidea. They were so odd, like a cross between a crab and a shrimp, so we threw them back and ended our fishing adventure for the day. We later learned, if we were catching these weird things, our pots were too deep. One was at 200 and the other was at 300. We’ll try shallower water next time.
Time to head back to the big boat and motor on to Maple Bay. The adventure continues.