Letters Lessons to be Learned from “Small Problems Turn into Big Trouble.”
I am writing with a couple thoughts on last month’s article “Small Problems Turn into Big Trouble.” First I would like to thank Syd and Birgit for their willingness to share their story so that others can learn from it. It is for that reason I am writing. It appears to me there are some additional lessons not mentioned in the article. My first thoughts are about anchoring; a 25 lbs. anchor is too small for a 37’ boat and the fact that it dragged is proof thereof. A 35 pound CQR (or better yet, 45 lbs.) would be more appropriate. Additionally, chafe gear on the rode would have been a help and could have been put on while they were drifting with the anchor aweigh. And lastly, a secondary anchor with rode would have come in very handy.
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Second, I do not know if their fuel tank had ever been polished but I would guess not; if they had done so every few years this whole episode would probably have not happened. We have our boat in charter and the charter company requires that our tanks be polished every five years. Admittedly, it is still possible to get bad fuel from the pump but that is rare, especially around the Salish Sea where the tanks turn over frequently. My last thought is really more of a question, why did they not sail into Everett? They went by it twice, once on Sunday night and again on Monday night. It would seem to have provided the best opportunity to get to a dock, get help or, at the least, would have provided a protected anchorage.
These thoughts are not meant to diminish appropriate actions Syd and his crew did take; they got themselves and their boat home safely, hats off to them.
Mike Huston ASA Instructor Auburn, WA
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CO Poisoning – Death Does Not Become Us Dan and I were part of an island survey team, our job
was to crew an 85’ Broward, photograph and document every island from the Canadian Border to Mexico. Being able to trace the steps that our early explorers had done, was a great adventure, extremely dangerous at times when we had to anchor out and take the tender for sometimes eight hours, surfing off of three to ten-foot seas. We had just finished photographing the Channel Island
off the California coast, a storm blew in, we found cover off the lee part of Santa Rosa. Dropped anchor, set the bridle on the chain and settled down for the night.
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