3 February - Day #61. Clocking winds in a crowded and shallow anchorage always makes for fitful sleeping. After checking on things several times last night we woke this morning to calm waters, blustery winds and an overcast sky. As predicted the winds now pushed us towards a lee shore. The anchorage shoals quickly so I turned on the depth log to see how much water was beneath the keel. Three things immediately became clear: Nellie pointed in a different direction than everyone else; Nellie wasn't bobbing like everyone else; Nellie's depth gauge read zero. Individually these factors could be discounted. Combined they pointed to an irrefutable and alarming conclusion. Nellie was aground. So much for a lazy morning. The first good news came after a quick scan of the tide tables. We were less than an hour into the rising tide and in the next five hours could expect a foot of lift. Being abeam to the shoal the immediate problem was how to keep the winds from blowing us farther onto it. Using the dingy we set a kedge anchor and attached its rode to Nellie's stern. Then both the bow and stern rodes were drawn tight. Since the stern draws more water than the bow it was important to keep the stern anchor's rode as tight as possible. Today's first photo shows Bicki modeling our block and tackle solution for keeping the kedge's rode tight. Fortunately a rising tide does indeed raise all boats and about an hour after the excitement started Nellie was back in deep water. A little later Jack and Mirka, S/V Zeiggy, who were anchored just upwind of us, stopped by to say hello. After they said they hadn't even noticed Nellie's predicament we were hopeful that her crew's incompetence might have been missed by the rest of the fleet too. Fortunately all the morning's excitement didn't prevent us from attending the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club's (WRCC) luncheon. We've been talking to Chuck (ND7K) for over a year now and it was nice to finally put a face with the voice. After lunch it was with pleasure that we weighed anchor and left Boot Key Harbor behind. On a well set anchor and all by ourselves on the west side of Ramrod Key, FL. 21nm today and 1559nm total.
