N04.14.239  E100.38.286  (Just next to the barge/ferry lane so don’t anchor between the green buoy and the yacht club.)

No, we didn’t encounter pirates and statistically will never encounter pirates.  Statistically we will snag fishing lines with the propeller, and that’s what we did which is a real nightmare when you have one prop and really aren’t a sail boat though we do have “ultimately get to somewhere sails.”  Obviously you know the end of the story already since I’m sending this email from the anchorage at Lumut and not off tiny Angsa Island.  Maybe renamed Anxiety Island!  Anyway, here’s the story. 

Brave Randal

I once wrote a cute little story about Randal being a hero because he took my accidentally captured snail down the dock to shallow water and safety. Today’s story is a bit different.

Yesterday, late afternoon just short of our anchorage we snagged a floating mess of old, discarded fishing next and lines and it wrapped itself around our propeller creating a giant blob around the shaft.

All of this was sucked under the boat and ended up wrapped around our propeller thankfully leaving a tiny bit of blade still free.

We went from a cruising speed of about 7 knots down to a limping speed of 4 knots and no ability to go in reverse. Luckily we were just short of the tiny island where we would be anchored. There were lots of small fishing boats and it looked like a row of small wooden fishing shacks at the base of the island. It seemed pretty rolly and crowded and smelly so we went around the other side and anchored there. It was 5:45 and there would be about an hour of sun and then dusk. Randal put on a snorkel to see how bad the mess was, but the water was murky and he couldn’t see anything. I dreaded the thought of getting into the diving gear but would have there being no second choice if we were going to move the boat again. But Randal told me to wait on the boat and he would dive. I got out all of his gear and he suited up, took a dive knife and went under. Twenty minutes or so later he came up and was really frustrated because the knife was of no use. It was really getting dark so the next dive would wait till the morning. To top it off, we needed to be on our way fairly early the next morning because we had to cover almost 60 miles.

Randal “slept” in the pilot house to keep an eye on the anchor. It was really windy and we were very close to a rocky island shore. If we had dragged it would have been really hard to get ourselves away with the fouled up prop.

There was a light house on the very small island

After a very sleepless night (I hate to admit I slept well, but I hadn’t slept the night before and just wanted to blot out the net mess,) at first light, Randal got back into his dive gear, took our really good heavy scissors and went down again. When he dove the evening before, the tank had been full. By the end of the final dive the next morning the tank was about empty. Luckily that was all the air that was needed. Just as the tank needle was showing close to empty Randal managed to get the mess off the prop. Whew! I tell you what, I was really scared for Randal and for what would happen if he failed, that I was making deals with any deity that was listening and trading a Sox Series win for a freed prop. By the time my deal making was done, I’m not sure the Sox will even be making the playoffs. But with the boat rolling in the waves, the dark murky water and fish netting, it was scary. Don’t want to do that again any time every again. There are just so many fishing boats and nets and debris floating in the ocean, maybe we’ve just been lucky up until now.

Looking back as we cruise away. Very small Angsa Island

Tonight we are anchored up a clam river with fishing boats and barges passing by every so often. But the noise is not bothersome and the rolls are soft so it’s fine. Tomorrow we’ll continue on to Lumut to rejoin the rally activities with a dinner in the evening. We’ll dispose of the “net mess” when we get to a place where it won’t end up back in the water to snag some other boat.

So that’s the story. Our night at up the river at Bernum was quiet and peaceful and calm! Fishing boat went past on their way home or out to sea and the whole crew would yell hello and wave and smile. Other than that nice and quiet and peaceful. For me. At anchor Randal sleeps in the pilot house to make sure we don’t drag or, with lots of boats anchored together, swing too close to each other. Most cruisers have enough experience to anchor far enough apart so there have been no problems. But if there is lots of wind or current and/or lots of submerged garbage bags that anchors slide on, well then you need to keep a close eye.

Last night after Randal did battle with our dinghy motor (took it apart, drained the watery gasoline, dried the spark plugs, did whatever) we made it just in time as the rally dinner started. It was Italian night with pasta and lasagna and something carved from a spit and lots of good bread. Local dancers performed again and that’s always fun to watch. Today there is a tour of the Marine University. I’m going to check on the library!

Ru

DoraMac