Departing Hakahetau Bay after all the Ua Pou festival fun turned into quite an adventure. We were packed in with a bunch of boats, and the only way to make it work was to deploy a stern anchor to limit swinging. For these rare situations we use our backup Sarca Excel #5, an aluminum alloy anchor that breaks down for storage in a locker. We very seldom use the stern anchor so it's a bit of a palaver to get it all set up and deployed. We've a bucket of rode and chain from Westmarine and some high quality shackles for the stern anchor system; that rode and chain now live in a large milk crate so it can be rinsed and dried without removal. Bringing all the claptrap from the bow locker to the stern, setting it on some old towels to protect the gel coat while hooking it all up and seizing the shackles is a bit tedious. Add a 1 meter swell running through the anchorage and it's all a bit dodgy; the last thing we need to do is punch out a saloon window with a heavy, sharp object.
Anyway, we got it all together then Darryl on SV Maple arrived in his dinghy, volunteering to assist in the deployment operation. Darryl and his wife Janet along with their 2 young daughters have lived aboard their 38' catamaran for 3 years, purchasing her in Turkey and sailing all the way here. Nice folks. They have to be, they're Canadian. So anyway, Darryl and I take the whole kit and kaboodle out in the dinghy, select a suitable location to drop the anchor and over the side it goes. We pay out chain then rode as we head back to JollyDogs to secure the bitter end to the starboard stern cleat. This should hold us in a good position relative to the other boats.
I begin to take slack from the rode and pretty soon I've managed to drag the anchor all the way to just below the stern. Apparently our stern anchor setting technique needs work. Darryl returns for "round two" and we do it all over again, taking the anchor further away but in the same general line. This time after I secure the rode to the cleat we elect to motor JollyDogs forward against the stern anchor to try and set it well. It seems to work, but I'm not convinced until I dive down and inspect the set. Now we can take up the slack at the cleat until our position is good and all is well. We ride out this anchorage for about a week and remain securely in place, a good thing as the anchorage continues to get more crowded.
On Wednesday December 18th it's time to leave. We decide that Isabel will hold JollyDogs in position using differential thrust from our two lovely Yanmar engines while I disconnect the stern anchor rode and fetch the entire lash up with the dinghy. Wow is that anchor set, but eventually I manage the haul it all aboard and return to JollyDogs where Isabel has been having a heck of a time. Folks from both SV Olena and SV Taipan have been there using their dinghies as tugboats to push her away from nearby vessels while I have been completely unaware of the situation, beavering away to raise Mr. Stern Anchor. Silly me.
What the heck is going on? Isabel is a good catamaran driver and should have been able to hold position!
After boarding I took the helm and quickly realized that the starboard engine was running well, but the starboard prop wasn't turning. Or perhaps it wasn't there? We've heard of several boats losing their fancy expensive Gori folding props over the years, but I always assumed it related to a failure to follow the manufacturer's installation instructions. The Gori prop incorporates a soft torsional vibration isolator that can fail, but it has a "get home" mode so that it will still turn if the isolator disintegrates.
WTF? Stay tuned. . .
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