David's Diary: Friday and Saturday, July 26-27, 2002

Dragging Anchor in Korcula, Croatia

The sunset and beautiful skies of Uvala Luka near Korcula in Croatia led us into a false sense of security. We did a short passage today from Luka Polace and set the anchor in deep water. The wind continued to blow, but we felt that we were secure for the night.

Shortly after the picture was taken, our anchor started dragging. Dragging anchor is something all boaters have to deal with, but with the light failing it was a difficult time to deal with the situation. We moved Dragonsinger behind a small islet. It took five attempts in the dark to reset the anchor. Our new spot was more sheltered from the increasing wind, but it was narrow and if we dragged anchor again we only had a short distance before we would be pushed into the shore.

With the situation serious, I slept out in the cockpit. Music from nearby cafes kept me awake as Dragonsinger swung from side to side across the narrow anchorage. I finally fell asleep for a couple of hours, but around 05:00 the wind was blowing harder and I woke up from the cold. I felt the movement of Dragonsinger change and as I started to sit up Jocelyn rushed up from down below saying that she could hear the anchor dragging just as the depth alarms on our instruments went off. It took twenty seconds to start the engine by which time we were uncomfortably close to the shore.

Loviste Calm at Sunset

The wind was now blowing at 40-45 knots (about 85-90 km/hr) as we pulled in the anchor and motored out from behind the tiny islet we had been using for protection. The anchor came up with lots of weed on it, so we probably never got hooked properly last night. The water outside was too deep, the marina was being pounded by waves, so we motored out into the wind. We put out a bit of our mainsail and motor sailed for a half-hour while considering sailing back to Luka Polace.

The wind was gathering speed as it came down the 3,000 foot (1,000 meter) mountains to the north. While the wind was strong the water was calm in the protected inlet where we were. As we got further way from the mainland the dinghy started flying in the air, despite the fact that the outboard engine was still on the back. Quickly reading the pilot guide, we decided to turn around and head for a marina across the inlet from Korcula. We arrived there at 06:00, but we were waved away as the marina was completely full.

We continued motor sailing, keeping Dragonsinger close to the shore to avoid any waves that were building. More reading of the pilot guide showed us that the bay of Loviste at the end of the Peljesac Peninsula looked like a possible safe anchorage. As we moved away from where the Peninsula narrowed with the island of Korcula we found that the wind dropped to 20-25 knots (about 40-45 km/hr). This made managing Dragonsinger much easier and greatly relieved the anxiety level onboard. We were anchored in Loviste by 09:00 and after visually checking that the anchor was well-set, we all went back to bed for a well-earned rest. Dragging anchor is always a challenge.