Things that go bump in the night version 2-point-ooooh

This day started like any other...with coffee...Brenda saying “let's go for a walk”....me saying “do I have to?”...then us going for a walk. The only difference being that when we got in the dinghy to head to shore to go for our big long walk, another boater stops us in our dinghy as we are halfway to shore and says “are you guys in the boat that got hit by that power boat last night?” We say “I don't think so”. They say “that's your boat right there isn't it?” Then I say “yes, that's it...have you ever seen a racing boat before?” (that is my favorite line...something about our boat being a racing boat...Brenda is tired of it...I still think it's funny every time I say it...she just rolls her eyes...it is a racing boat...as long as the boat I am racing is really slow...if they are faster than us then we obviously weren't racing) Then they say “well, that's definitely the boat that got hit by that power boat that zoomed out of here last night”.

So let's back up a little. Last night we were at Gorge Harbor with our good friends Dan, Christi, and their son Grant. We had been cruising around with Dan and Christi for the last week but had split up for a few days because they needed to pick up Grant from the airport in Powell River. Grant had been in Hawaii for a few weeks and was flying in to spend the rest of the summer on the boat up in the Great White North (he has a tough life). We decided that Brenda and I would take a few days to ourselves and explore a few spots on our own and then meet up again in Gorge Harbor so Brenda and Christi could take advantage of the waterfront yoga classes that they offer.

So we meet up in Gorge Harbor as planned and get back in the rhythm of hanging out with good friends. Gorge Harbor is a nice little resort with lots of things to check out so we roam around and look at the cute little store, drool over the dinner menu at the restaurant (cry because we can't afford to eat there), stroll through the gardens, put our tosies in the swimming pool, and then see something that we can't resist...volleyball. It's a perfect sandy court and it's begging for us to roll around in it. There is 5 of us so it's Dan and I against Brenda, Christi, and Grant. Of course Dan and I take games 1 and 2 but for some odd reason the power trio pulls out a win in game 3. If you have ever played a game of any sort with Brenda, you know there was some cheating going on. I am sure that is the only way they could muster up a win...Brenda's cheating.

After the big volleyball challenge, we are all pretty beat so we head back to our respective boats and call it a night. I noticed that the boat that was anchored directly in front of us had left while we were playing volleyball. I thought that it was strange that anyone would want to leave our protected little anchorage and head out into the big water that night because, first of all, it was getting dark and most people like to sleep when it's dark, not drive their boat all night to the next spot. And secondly, the wind was fierce that night. We had 20-25 knot winds in our protected little anchorage and it was blowing 35-40 knots outside of the bay. 35-40 knots of wind is a lot of wind...especially when it's dark and you can't see whats going on...so I thought it was weird that anyone would want to leave the anchorage at that time of the evening to head out into the madness that was just outside the bay.

Anyway, we go to beddy-bye and swing and sway to the wind and wake up feeling un-refreshed...it was a loud night. Then it's the coffee and the let's go for a walk conversation...run into the other boaters who tell us we go hit...and now you are caught up so we can go back to the beginning. After they tell us we got hit by another boat, we don't really believe it so we skip the walk and head back to our boat to check it out. Sure enough, scrapes and scratches down the entire length of the boat, our railing is bent, and he left bits of his paint and wood as souvenirs. We got hit while we were playing volleyball...and it was hard.

The story goes like this (this is a second hand account of how things played out...we didn't see this happen but this is how we were told it happened). In one of the big gusts of wind, the boat that was anchored in front of us had his anchor start to drag. Since he came into the bay and anchored directly in front of us, once he started to drag, he was heading right for us. We have actually witnessed this scenario quite a few times now...lots of wind and a poor anchoring job or an undersized anchor equals disaster. I am amazed at how many big power boats I have seen with little tiny anchors and how many of those boats I have seen have their anchors drag and cause serious damage. So this guy drags his anchor right into us. His anchor gets caught on our anchor chain and basically sling-shots his boat into the side of our boat. Now he is stuck. He tries to power his boat away from ours but we have a big anchor and it works really well so every time he tries to power away from us, our anchor holds his boat and our boat together and gives him another sling-shot into the side of us. We are told that this power boater tried numerous times to power his boat away from ours and every time he tried this, the sling-shot effect slammed him into us again.

At this point the guy who is witnessing this madness decides that this doesn't look good so he hops in his dinghy to try to go over and lend a hand. As he is heading over to our boat, the guy who is stuck on our boat decides that he is going to go full throttle in reverse to try to either break our chain or break off his anchor that is stuck on our chain. Luckily for us, he broke off his anchor and not our chain. If he would have broken our chain, we would no longer be attached to our anchor and our little floating home would have floated away and ended up on the rocks that were about 100 yards away. Once he broke free, he powered out of the anchorage at full speed to leave the scene. A hit and run. He did leave us with some nice bumps and bruises, a fair bit of his paint and wood on the side of our boat, and his anchor wrapped up in our anchor chain.

We were in shock that someone would actually pull a stunt like that. There is a code of ethics between boaters, actually not really even between boaters, more like between human beings, that this guy completely threw out the window. Brenda was/is pretty angry. I am just sort of in shock. We both realize that accidents happen. We will at some point probably cause damage to another boat. But to disregard all responsibility and have no regard for the welfare of the other boat, which is our home, just boggles the mind. Probably poor parenting.

Anyway, we were heading north up to the Octopus Islands, but since the incident, we have decided to pull in and anchor behind a place called Rebecca Spit so I can dive under the boat to make sure there is no damage to the underside of our home, inspect our anchor and chain, and make a report to our insurance...just in case there is any structural damage to our boat.

Update...Dove under the boat and other than the water being K-K-K-K-Kold, the boat looks good...insurance claim has been filed...we are continuing on our journey. Damage appears to be cosmetic. Onward and upward...........