On Thursday we departed Marco Island and headed towards Little Shark River.  This would be our longest day so far, covering 55 miles in a little less than 8 hours with a lot of help of our Yan Mar Engine and a little from light winds in our sails.  It was a tiring day and felt good to finally pull into the remote anchorage in the Everglades National Park.  It was also delightful to see 7 boats already at anchor, so good to have company when often times the only neighbors you find there at night are the red eyes staring out from the shoreline.  By the time the sun set there were a total of 13 boats of various types, including several from Punta Gorda Boating clubs. 

After an uneventful day the evening would prove quite different.  It started with a gorgeous sunset and the captain of “Go Lassie” dressed in native kilt playing the bagpipes from atop his catamaran.   “Amazing Grace,” was truly amazing as it echoed across the water.  Cheers rose up as the last notes died out, darkness consumed; lights flickered on as we slipped away into the comfort of our cabins.  

Dennis and I began a game of rummy and were almost to the last hand when we heard a call come over the radio, “Sea Daddler is loose.”  If you are a boater, you know those are dreaded words, especially when it is pitch dark outside in an unfamiliar anchorage with a dozen boats swinging around you.  Everyone suddenly scrambled topside to find things had changed dramatically over the two hours since sunset.  Although a few boats, like ours were still facing north as they had been when we anchored, many were now facing east because of the changing tides.  After hearing that one boat was loose, we began checking our position to see if we too were sliding.  It soon became evident that we were.  Everyone knows the phrase, “Chinese fire drill” and that is exactly what it feels like, panic in the dark.  Eventually we would take up and reset the 44 pound Delta anchor two more times before finally getting it to hold.  Thank goodness for windless (an electric winch), and marriage savers (headsets used to communicate without yelling when setting the anchor.)   That night we also used a new app on our phone called “Drag Queen,” which uses GPS and sounds an alarm if your anchor is sliding.  Although the boat would swing a full 360 degrees during the night, the alarm never sounded, and our panic-driven practice conquered our challenge for the night.