We FINALLY have a new, installed, and operating generator. Enough of that.
Following final checks by the folks at Irish Boat Shop, we departed for Beaver Island just after the rain blew through. Seas were very rolly out of the west which made for an unsettled ride about 32 miles north of Charlevoix.
St. James bay is in the northeast corner of Beaver Island. The sail to Mackinaw is almost due east from here.
We arrived just before 7 pm and headed to the area local knowledge said was good for anchoring. We set the 60# CQR with about 100' of chain. Winds died down during the evening and we had a restful sleep at anchor.
Friday morning winds picked up to 15+ knots, but we seemed to be anchored just fine. Genset worked as advertised and following some breakfast we dinghied over to the Municipal marina, tied up to a fellow cruiser's stern (Thanks 'Andiamo'!) and headed into "town" to grab just a few groceries and a nice 6 of a Michigan microbrew ale.
When we arrived back on board Far Niente, it was immediately obvious she had dragged anchor. I kept an eye on her the whole time we walked around the bayside town but I didn't see anything that alarmed me. The depth sounder said we were in 3' of water under the keel; we had been in 16'. And it was clear that the winds had pushed us back toward the Beaver Island Marina.
Winds were now 20-27 kts.
We pulled anchor and reassessed where and how to set the anchor again. . Winds were now gusting to 30+ kts, which always makes for a challenging anchoring experience.
So we picked a new area. Maybe the one we first anchored in was soft? There's the legend of "all the saw dust from the lumber days" being on the bottom of St. James bay. We dropped the CQR and this time paid out almost 200' of chain in just under 20' of water, a very conservative 10:1 scope. We dug her in and she held the rest of the afternoon and all night. Of course, as any sailor will tell you, you don't sleep quite as well after dragging anchor.
So that was our Beaver Island experience.
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