Harder can be better.

Many people have mentioned how they envy us and how they would like to go on a big sailing adventure. I'm not certain people realize how much work is involved. You get to sell your possessions and home which stirs up your emotions beyond belief. You have the stress of juggling a job, outfitting a boat and keeping the finances in order. The last has never been a skill of mine. No matter how much money you have, it is not enough. The same goes for time, you will not have enough of that either. Oh, you still have to be father and a husband!

We went for a little overnight this weekend to cow island. It is just a few miles from Portland, but you instantly feel like you're far from the city. Maine is like that! Great smooth sail at 3 knots with Rebecca at the helm. We had got a late start around 4pm and the wind was dying. My two year old started melting down and our 8 year old started feeling his needs were not being met around 5:30. (Dante can blow your head off with his super shrill tantrum scream. I promise I will record one for you.) With half a mile to go, we tied the inflatable onto the side of the boat and motored to the mooring field. Amazing how a four horse Evinrude can push a sailboat that has a gross weight of 15 tons. Now, I'm working on my anchoring skills and a mooring whose condition is unknown tells me",anchor over there, where it is clear," no problem. Done. Now rush to get dinner to calm the troops and get a gin and tonic.

That night, all the Bondellio's were snug in their births, when a high pressure trough funnels in creating 20 knot winds and 3 foot seas that turn our anchorage into a lee shore. A lee shore strikes fear into all sailors. Especially sailors with engineless boats and kids on board. I did not sleep the entire night. I was on deck to check the anchor 30 times, fearing that it would lose its grip or chafe through the rode. I was prepared to sail off and we had the room, but it would have been a total white knuckle situation. Thankfully, the anchor held.

The next day, after the wind abated and a leisurely breakfast... I hoisted the sails to sail off the hook. The boat heeled over and headed out of the anchorage only to stop and round up back toward the spot we just came from. Two hours of back breaking anchor hauling and sailing around in circles would not break the anchor free. Finally, I waived down a Lobsterman and and he agreed to haul up on my anchor rode to see what the problem was. Turns out there was a 3 foot by 3 foot ball of tangled lobster pot warp (trap line) surrounding the anchor. It took this man 30 minutes to set the gear free. I was indebted to him and presented cash which he would have none of. So I presented half a bottle of dark rum. He gladly accepted.

Now as I ponder the situation, I cannot believe how lucky we were or blessed. Did my anchor drag and was the Vindhler heading for the rocks, only to be saved by the lobster pots? Or did we somehow create the entanglement trying to get off in the morning? Well it does not matter now. We are safe and learned another valuable lesson. Funny how life keeps teaching us regardless of how long we have lived. That is, of course, if you are really living, taking some chances.


The sail home was fantastic. Blake and I were in the cockpit and we had the Vindhler dialed in. We were reaching into Portland Harbor and were walking away of boats that should have sailed with us. They were trying to, but we were invincible at that moment. So we had a night of incredible stress and fear, needed the help of others, and then had a euphoric high. Such is sailing. Art Dahlberg sold me the Vindhler and stated appropriately, that sailing is 90% boredom and 10% terror.


The photo is of a couple of doubler patches under the stern. My brother Matt helped me with the welding.