I am posting this because one of the rescued crews told the CG Swimmer that their anchor had broken loose and proceed to puncture their sailboat's hull repeatedly. Although I fervently hope that none of us gets caught in 34 foot seas and 74 mph winds (in the Gulf Stream) I do believe that even lesser whole gale conditions could have done the same thing. So, we should all examine how our anchors are secured and consider extra lashings when voyaging off-soundings. That sailboat (the "Lou Patinni" enroute to Boston) was 160 miles off Cape Hatteras. The other sailboat was 50 miles off NC and that 3 person crew was also rescued by a USCG helicopter. Hypothermia was serious one crew was taken to Marine Corp Airstation Cherry Point for treatment - they were the closest facility. A CG C-130 is out looking for two other vessels in distress and further offshore. She dropped a raft to one of the sailboats. Ron Rogers Snug in my flooding slip in New Bern, NC in moderate winds.

> their anchor had broken loose and proceed to > puncture their sailboat's hull > repeatedly. Years ago I was crew on a delivery from Newport Beach CA to San Francisco aboard a 42-foot motoryacht (American made - Uniflite, Viking, or Tolly). The delivery captain was an accomplished sailing instructor, but didn't have much offshore experience as it turned out. The boat had a fairly long teak anchor platform that a previous owner had cut and hinged, probably to fit into a slip or reduce his moorage costs by a couple feet. At oh-dark-thirty off Cape San Martin in 30-knots and heavy chop (and going too fast), the hinged portion of the anchor platform was torn away and the oversized Danforth - tethered by about 10-feet of free chain - started pounding away at the bow. The bow-mounted dinghy also shifted aft and the outboard motor broke out the center windshield window. This isn't unusual weather for the west coast, and the boat was within its limits. But the captain hadn't prepared the boat prior to departure, wasn't expecting to hit a patch of nasty chop, and didn't know enough to slow down. Fortunately, the boat's construction withstood a ton of punishment - the anchor really ground away a lot of the bow. I was amazed at how much was jack-hammered away. Offshore sailors carry bolt/cable cutters to cut away fallen rigs. Powerboaters worry about losing a dinghy (or something else strapped to the boat). Sailors worry about being tethered to a battering ram. Lessons learned of the years of delivering boats: 1) a lot of anchors are not adequately fastened - I'd guess that over half the boats I delivered needed additional reinforcement. 2) A lot of dinghys are not adequately fastened - many boats use straps over the inflatable tubes - the dinghy will invariably shift in heavy seas, especially in cooler nightime temperature when the tubes soften. 3) Just because a delivery captain has a lot of experience doesn't mean he has the right kind of experience. Peter Willard 36 San Francisco