‘There but for fortune go I’
Junk Rig Association spokesman David Tyler said: “Even a seasoned sailor in a well-found boat and in very familiar waters, will occasionally misjudge a situation. Ninety-nine times out of a 100, you’d manage to retreat with your tail between your legs, suitably chastened; on the 100th, you need to call for help in good time. I recall dragging anchor towards rocks near Flinders Island, Tasmania. Realising I might not cope, I made a Pan-Pan call but by the time help eventually came, I’d recovered by my own efforts.
“An item of equipment that enabled me to go on single-handed coastal cruising into old age was a powered windlass with a switch at the helm position. When recovering an anchor in a stiff breeze or a strong tideway, it’s possible to motor forwards to take the load off the cable. Often the best way to untangle anchor warp around the prop is to go into the water, using a secure harness, dressed in at least a thermal baselayer if a wetsuit is not carried. Sometimes, having enough windlass power to raise the fouled anchor to the surface is the only way out of the difficulty, or the cable must be cut, so a good tool kit is vital.
“I agree, (Lessons Learned, opposite), that if you have to abandon ship a credit card (and passport, if abroad) will buy food, clothes, medical attention, accommodation and transport home.
“While the above applies to all cruising rigs, a junk rig does add to general safety, by virtue of being more readily hoisted, reefed and furled, on all points of sail, when manoeuvring at close quarters in an anchorage.”