Anchoring Ballet (Hvar, Croatia 16 & 17 September, 2003)

This story I found somewhere on the web some years ago. Unfortunately, I am not able to trace its source or its author anymore. However, I find it hilarious and (unfortunately) very recognisable. Therefore I am putting it up here. If you are the author and want to have it removed (or have your name quoted), please contact me!

Here we are in Hvar. A small, very popular anchorage in Croatia. Yesterday afternoon and evening we were privileged to witness and participate in a cruising ritual named ‘The Anchoring Ballet’. The requirements for this event include: a plethora of boats speaking different languages, an extreme range of experience and knowledge of how to anchor, a small harbor and a variable wind.

We arrived before the herd showed up. From the standpoint of safety of one’s own boat, that may not have been the best idea. From the standpoint of observing and participating in the ballet, it was fortuitous. There is wonderful music to be made by the sound of anchor windlasses going up and down and up and down. The cheerful voices of captains and crews as yet another boat drops an anchor across their already laid rode adds melody to the tune.

The wind comes to choreograph the dance. Boats spring lightly in new, unplanned directions. Bumpers are deployed, distances and rates of swing are assessed. The cheerful rattle of chain being let out or hauled in reaches a crescendo. A few light taps hull to hull and mutual fending off highlight the dance. On some boats the crews affect an attitude of studied disinterest. They sit on deck and observe the passing scene while completely ignoring the boat whose bow is about to kiss their own stern quarter. Other crew pace nervously around the catwalks, pop up from cabins and back down again, like jack-in-a-box characters, to gain the moment’s new perspective.

A silent prayer is said as the wind goes flat, the sun goes low on the horizon, a quiet calm descends on the anchorage, and nobody shouts encore.

Dawn arrives for the commencement of act 2 of the ballet. Voices in many languages command the movement of boats to up their anchors and move. Boats pirouette and circle, warnings are voiced and coffee is spilled. We enter the stage, address our anchor and begin to move. Our windlass strains mightily to lift our chain and anchor. Slowly it rises and we find.....one danforth and two chains are surfacing tightly hooked in our CQR. Quick! a boat hook to release the chains. Too heavy, so we take the dingy to the bow. After much struggle, the first chain is released and falls to the bottom much to the relief of ourselves and the crew of the boat to whom the chain is attached. Soon the other chain is released. The owners of that chain and anchor are still sleeping, blissfully unaware of their part in the ballet of anchoring. The sounds of diesels and the shine of the sun brings and end to the performance.

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