Ignoring a Warning Sign Ruins a Day of Boating

It was a beautiful August afternoon in Maryland, and my fiancée, her granddaughter, and I decided to take my 28-foot cabin cruiser down the South River and out into the Chesapeake Bay to the picturesque Thomas Point lighthouse, 5 miles from the marina. Once there, we decided to visit Annapolis, about 7 miles farther across open water dotted with crab traps. We went down Ego Alley and meandered through nearby Back Creek before heading home. I had noticed the voltmeter reading low and slowly dropping, but I pushed on.

The seas had picked up to about 2 feet on our bow, making for a rough ride. Suddenly, the boat jerked and veered hard to starboard. I looked around and saw the anchor line leading behind our boat, pulling a crab-pot float (more on this later). The anchor had jumped off its hook and deployed. We stopped the boat, and I hauled in the anchor, which had its shank bent 45 degrees.

I went to restart the boat and nothing. Both banks of batteries were apparently dead. I thought about checking the engine compartment, but the boat was rocking a lot.

We donned life jackets, and I called TowBoatUS. I deployed the anchor again, but we kept drifting because it would not dig in. We were lying sideways to the 2-foot seas, and the cooler and refrigerator down below upchucked their contents. The granddaughter also upchucked her contents all over the cockpit.

Ninety minutes later, Capt. Greg with TowBoatUS showed up and towed us safely back to our marina.

We made it in before dark. Upon raising the boat on its lift, I noticed that there was a metal crab pot firmly wrapped around the prop.