Anchorage Bay – October 2023

Before master boatbuilder Axel retires and leaves the shipyard with the almost completed MARABU, he mounts the new anchor windlass on the foredeck. The new rudder is soon ready to be installed and the new mast shows its impressive mass along the entire longitudinal wall of the shipyard hall.

Just a few weeks earlier, a long-awaited reunion took place. Graham Sturdy had been skipper of the MARABU Sailing Club since 1979. Now 89 years old, his wish to see MARABU again came true in September. Even though many memories are slowly fading, the experiences on board his beloved MARABU remain vivid.

He tells us:

“We were wanting to anchor at St Kilda, a very remote Scottish Island. We came into Glen Bay, on the north-west side of the island. The wind was a Force 6 from the south- east and there was thick fog.
We dropped the kedge anchor first (a 40lb anchor on manilla rope) and approached the cliff face for shelter. We then dropped the bow anchor (a 60lb anchor on a 3/8 diameter chain), and middled the two anchors, and hung principally by the bow anchor against the wind. Some of the crew thought double anchoring was not necessary, but my decision was supported by an ex-Merchant Navy seaman, who was used to doing this.
The crew went down below to have dinner, and I remained on deck, as I was the last to eat. I suddenly realised that the wind had completely reversed direction. The weather is notoriously changeable in this area – it was now blowing from the north-west and there was a fiercely approaching depression. We were held by the kedge anchor only, and the bow anchor was lying slack, although still buried in the sea bed.
I immediately called all the crew up on deck, who had to miss their meal, and it was all ‘action stations’. We took up the bow anchor and sailed away, and ended up anchoring on the south-east side of St Kilda in Village Bay.
If we had not double-anchored that day, it might well have been Marabu‘s last voyage. She would have been driven up against the cliffs, and smashed to pieces. And as the ex- Merchant Navy seaman said afterwards the double anchoring almost certainly saved our lives that day.
I have never anchored without using both anchors. We also always had an anchor watch at night, and during the day, we always kept a careful eye on where we were!”