FEB 2011:

Q: What kind of anchors do you use aboard Wild Card?

A: I'm a bit of a nut about ground tackle. I believe that the ability to anchor is the bedrock skill of a cruising sailor. I've lived my whole life swinging to my own anchors. I only drag, on average, about every five/eight years or so... altho I've never damaged my vessel or another vessel.

I had seven anchors and 1,200 of rode aboard for my first circ.... on a 38 foot light displacement boat! Now I have four anchors: my main 44# Bruce with 200 of 3/8s chain, a Danforth 12 H as a secondary all set to go, a small Aluminum Viking as a 'keep away' on my aft rail, and a very large dissembled Viking in my bilge as a storm anchor.

I carry a lot of rode because, besides my anchors, I have a Paratech sea anchor, a Gale rider slowing device, and a Jordan series drogue.

Whew! 

This is why $3,000 old Wild Card often comes through blows without a scratch that shred two million dollar production boats.

You can't buy safety offshore. You have to have the proper gear and know how to use it.

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 Nov 15, 2008 Langkawi: We love WD-40! Especially for removing beach tar from our bare feet. But we also use it on interior brass... to make the polish last for months. (Carolyn got confused one morning and sprayed her armpits with it... she was one smooth lady that day!)

August 2009 Rebak, Malaysia: We don't have any self-tailing winches on Wild Card. Thus we tie a knot in our jib sheets and toss 'em overboard when we want selff-tailers. Cheap and easy... only problem is our fellow boaters yelling, "Hey, Skip! You got a line overboard..!"

September: anchored off Kuah: we don't have a water maker. We catch water from our deck (for cleaning dishes, etc) and from our Bimini top for drinking. We once went 53 days at sea without taking on dock water... thank gosh for the ITCZ squalls on the equator!