We Lost Our Boat- and I Want to Quit. 

Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for your comments ❤ Just wanted to reassure everyone that, while we've had a run of challenges on RR2, since these episodes were filmed we've been finding our feet and our confidence has increased hugely, which you'll be seeing in the episodes due to come out over the coming weeks. We've had some EPIC sailing and honestly have just been loving life, which is a huuuuge relief because for a time there, things were really tough. But the main reason for this post is that I've noticed a few comments saying we're being negative or creating unnecessary drama, and I just wanted to address that quickly. When we first started filming our lives, we made a pledge to always be totally honest about depicting the reality of life onboard. It's not always easy and it's definitely not always glamorous (actually, it's never glamorous onboard RR2!). We are also unashamedly ourselves on camera. We don't put on an 'act' or a persona and we don't pretend to be feeling something we're not. And yeah, when we're having a tough time, that means we talk about it. It isn't because we're attempting to create drama. Unfortunately, we genuinely were struggling during this time. I honestly wondered whether we could manage this boat on our own. It was a lot and the teething pains were very, very real. I don't see the point in pretending otherwise, even though some of the comments (a tiny minority! Most of you are amazing!) seem to think we should have been doing just that. For better or worse, pretence is just not something we're capable of. But we've also had a lot of comments from sailors who have had similar experiences to us, and who have expressed their gratitude for accurately portraying the challenging nature of transitioning from a relatively small mono to a relatively big catamaran. There's also been many of you who have had similar incidents to this episode where our boat was found a mile out to sea, and can understand how harrowing that experience was. Reading these comments has been so reassuring that we are not alone in struggling sometimes, and we really appreciate it. Okay, onto the good news!! As of next week's episode, we start to turn the corner and that steep learning curve begins to plateau out. We've got lots of incredible sailing (seriously. The best sailing we've ever had. Not an exaggeration) coming up as we head to the islands of the Koh Chang archipelago in Thailand, before making our way south towards Singapore. I'm VERY excited about what's to come and I hope you are too! With love and appreciation, Nick & Terysa

Armchair skipper here. You got your boat back and you figured out what went wrong. Bloody well done the both of you. Keep on sailing, love your stuff.

Guys this is a terrific "war story", ex padi instructor here, we were taught that relating such a snafu was one of the best possible instructional tools....And you have done so. I for one will never, ever forget it. And we're all still here to tell the tale! Beats living in a chuffing block of flats eh? 😅😅 Hang tight..xx 🤗🤗🤗

Noël here. 20 years on my Outremer 45. I agree with most of the other comments. Except : Do NOT give up your 8mm chain! If your anchor is modern, it works through its geometry, dimensions and pull angle, not the weight of the chain, which is only useful to create a curve and becomes useless once the chain is bar-tight. Paying out scope is much more efficient at lowering the pull angle than hauling a ton of chain on a catamaran. Calculate proper scope (Hypotenuse) from the ideal pull angle designed into your specific anchor. If no clue, start by assuming 10 degrees. So: keep your high strength 8mm, and pay out the proper scope, increasing scope if high winds or tide forecast. Add freeboard to depth sounder set on true depth. And if leaving the boat, dive first to check the anchor. An oversize anchor helps to sleep well. I carry Spade 35kg (20kg was recommended), 2 dyneema shackles for bridle arms to chain, Extra long bridle if storm (30m 18mm nylon). I "lost" the cat twice already : Turkey, sand over shale; French Riviera, short scope "just for an hour" because of proximity to fish farm. Plus the dozen times I dragged anchor while onboard... You both reacted well. You learnt from it, and thereby taught many of us in your audience. It did not kill you, so it made you stronger. Bon vent.

In the Military, the " Event-Oriented After Action Debriefing "is a factual review of events, and individual and unit reactions to those events. It is an opportunity to sit down with fellow soldiers, reconsider what occurred, and draw lessons for the future. In essence, this is precisely what you two have done. Brilliant. Sharing hard earned wisdom.

Sailing consists of hours and hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Don't feel bad, it happens to all of us. We almost lost our 70' boat when a cold front came through in the middle of the night with 60 kt gusts. We dragged over 500 yards and almost went aground. Glad you are all OK. After what you went through, I would have gotten the whiskey bottle out as well.

These kind of episodes are so valuable. If just one sailor uses this experience to put out enough chain and not drag, then it is worth all. Thank you for sharing. I hope to see many more episodes that show how you both thrive on your boat!

It is putting it right that matters. I had an 11-meter cat that I lived on for 5 years. 4 on anchor. I picked up a contract and was away for 16 months with liveaboard neighbours paid to keep an eye on and check it. 2 weeks before I finished the contract a fishing boat anchored over my chain. Long story short he snagged my anchor and pulled it out, untangled his but just kicked my 40 meters of chain and CQR off the side of his boat. It turned into a ball and chain hanging under my boat and couldn't set for all the chain wrapped around the shank and flukes. My friends woke to my boat being gone. A quick search found it 2.5 miles down the coast run aground. They recovered it on the tide...it had mini keels for beaching. They towed it back and anchored her up then phoned me the news. I flew back and 2 days after I was in the water taking GoPro videos of the hull as I scanned under the water line for damage. I climb back on board and sat in the saloon to view the video. But I decided to watch it while I had a beer...walked 5 steps down into the galley and was standing in water to my ankles! The floor hatches were floating off and I pulled things away looking for the breach. A gash 50 mm by 500 mm was discovered on the inward side of the starboard hull. I couldn't stem the flow and had to abandon ship. I called for help and escaped with my luggage and a backpack of laptops and tech. I rolled the dice and lost. But here I am in my new 40 foot STEEL monohull writing this comment. Boating is the most exciting thing you can ever do, but with the caveat that within a millisecond, it can be the scariest thing you can ever do. Like you, I live.

Great episode and I honestly feel very bad for you. There are many "rules" we have developed after 7 yachts and 32 years of coastal and ocean miles. 1. Statistically most bad things occur at night so we generally don't leave the yacht if its blowing 20kn+ late arvo unless you visit someone else's yacht in full view of your yacht. Never rely on what other people do with their dinghies on the beach that you can do too. Your dinghy is too heavy to haul up the beach. I'd be very nervous with your heavy dinghy. It should be able to be hauled up the beach by both of you to avoid any waves that may arise when you're not there to see passing boats etc. 2. If you know you will be returning to your yacht after dark, carry a torch, radio, wear lifejackets, flares. You were not wearing lifejackets that I could see when you stepped back onto your dragging yacht and there are numerous stories of falling into the ocean when getting back onboard. 3. Nick for the scope calculation, you also need to add the distance from the waterline to your bridle attachment to the depth of water for your real true scope. If it's 1.5 meters of height to the waterline and the high tide is max 6 m, that would make it 7.5 meters so you need 7.5m x 7 scope in 20kn+. 4. Your anchor and chain are too light for the windage of RR as others have said. Go one size bigger on the ultra with 10mm chain. 5. Keep Sentinel in your pocket with alarm notifications on when you are away from the boat. We keep our Sentinel running 24/7 and phone is never turned off. 6. Keep a notebook in your helm area when you debrief with all the things you've learned from these events as next time you may not remember the things you've been through. We have laminated check lists for eg. " Electrical Storm Preps", "Marina Departure and Arrival", "Dragging", etc as a person's mind can go blank when in a crisis and it is very comforting to have these. We're all dealing with our homes, a valuable asset, so we believe there are risk limits and what others do is up to them but this is our protocol. I do wish you both all the best always.

I'm not a sailor but I really enjoy watching your videos. My first take on seeing this video is that you have probably saved 100 boaters in the future. I would imagine many people are going to watch this and learn a great lesson.

When you're wise enough to admit to making an error it tells me you can handle you're boat. The way you supported each other when needed tells me your love can overcome any obstacles. Put it behind you and keep moving forward !

If that’s the worst thing that’s happened to you sailing , you’ve had it blessed ! Chain aboard is chain doing nothing , unless your aground or in a confined anchorage let the chain go , that’s what it’s there for !

Don’t forget, you also need to add the bridge deck clearance or the height that your bridle is attached to above the waterline as additional water depth

Hearing you cry in the background broke my heart. 😢. I can’t imagine the terror of the moment or the harrowing experience you two experienced. So glad the boat is fine and you both are too. Hello from Atlanta Ga. Wishing you calmer days.

Hi guys. We are also full-time cruisers on a 45’ catamaran. What you experienced is an absolute nightmare, and we have so much empathy for you. What a terrifying experience, and you handled it well. Some suggestions based on our experience. Not sure what kind of anchor you have, but the reality is that the anchors that come with most catamarans are simply not big enough to be counted on. We upgraded to an oversized 40kg Rocna with 12 mm chain. Our anchor is meant for a boat bigger than ours. (The boat came with an ~20kg Delta when we bought it new.) Yes, it adds weight and barely fits in the bow roller, but it is worth its weight in gold. We know many, many other cruisers on catamarans our size who have done the same and upgraded to an oversized modern anchor style (like a Rocna or Mantus) to have better holding power. You are also 100% right that backing down with the bride at 2000 rpm with both engines should set the anchor, but we have done this and had it hold firm, only to dive on our anchor and find it’s been barely dug in on a small amount of sand over hard ground, or in one instance it was hitting a rock, and that was all that was holding us in place. We know you can’t always dive on the anchor for a multitude of reasons, but it’s been eye-opening to us that sometimes even when it feels like the anchor is rock solid after backing down, the reality is that it's not, and we just can’t see it. On scope, you are right about factoring in the extra meter of water that shows because of the offset on your depth sounder. Also, to help us add extra scope in areas of the world where we have had high tides, we have configured our B&G MDF at the helm to show the tide graph. This lets us easily see at a glance when we drop anchor if we are at low or high tide, and how much scope we need to add. Cheers to you both for continuing to show the reality of both the good and bad of what it's like to live out here on the water. It can be so brutal and hard at times!

CLICKBAIT…..DID YOU LOSE THE BOAT? Drama queens

Don't kick yourself, as Capt Ron says "If its going to happen, it will happen out there". We lost a chartered boat once in a storm. Anchored in < 10ft of water, had 100' of rode out. Storm came, and waterspouts started forming and we checked everything one more time, and ran to shore in the dingy for cover. An hr later, the storm passed, and as we came through a mangrove creek to the bay, the boat was gone! We found the boat hours later, in the dark, a 1/4 mile from where we left it!! (thankfully with no damage ) That was nearly 30yrs ago. I still use 10:1, but I always outfit boats with an anchor 50% bigger than what I should. 20ft water + 3-5 ft king tide and storm surge = 25ft x 10 = 250' of rode to hold.... you can never have too much out IMHO

We anchored off a beach and swam a short distance to the beach to meet friends. Being distracted by friends, we suddenly realized the boat was dragging at a fast pace. My husband swam after the boat. It was a great distance and I was terrified he was going to drown. Thankfully he made it safely. This was off the coast of Cape Cod, Ma. I am thankful you both are safe as well as your beautiful new boat!

By posting this experience you have literally probably saved many others from dealing with the same thing! Thankful you both are safe and were able to save your boat. You did a great job on something that could have happened to anyone.

We've sailed full-time 4 years on a 47' catamaran, and I appreciate the trauma of this story. Since you're looking for feedback, I would only add that I was very *surprised* to hear you're using 8mm chain on a boat with so much size and windage. I don't think it's sufficient, especially at 5:1 so consider upgrading. (We used an 38kg Mantus anchor with 100m of 12mm chain, and while it adds some weight up front it's negligible to get a good night's sleep.) My heart sank with your story, so I'm glad it all worked out. Fair winds!!

First time viewer - Clickbait Central - Last time viewer. You still have your boat but my, you swear a lot!

I’m really glad you’ve analysed it in the cold light of day. Us skippers are always making mistakes and you’re awesome for owning up to yours. You’re still the best sailing channel 🤜

Anchor dragging while onboard is bad enough, but the shock of boat gone on return from shore! Oh SH1T 😮 … in that single moment your heart and mind stop for millisecond, the body freezes and expletives abound! Relieved the seas allowed you to board and bring her back in - that’s the first priority. Super glad you shared your experience and the reason for the drag - all sailors keep learning and learning from each other - complacency is one of them and you’ve owned up for the benefit of all of us - thanks Nick. T - you’re amazing, resilient and so capable - good teamwork.

Your boat is now the size and complexity that someone should always be on board even at anchor. People dont leave mega-yachts unattended, but leave cal 30's for days. You have crossed that line now. Be careful what you wish for.

Nick and Teresa, thank you for your brutal honesty! It is really refreshing! I am just going through my skipper's courses now and thought this is a wonderful lesson to put away in the tool chest. Being an ex-military pilot, we were always taught to do an After Action Review (AAR) on all incidents so that everyone learns immediately from an incident, before the full investigation. A good sailor, like a good pilot, is compelled to analyse all incidents and learn from them. I think you guys and everyone that watches this video will have hade learnt a lot from this incident. Thanks again for sharing and being totally honest.

As a boater I feel for you. I’ve dragged once and it’s not always possible but I stay with in sight of the boat in wind. That’s my personal rule. I don’t expect others to do this, but it helps me mentally when I miss something. I’m glad it was an off shore blow and you did a very good debriefing. ❤🇨🇦

Nobody was hurt or killed, the boat was recovered and you took the time to figure out why it all happened. Thanks for sharing! We have a small cat with a 3ft draft and we typically anchor in 10 feet or slightly less. We always put out 100’ of chain unless in a crowded anchorage (which we try to avoid). Thanks for sharing this with everyone, we can all learn from our mistakes and those of others.

In terms of anchor scope, also remember freeboard - the calculation is to the bow rowler NOT water level. So if you are working from your depth sounder offset and out by 1.2m - you might be missing another 1.5 meters to the bow rowler. Add in your mistake with springs and your calculation might be out by as much as 4 meters which is very, very material. Remote anchor watch with loud audible alarm would have course saved the day. Bottom line, the boat was fine and if you could not got it with the dinghy, as long as AIS was on you would have got it with the help of a friend.

As my granddaughter used to say when she was little “Grandpa. Every day is a school day “. You know she was right. You’ve done that bit of learning, no damage was done so don’t beat yourselves up, be thankful, move on, continue to be vigilant and you’ve cracked it. You are priveliged to have this lifestyle, so enjoy it and carry on sharing! Well done! Keep it up, we enjoy it

I always remember the saying of an experienced cruiser friend who said " You're only 1 sunken beach towel away from dragging anchor!" So, test your set regularly & don't assume just because it was OK 3 days ago, it's still OK.

Just watched it as well. If you never dragged an anchor, tapped the bottom, kissed a dock, either you’re a liar or haven’t sailed enough. Thanks for the update!! You survived!!

Nick, just mark it off as a learning experience, note to self, do not do that again. And great job on figuring out the problem.

Nobody injured and you got the boat back without any damage, I would say lesson learned and stop beating yourself up.. cheers guys!

you sir are a star, you gave Terysa the comfort cuddle she needed ( as can be clear from her voice) at the most appropriate time while you both are trying to understand what had just happened to your home/livelihood.; thank you for explaining this most stressful moment.

I have heard captains with stories very similar to this. You have Sentinel, you kept your wits, you recovered your home. Be proud of yourself for being capable sailors and now that you've had time to recover I hope you can laugh about your mistakes like the solid people I know you are!

Being vulnerable and real while working it out together despite a tense situation is a gift of a share - THANK YOU

Everyone has dragged anchor. Live and learn. Regarding the dinghy, when you have breaking waves on shore, don't beach it. Anchor the dinghy and wade in or if the depth drops off bring an extra line so you can motor to wading depth, push the dinghy out to the anchor. Retrieve the dinghy with the line that you had secured to the dinghy and the shore.

Same thing happened to us but we were on the boat. Keith awoke in the night to pee and looked out the window and saw our buddy boat’s anchor light way off in the distance. That’s when he realized our anchor had come completely off the shelf, and we had drifted 2 miles out to sea. Luckily, there was only open ocean behind us, and not rocks or other boats. I can imagine your terror seeing your boat floating away! (Cue our theme song “Let it Float Away”) 😂😢 Glad you guys got your boat back safely.

New Boat, new learning curves. You both done very well. take this as a learning curve and get yourselves back to being the good sailors that you are. Always enjoy your channel.

That is the sign of a true leader. Nick figured out the problem and took responsibility of the issue. I’m so happy you were able to get your boat back. It’s important that you aired this in public so others might learn from your mistakes. Not everyone would. I think you both did a spectacular job recovering the boat in what had to be a scary black ocean you were having to endure while getting to your boat. Lesson learned, life is good and enjoy your boat.

You did so well, super impressed - you guys were built for this! Love the teamwork and communication skills in the situation!!

It's amazing that the simplest mistake can cause such a huge drama and could have been much worse. Don't beat yourselves up , you both learned from what happened and now will always remember what scope you need when anchoring somewhere else. Thanks for the video. much love to you both.

Don't forget to add the bridal height above the water, probably about1.5 m for your boat. So 6m water depth + 1.2 + 1.5 ~ 9m. That being said, we would routinely anchor with 4:1 scope with 45knt of wind in Croatia. We had an 85# mantus, 10 mil chain on a Leopard 46. Only time we ever drug in 2 years was after anchoring at night and hitting sea grass instead of sand and stern tying to shore in Kotor, Montenegro when the anchor just dug further into the mud, never really dragging, just cultivating the bottom ;) Glad you got your boat back. Don't forget, adventure happens when things don't go as planned. -SV Roundabout

Hi Guys, I can see it's already been mentioned; however, I find a lot of people use depth of water to calculate scope, when it should be depth of water PLUS the height of the bow sprit (or snubber anchor point) above the water. (Think of a triangle) In our boat that's 1.5m. This can make a big difference to your calculations. I also always use the depth of water at the highest high tide during the time we are at anchor to determine depth of water in the calculation. Due to the rough conditions you were in, there may also be some wave "lift" factoring in here, temporarily but repeatedly raising your height above the sea floor and possibly un-setting the anchor. Keep up the great lifestyle. We're jealous.

aww you two!! the way you handled that, and the way you cared for each other afterwards was amazing. Keep on sailing, I love seeing your adventures

We had pulled into Charleston to wait out bad weather. A catamaran came into the anchorage after us. I was complaining about how close he parked to us. My husband said it was fine. Then his boat was 4 feet away from our bow and swinging toward us. We called him on the radio… no answer. I don’t know if the Captain went into town or went to sleep. We were shining our light in his window. My husband pulled up some of our chain. Then we ingested our bridle in our Winless. Our Winless was frozen. We started swinging toward a derelict mast less boat on a mooring (we are a 50 ft. Catamaran). I kept pushing us off that boat with the boat hook. Finally my talented husband freed us from our own bridle and we pulled in our anchor. No damage to the derelict boat… that we created anyway. In the mean time, the boat who nearly hit us swung over to another catamaran and they were pushing it off. We were lucky it was raining and not that windy. We spent 3 hours after that in the middle of the night trying to find a spot to re-anchor and rethinking our choices. Now, years later, I am glad we didn’t give up. A brilliant man once said, “Life is like a car, you should have a big windshield and a small rear view mirror.” In other words, focus on the future and don’t beat yourself up about what goes wrong in the past. Easier said than done. Stuff happened to all of us. It is how you handle adversity that it important. You guys are top notch.

I’m a motor-head and rarely anchor in over 20ft of water and only on calm days around the Florida Keys and Bahamas… But what a Grand Lesson for me anyway!! Been boating for close 50 years here in Florida and only lost our boat once… we were all in the water…. 3- Children 6-12 years and my Bro Inlaw…. Who shed his scuba and swam after the boat… once you lose one… it certainly IS all about the recovery!! Fabulous example on proper anchoring strategy!! Thank YOU for sharing!! God Bless!!

Quality Engineer here…these sort of obvious/ not obvious things is why I have had a long career. You are in the same boat as many others. You always hope to find the problem before the impact is too great…you did learn the lesson before the cost was too great and you will save someone else’s ass bc of your experience. That is a gift to you and others…I love those moments.

Experienced sailor here. My feedback: 1. Your own post-incident analysis is accurate and under-estimating scope vs depth is the primary cause. Combined with a high windage boat that was probably surging even with the bridle as scope shortened in the rising wind & tide. 2. You mentioned in passing having only 8mm anchor chain. The different in anchoring power between 8, 10 & 12mm chain is huge. I’ve never had below 10mm even on my smallest boats (35ft monohull). But I now have 12mm on my 50ft mono. The extra load caused by your windage and being a cat means I would urge you to upgrade to 10mm. 3. Even if you had lost visual sight of RR2 presumably you could have found her by tracking AIS signal - which I presume was still on?

This is frightening, but this is how we learn and a miss is as good as a mile. Thanks for sharing because now we are all learning. Bless you both.

Fortunately, at 3 am I woke up when I started dragging. Otherwise, my boat would have ended up on shore. I also didn't account for an extra high tide and a keel offset. Guaranteed you won't make that mistake again. I haven't since that night. Now I put out 10:1 no matter what.

What does not kill you, learn from it and live strong!

It was clickbait - they full well know that "We lost our boat" means it was destroyed or sunk.

You two are a very very special couple in that you both have each other's back, are kind and empathetic to one another in humbling and terrifying experiences. You are honest and transparent, which says so much about each of you. Show yourselves grace, hug your boat! I'm not a very religious person in a traditional way, but there is some extra special energy in the Universe keeping an eye on you guys! It's also a show of good karma. Fair winds, and thank you for your vulnerability in sharing the real stories with the world.

Whilst going through an event like this your bodies will have released a huge amount of adrenaline that links to our fight, flight and freeze responses which can be really helpful or a big hinderance depending on the situation. You guys looked like you handled that really well as a team. Afterwards as the adrenaline leaves your system you will have side effects such as; feeling of sickness/vomiting, shaking, dry mouth, emotional, hyper focus on negatives. You can then have some physical and psychological trauma afterwards so when retelling/thinking about it afterwards your body/minds relive it and dump on you again. Nothing to be ashamed of. Keep taking care of each other, talk it through when you feel the need to. If either of you are still having a hard time with it in a months time (sleep, appetite, unbidden thoughts, anger, fretful dreams etc) to the extent it’s really impacting on you and it’s not improving then maybe think about gettting some more professional advice. Big hugs and great that your take away is to learn and improve as that’s inspiring!

Seriously great moment watching you two support each other in a stressful spot! I see more couples break in stressful boating situations probably then anyone and you two crushed it great job!

Welcome home! I'm really glad you are all safe. Yay, new boat rules about every subtle nuance, safety first.😊 Great learning experience, be proud, and stay cautious. Love you both. Five observations for the list: 1. a cat's vast windage needs to be added directly to the anchor's blade surface area. 2. Anchors often foul out. 3. Anchors drag into adjacent substrate. 4. High wind and big chop can easily rip an anchor out of good sand. 5. High winds make reseting unreliable. This lesson requires "the experience," sorry. Also, I am embarrassed to admit that I messed up, I chased my boat lights, and I am part of the team. 😔

Glad no damage was done over this incident. What anchor(&weight) did the cat come with? Anchor drag is one of the worst feeling. The first thing our delivery skipper told us was to upgrade to the biggest anchor that fits. Went from a 23kg delta to 44kg delta and 100m of 10mm chain.

Wow, I think you expressed very eloquently the gravity of the situation at the time and how you managed to break it down and identify the fault which is so important going for the future. I’m not a catamaran expert however I’ve sailed a few and windage is always a big issue. You made comment about 8ml chain and I would consider investigating a heavier gauge. The other point that struck me and it wasn’t mentioned in your video as whether you had life jackets in your tender. We are all guilty of going ashore for dinner or drinks at night without them, thankfully you have a massive dinghy that can cope with those conditions. If you had a small dinghy with an electric motor you would not have stood a chance of getting anywhere near the boat. I for one will certainly look at efficient ways of storing more safety gear in my tender when I go ashore. Just in case… great video well done for keeping it real

Great job working as a team to overcome a scary and stressful situation. Love you guys and glad it turned out ok in the end, and thankful that you found understanding.

We have a Catana 52' 12mm chain. I always add the two meters from the bow where the bridle is attached to the water depth. so in 5 meter water calculate 7 meter in your scope.. 8mm is very light chain, maybe always add a bid extra if possible. Happy sailing!

Just another story for your memoirs. Lesson learnt, keep moving forward. You both handled the situation well, you figured out what the problem was and know the solution now. Experience is the best teacher even though at the time it can be unpleasant. Keep up the great work, being real and transparent is hard, however we appreciate that about you. 😊

Here was my take on watching this before the explanation. When you two recovered the boat and got re-anchored, you recorded your and Nicks conversation. Nick was certain that something didn’t add up. I felt then that he would not rest until he figured out the missing piece. Great job to the two of you for handling the emergency and good job Nick for putting the pieces together. Sail on RR2 !

We are full time cruisers in Australia on a 47ft Cat. We have a 13mm chain and 40kg anchor. We have never dragged (except once when the anchor had caught a T-shirt from the sea floor). Your 8mm chain is basic for any boat. For the size of your boat, it seems massively undersized. You need to upgrade the chain to at least 12mm. Also, maybe adjust the offset to only be the difference between the depth sounder and the bottom of the keel. So what is displayed is the depth under the keel, which is what you need to know. If the depth displayed is 0, your keel is touching the bottom! Our offset is 0.8m, yours seems too big. Adding 1m to the depth displayed for scope calulations when anchoring maybe a good idea, but with a heavier chain and anchor, less crucial. We like your videos!

Don't forget the height of your bow where the chain comes out!! That adds 1 more meter in your case I guess. That could mean 3:1 ratio easily. Height equals water depth at high tide plus the bow height from waterline and that needs to be multiplied for the correct angle. Glad you got your vessel back with no damage / harm. Valuable lesson for everyone. Hope you remain positive and enjoy the cruising life! :)

I appreciate you guys sharing this. A bit lost for words like you guys were. Hope you guys are feeling a lot better now and the joy of sailing surpasses all negative energy you got from this experience. Thanks for sharing the cause of the problem, a learning experience for everyone and closure for you guys. Best wishes!

I'm impressed. Seriously impressed, you had a situation happen, two situations happen in succession and together you recognized what was going on, in both cases, quickly assessed what needed doing, together, took action and did so safely and effectively to correct what was going on, took sufficient precautions to affect a solution without injury or damage, contained the danger and hazards putting right what had gone wrong enough to then recover energy and strength to then complete the recovery of dinghy and RR2 and... analyze the situation for lessons learned. And you did do so piecing together facts, true some were obscured before, but no longer and those facts will be fundamental absolutes that will drive all ongoing thinking for as long as RR2 is in your lives. Humility is priceless and sharing the story is a gift to everyone as a warning, with potential tragedy identified of loss of vessel had the discovery of out to sea had been made much later. Best lesson online I have seen in a long while. Fair winds and following seas my friends.

nobody dead, nobody hurt , nothing damaged . pat yourselves on the back and learn from the experience .you worked well together and did the most important thing and got yourselves out of the hole i have only dragged once . found a nice anchorage off the welsh coast . few beers something to eat and went to bed . woke up with no land in sight in any direction. You asked for comment on possible changes . I think 8mm chain is a bit light for a boat that big consider either uprate to 12 mm or try using an angel weight in a blow to increase the catenary effect of the chain you have . keep posting the vids an inspiration to me and many like me .

15:10 so strange that so many of us know what a strong couple you both are and that you share such a powerful moment with us and yet we are strangers. On a lighter note, your lesson brought me back to my ASA course when pulling into my first ever anchorage and, figuring out tidal swings, scope and doing the math. Thanks so much for sharing.

I can't imagine that feeling, that gut punch, when you realized your brand new boat was adrift. so glad that wasnt worse.

I feel your pain. A learning opportunity. You survived, the boat survived and you are smarter than before. Be at peace

Don’t let lt put you of boating, we all get a scare sooner or later. As long as you learn by your mistakes, try to think forward about what could happen and always prepare for the unknown and you should be fine.

How to set your phone to silent except your anchor alarm: I think you have an iPhone, In general settings there is a setting called “focus” which allows you to toggle silent, driving mode, airplane mode, but more importantly make your own custom “personal” mode. Initially intended to allow you to reduce notifications to only relevant apps when you’re working for example, you can make your own custom focus, call it “anchor alarm” for example where you silent notifications from all apps except the sentinel, app. You can turn it on and off from the control centre. Hope this helps you and others

Just so glad that you both survived and the boat of course. Thankful you have learned a very valuable lesson from the experience. Once you come to terms with what happened, you have to forgive yourself for the mistake but never forget it, and hopefully remember your love of sailing.

Hello Nick, there is one more thing you should consider in your calculation of the scope to depth and it is the height of the bow roller to the surface of the sea. This is something few people take into account but it matters, especially in shallow anchorages. I bet it is a lot more on the cat than it was on the previous boat and it certainly impacted your situation. I hope Terysa and you are getting your confidence back, what did happen to you is our worst nightmare. As long as we are on the boat, we can always react, but what happens when we are away is in every sailor’s mind. Bag things happen, at least you did the right things to mitigate that one and this is where you need to keep confidence, bad things happens, it is how we react to them that makes the difference. Keeping on having fun!!

"The best of people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; They are often wounded, sometimes destroyed, " Hemingway. Glad you survived, All the best.

Hi Nick and Teresa, so sorry to hear about this episode with all its dramas and I'm so glad you were able to retrieve your lovely boat. You've asked for comments, so if I may I add my 2cents worth: I know you carry the anchor alarm App and I was interested to know why that wasn't alerting you or if it was was it just not loud enough or was the noise at the hotel too loud to hear? So it might be an interesting time to look at the purchase of a watch that mirrors alerts on your phone because a watch will have HAPTIC feedback on your wrist that will clearly be felt over the noise in a pub or club that you might be in. I often have the need to have my phone on silent for a number of reasons, and all circumstances, and my watch frequently lets me know of all notifications I need without being intrusive in those environments, and when the phone is on silent, which means I never miss important notifications. In addition, as a scuba, instructor and diver of 37 years, I have worked on a number of dive boats over the years, I've noticed that they will often add 9 kg weight into the anchor chain about halfway along /down, so that the raising of the hulls will be dampened, and will help the anchor stay set on all scopes, particularly shorter ones. I realise that you thought you'd had a seven times scope out and were in this instance (albeit in all previous cases) were incorrect, but the whole idea of the scope is to add that extra weight, which stops the hulls lifting the anchor, and it also helps reset an anchor if the boat swings, or turns when the wind changes. The beauty of adding this 9KG's of weight into the anchoring system means that even if your scope is correct, it still helps reduce the need for "the chain" to do all the work. And if your scope calculations have been incorrect. The extra weight is helping keep the anchor set and you're not solely reliant on the chain doing the whole job. I understand this will add complexity to the anchoring process, and possibly even put extra stress on the windless, but I do believe it to be worthwhile and can be organised a couple of ways. You could add the weight as you anchor as usual, but on a very short scope. Once the anchor has hit the bottom and then pay out the extra scope once the weight has been added, so the windless is not supporting the anchor and the 9 kg weight at the same time. So you might say let out 3 1/2 times the scope you need add the way and then pay out the other 3 1/2. The second way you might do this is anchor pay out the seven times scope that you wish, set the anchor, and then as you're going assure in a dinghy you take the weight out free dive down 2 1/2 m to the anchor chain and clip it to the bank chain as necessary. To help carrying the 9 kg weight to the chain so it doesn't pull you straight to the bottom, you could use a small airbag which has a valve so that you can slowly decrease the air in the bag. This would allow the bag to carry the weight until you're in the correct position to descend. Then letting a small amount of area will allow you to dive down and take a certain amount of while you attach it before ascending to the surface. A reverse of these techniques would be necessary to leave anchorages. Again, this is adding complexity, but maybe a whole lot easier and will get peace of mind in the long run. I hope those two suggestions could help. You'd need to check first if the anchor alarm App is compatible on which ever watch purchase that you decide to make, but I feel that that would be a real safe advantage, because sometimes sounds and notifications on phones are less noisy or volumes can accidentally changed with side buttons, and can easily be missed in loud environment. I think I remember you both using using iPhones so I would suggest one of the Apple Watch family that would enable this. But you need to make sure that it's compatible with the app. It may mean that you need to go to a Garman or Samsung for the app to work, I don't know you need to check on that. I hope my ideas help. Thank goodness that you were able to retrieve the boat. I can tell you that this is not the first time I've heard this story as other sailors have had similar issues. I even know one case where the skipper had to swim 2 k's in the same current his boat was in to retrieve his boat in open seas. Very traumatic. Fair 💨's and following 🌊's.

You guys did amazing. It can happen to the very best! I would think for sure another boat crossed your chain and pulled out your anchor with theirs. Here in the med it happens all the time as many inexperienced charters don't know what the hell they're doing. Terysa your composure during the crisis was amazing! Not only you were handling things but also concerned about Nick and trying to aid his process. I would be going mental... you guys rock.

my friend's dad was trying to beach his fibreglass 20 footer while he was in the water near the bow. a wave rose and carried the boat and the bow's hull crashed forward on to him, caught him square on the chest. He didn't make it. Although he didn't intentionally put himself in the line of hazard, but put himself in a position of risk that resulted badly. Its all fine and dandy to look back at the anchor/tide/drift in retrospect, but it pays to write something down and make it into a visual checklist to be left in plain sight. It eliminates the need for guess work and opening the door to disaster. Like having LOTO tags on inlet and outlet valves on any tank and doing a AGT supervised gas test prior to entering any confined space.

Wow. Processing that you actually recovered your boat and get to learn this lesson. That is some universal grace.

The ocean reveals all. I know, from watching both of you from the beginning, that you two are among the best cruising sailors on You tube. I have seen you , countless times, deal with all of the calamities that can befall a cruising couple and work your way through them with the grit and humility it takes to learn your lessons and keep going. Nick, you are usually very proactive and cautious about everything but this time you got a little to comfortable. All things considered, it's understandable. This mishap will serve like all the others, to make you better safer sailors. Keep learning, be proactive and keep going!

For that very reason I have always made it a point to avoid using a keel offset on any of my depth sounders. I alway want to know the depth from the surface (actual depth). Also I didn't hear you mention allowing for the height of the anchor roller above the water because that would add another meter to that needs to be factored in. You guys have a ton of experience. This shows it can happen to anyone. Swimming the anchor may have enabled you to see that you didn't have enough scope. Such a beautiful boat. I woke up one morning with my boat on a beach. Fortunately, I was able to start the engine and between the engine and the windlass, I was able to self rescue. You guys just helped a lot of people learn from your mistake. Thanks for sharing and I'm very happy it wasn't worse than it was.

Arm chair skipper here as well. You are both awesome intelligent people, and you had an experience that added to your sailing experience. Don't let it get you down, you have your boat, you are both safe, and your experience has increased. We love watching your experiences and even this stressful one was good to watch as it increased our knowledge. Keep on sailing....

I'm sure that was an "exciting" moment . . . but you know what? You handled it! Thank goodness you got back when you did. And remember those of us on land are one candle, one electrical short, or one gas leak away from losing our homes. Don't let a bad day change your mind.

The great news is - no real damage, physically, but the mental damage well be there for a while. You both handled the emergency like seasoned professionals, and took care of what you had to do and thankfully there was no blaming anyone. I'm a problem solving kind of guy and know it's pointless to blame anyone, it's all about insuring nothing like this will happen again. Experience is THE greatest teacher. Well done my friends!! Sailing will define what you are made of, and the both of you are well made, lol! Please do not let a near catastrophe make you want to abandon sailing because I think you are made for this and may never be happier anywhere else. Bless you both!

Blessing in disguise. You got the boat back, everyone is safe, learned something. Posting this may help others. 🙏

The most important thing is that you and your home are all safe and well. The next thing is you understand what you did wrong and you will make sure it doesn't happen again. Also very important is you owned your mistake, it always take a big man to that, and to take full responsibility, most people will blame someone else and turn themself into a big victim. I always look at mistakes as lessons to learn from. The best thing is, you will both come out better sailors after this. I really wish you both the very best on your new adventures, I really enjoy watching your videos.

aside from clickbaity title - thanks for sharing your lesson!

I'm glad you found your answer to what went wrong in this event. Mistakes happen and learning from it puts you ahead of the game. It will also help teach others who could potentially do the same thing. Because you're willing to be open and honest about the wins and failures you are giving a gift to the entire community. I think the most important thing here is how you each reacted to the emergency and then supported one another after.

Guys!! What a traumatic experience. So glad you’re ok, RR2 is ok and thanks to your amazing teamwork you got her back and have learnt from this. Reading the other comments it sounds like you’re not alone and you sharing your experience will help someone else hopefully avoid that in future ❤

We had a 45 foot cat in langkawi for a couple of years. Dragged on the first night. Fortunately the wind took us away from shore. Being off a mono, I had underestimated just how much windage cats have. And if they start sailing on anchor as cats can be prone to, the windage is far worse. Similar experience, 10mm chain, mud bottom and 50m of scope in 6m of water.. Still dragged. We noted that on some evenings, the wind would really pick up and funnel down the small valleys to the bays. Usually around 1am. We started setting 2 anchors and never dragged again. The second “backup” anchor was on 10 meters of chain and rope. Yes, setting 2 is a pain but gave us respite from never sleeping well and continued worry about dragging. For us, 2 anchors on a windy night = good nights sleep. Well done guys. You never stop learning on a boat.

Don’t beat yourselves up. You did well you didn’t panic and you recovered your boat Well Done

Sorry this happened to you guys. Thankfully no one, or the boat was damaged so it makes it a great learning opportunity. I think you’ve done a great job recovering and analyzing what went wrong. The only thing I may add, is to consider paying out a larger scope ratio as a general rule. This may help cover any unanticipated circumstances in the future.

I don't have an Anchor story, however I do thank you for sharing your story because when we DO finally get our boat, I do know I will be paranoid enough to consistently ask about the anchor... LOL... I am extremely happy you were able to get your boat back... And now you have a LOT more knowledge and spreading that knowledge to others. Just know you both are amazing!

Everybody has anchor drag stories. Biscayne Bay used to be a swamp during the ice age, so the bottom is six inches of beach sand held together by turtle grass roots, covering three feet of soft muck. A good breeze will sink your anchor through the sand and the chain rips through the surface while the anchor drags through the muck below. You can re-anchor in the cold rain at night many times and the same thing keeps on happening.

As an aviation pilot, we have checklists for everything. The time we don't use the checklist is usually the time when something will go wrong. Use the checklist and confirm it with someone else. Checklists for daily inspections, before startup, startup procedure, approach procedure, shutoff procedure, and pack up procedure. When you get complacent and don't use the checklists, karma will kick you in the arse. I'm just so happy and grateful that you are both safe and well, and RR2 is ship shape and ready for your next adventure. Stay strong and learn from this experience, you'll be so much wiser and better sailors for it. Wishing you both fair winds and smooth seas.

Honestly, I don't know anyone who cruises who hasn't dragged anchor, a couple of them just as far as you did. You are not alone. We have dragged anchor a couple of times, both only a few hundred yards at most, but one of them was very close to ending with a charter Lagoon 38 on the rocks in Cane Garden Bay. We were about 10 feet from the rocks when we returned to the boat. Your debrief was excellent! You can do all of the things you talked about to avoid it in the future, but the most important thing is to let go of the trauma and heal so the next time it happens, you aren't traumatized. Because if you keep sailing for many more years, it may happen again. If you don't have internet or cell phone access, your boat monitoring system won't work, etc., and you can only rely on sight. Your boat is like a child, you just can't have your eyes on it 100% of the time, else what is the point of adventuring and living on a sailboat? This is not to discourage you but to support you. You did everything right in a tough situation, with no injury resulting from either "event." Two bells, all is well. Namaste. 🙏

Could not believe my eyes when I saw the thumbnail... Thank-you for sharing, hopefully fellow sailors can take something from your learning experience.. Love how you both work together, Nick good on you the buck does stop with us Skipper's. Take care fair winds following seas.

Suggestion: create a set of check lists, like they do in the airline industry. Everyone forgets things, checklists simplify processes and reduce mistakes. Being tired, excited, hurried, hungry, etc. all contribute to mistakes and things forgotten.

Best episode of 'Sailing Ruby Rose' for literally, years!! Nick fucking up. swearing his head off, nighttime mayhem filmed live, Terysa crying her eyes out & that emotional hug; it had it all! Absolute youtube gold!!!