LEARNING CURVELEARNING CURVE
M
y wife Terrie, our young
children and I were
exploring hot springs a mile
or so inland from Lago de
Izabal, Guatemala, where
our previous Nada, an Ingrid 39 long-
keeled double-ender, was lying to
her 20kg CQR on all-chain rode
in soft mud. With no warning at
all, ferocious 40-50-knot winds
came down off the mountain.‘I watched my anchor
drag – from the shore!’
While Nigel Calder
and family were
exploring ashore,
a squall hit and their boat
dragged her anchor. How
did he save her?
Moments later a Mayan boy came running
up to tell us Nada was blowing offshore.
I rushed back to the shore to fi nd
her half a mile or more off the beach
and heading sideways fast. All we had
was a rowing dinghy, which was no use
whatsoever in those winds. Two guys in
a cayuco, a big dugout canoe with a largeTerrie Calder explores
Guatemala with Pippin
and Paul, much as she
was when they heard
they were draggingNigel Calder’s Nada, a
ketch-rigged Ingrid 39
long-keeled double-ender,
anchored in happier times28 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com APRIL 2016