A bright start. Our plan is to leave 0930 ish at high tide and go to St Helens pool which is about a mile away. One of the main reasons for that choice is that it’s an anchorage that is protected in all virtually all wind directions and in the middle of the night, there’s going to be a considerable blow from a northerly direction. Porth Seal is open to the north so understandably we need to move. As usual I’m edging forward as J ups the anchor on the windlass. Clunk it goes and an unusual abrupt stop. Let it settle and go again….. clunk again and that sickening feeling of the nose being held down more than it should. Having done this so many times, it’s obvious when something isn’t normal. Soon it became obvious that the anchor was stuck. Over the next couple of hours we tried everything to free ourselves. At this point I should mention all the people that helped. A couple anchored near us in an Arcona 41 left and then came back to see if they could help. Then Tim rowed over in his orange dinghy from Lady Hazel. Knowing the islands, He was helpful in giving us phone numbers of people we could phone for help but also got on board and supported me on the helm in our efforts in pulling from all different directions. Julian was on the anchor winch on the foredeck. One of the added issues was a lobster pot buoy which was originally just to port of us… with a long line on it. The last thing we wanted was to snare that round our prop during our efforts! So always mindful of it We manoeuvred Angelique every which way…. to no avail. That repeated sickening snag as we racked up against the sea bed. Another compounding issue was that there was virtually no phone or 4g signal, unless the boat happened to swing into a bit. The tide was coming in and the swell into the bay increased. There was obviously some weather out in the Atlantic. We decided we probably needed more help. Tim left and went ashore to get weather forecasts and Internet. Julian went off in the dinghy and I was left alone. Should I return to the beginning………15 minutes later I saw him coming back. He’d managed to make contact with Tim’s suggestions who had given him some tips and also some further phone numbers if all else failed. Firstly we were to make a loop of chain that we could work down our anchor chain which was attached to a long line.this theoretically could then be pulled in the opposite direction to the chain, in order to trip the anchor. So … J was in the dinghy with the line on loop, and I was on Angelique steering. Trouble was the dinghy wasn’t strong enough to tug it sharply. At this moment into the bay sailed a young man in a blue hulled little yacht. We gestured to him to ask if he would be able to give us a hand. He replied that his little boat only had 6 horse power but would give it all she’d got. So we threw the line and attached the loop to him. His little boat pulled with all her might and eventually when smoke was appearing from his engine, we asked him to stop 🤭. He went off and anchored… with a trip buoy! Fatigued and deflated we decided to give up, take our dinghy somewhere we could get a phone signal in order to get some help. We really didn’t want to be stuck in a rocky bay on a lee shore tonight, and we needed a diver who may be able to release and rescue our anchor. The other alternative is to cut it loose, buoy it, and make for St Marys which has moorings . We dinghied round the corner into paradise and landed on the beautiful beach by the quay. We called Two numbers we’d been given by Keith ( Tim’s friend) . Lewis from
“ snorkelling with seals” said he could be with us after work so 1830 onwards. We thanked him profusely and waited for 1830 onwards. He phoned just before 7 pm to say he’d be 10 minutes. Yay! Eventually a fast rib came into view, and Lewis arrived. Over the side he went and Julian in the helm edging forward told me to watch and point at his bubbles . He dived along the chain and eventually down. Heart in mouth….. came up and gave us the 👌 okay sign! He had freed it and repositioned it! Apparently the bar of the anchor had wedged itself between two rocks and would never have moved whatever we’d done. Not our fault although an anchor trip buoy would undoubtedly have helped. We are so very very grateful to Lewis and to everyone else who came to our aid today. Tim had left for St Helens pool earlier and we were relieved to eventually be there too! The evening was getting late before we finally anchored anew ( with a trip buoy) , and poured ourselves a gin and tonic!
What I learned today….. how to at least try to get a wedged anchor free ……..
Sue x
Unaware, Angelique and companions 
Little Quay 
Lewis about to dive 
Lewis leaving having freed us 
Tim preparing to go 
Our blue hulled friend 
Leaving Porth Seal eventually 
Pesky buoy
Angelique 