Dragging onto the rocks at midnight.
We were very happy with our decision to move here from Cavtat harbour and we appeared to be holding well in about 7m with our 20Kg Bruce anchor.
Around midnight we woke up and found ourselves on the rocks, on the seawall, after the wind had shifted and strengthened.
I tried all my normal techniques of powering forward, cranking the wheel hard to port and starboard, trying to wiggle the boat free, the same way we had come onto the rocks. The situation did not look good, and it looked like we were going to be there for a long time, until we could get help in the morning. We had no fuel for the dinghy and could never have rowed an anchor out in that wind.
Finally, in desperation, and against my better logic, I tried powering hard astern, which was actually taking us closer to the shore, but the boat miraculously started moving backwards and we were free.
The Bruce was covered with a ball of weed, so we tried anchoring with the CQR, with the same bad results. We finally gave up and decided to head slowly up the coast to Dubrovnik and up the Kolomac to arrive at the marina at daybreak.
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 04-Oct-2009