You're right, Luiz. And Rick won a race once in a big-boat regatta because he did the same thing you did -- first to anchor and in the lead when the wind picked up enough to sail again.

As I said earlier, I sure wished I had an anchor with me; and in the future, I will definitely take one if current is going to be involved. I probably could have kedged my way up the channel faster than I sailed it. Beach cats usually are not well prepared for situations like this. At least I had a paddle, which was more than most of them had.

Here is one of the many current nightmares that we have experienced: We were on a cruising cat one time waiting for a bridge to open. The current was carrying us toward the bridge. Just as the bridge was opening, our steering system broke. We were swept through the bridge, catty-corner and bumped along the wood lining the bridge opening. Wow, what a totally out-of-control feeling that is on a big boat. The other side of the bridge we dropped anchor so we wouldn't run aground on the flats lining the channel.

Unfortunately, we did all this in full view of the local Coast Guard station, and we were immediately boarded by one group, while another group inspected the bridge to see if there was any damage that we would have to pay for. Apparently, there wasn't. All the damage was to our boat.