Curious Sailing Story of the Month

Maybe when you've sailed solo around the world, a mere thousand-mile jaunt down a coast alone seems so relaxed in contrast that you sleep peacefully. But famed sailor Donna Lange experienced the old sailors' truth that coastal sailing is more perilous than offshore sailing when she woke to find her boat beached in North Carolina. With the help of surfers who paddled her anchors out to deep water so that she could kedge off on the next high tide, and the pushing assistance of a crowd on the beach, she regained the water with her boat unscathed. See the video from the local news station. All's well that ends well, I suppose, and it's a fun story, but you do have to wonder what could have happened if she'd struck rocks instead of the beach? Maybe next time set an off-course alarm on the plotter? Or if all else fails, dangle an anchor that might catch or at least slow the boat down by dragging before reaching the shallows? Still, Donna's an accomplished sailor, perhaps only proving we all have our moments. That's one reason I like to play a "what if" game when I sail solo, trying to imagine every crisis that might overtake me so that I'm ready to act if so. I might not be so lucky to have a bunch of surfers standing by to help out!