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Tonight I'm not in the V-berth, our double bed in the bow of the boat. We're anchored in a fair weather anchorage with settled weather predicted.
Instead the wind is blowing and the waves are running down the channel. The shore lies only a few feet behind us.
I'm still new to the art of anchoring, much less the art of stern ties. The basic idea of a stern tie is that an anchor over the bow near shore is supplemented by a line to shore tied to a stout tree, rock, or in this case a British Columbia marine park sign. The method has several uses. It keeps boats from swinging around their anchor so more boats can fit. It also can allow one to anchor where the shore drops steeply into the water. The anchor pulls up the steep slope and is held their by the stern tie.
For an anchor to hold well, it has to be pulled as parallel to the ground as possible. This usually entails veering out a large amount of line, ideally five or more times the depth of the water, but more often in these deep waters it tends to mean three times the depth on high tide giving one approximately four to one scope on low tide.
On a steep slope, the scope is reduced, in this case slightly less than two to one. This reduction is made up for by ensuring the pull on the anchor is in line with the upslope of the shore. The stern tie is what keeps the pull in line. If the boat were to swing around to the deep water side, the anchor would simply fall off the slope leaving one adrift.
The weakness of a stern tie is a sideways blow. As anyone who has spent a lot of time working with rope knows (meaning not that many people), pulling sideways on a rope gives great leverage. A rope that cannot be pulled straight back can be made to move by fixing its end and then pulling sideways on the middle of the rope. It's a way to get sails up without a winch or other device or to cinch down a load on the back of a truck.
It's also a way to force an anchor out of its position on the upslope of a steep shore, leaving the stern-tied boat free to swing into shore.
We're miles from the nearest safe anchorage. What there was of a crescent moon set only a few hours after the sun. It's very dark for navigating strange waters. And the wind, previously calm, has shifted and strengthened, coming from an unforecast angle. The waves are building. Precariously we hold to the wall, anchor down up front, our stern tied above and behind.
I'm sitting and lying down by turns in the main cabin tuning my senses to the movements of the boat, its rhythms and sounds. At each hint of an odd noise or new motion I pop my head out and takes sights on shore objects I've chosen to make sure our anchor has not begun to drag. At hand is a serrated knife to cut the stern tie if escape is necessary.
I allow myself to doze, but I sleep skittishly and each hint of depth in my sleep sends me bolting to the hatch to be sure we are still holding.
How does one know how well one's anchor holds? How much scope is too little in this situation? Will I even notice in my nodding off that our boat is drifting down on the rocks?
At 3:30, the winds calm. Finally, a few hours' rest.
但是風開始強勁的吹，浪從水道遠端推擠而來，船尾與岸上連結的繩索只有離我們數尺之遙。
我還是個下錨生手，而船尾繫繩對我更是陌生。「船尾繫繩法」的基本觀念是：在較為靠岸的地方在船首下錨，然後把繩索一端繫在船尾，另一端綁在岸上的樹木、岩石（但在今天的情況──國家公園的標誌牌）上。這個方法有幾個作用。首先，船不會左右旋轉，讓停泊處可以停靠更多船隻。這個方法還可以讓船停靠在急遽陡降的海岸。
要讓船錨抓緊水底，拉力要越與底部平行越好。所以，通常作法為釋放較長的錨繩（理想長度為為水深的五倍或更多）。但是在這些深水區，下放錨繩的長度通常為漲潮水深的三倍，大略就是退潮水深的四倍長度。
在海岸陡降區，錨繩與水深比例降低至二倍或更少。如此，船錨可以筆直鉤住陡峭的海岸，而船尾繫繩則可確保船錨持續鉤住海岸。若任船旋轉，當船反向轉至深水區，船錨脫勾，船就任自漂流而去。
船尾繫繩最怕的是由船二側吹來的風。長時間與繩索工作的人（這種人大概很少）都知道：繩側給予最大拉力。當一條繩索被拉緊，無法再往下拉時，通常若將二端固定，由繩索中間往二側拉，則又可以將繩索下拉一點。在沒有工具的狀況下，這是帆船用來絞帆繩、卡車用來卸貨的方法之一。
這也是在陡峭海岸迫使船錨脫勾的方式，僅剩船尾繫繩的船舶就陷入旋轉上岸的危險。
我們離最近的安全停泊點有數里之遠。天邊依稀可見的月牙僅剛浮出天際。要航行於陌生海域，這個夜晚太過黑暗。之前平靜的風開始轉向船側襲來，與天氣預報的截然不同。波浪開始出現。我們的船警覺的依在海岸邊：船錨下放在前，船尾繫繩高掛在後。
我在船艙內或坐或躺，試著與船的律動合而為一。在每次細微聲響或擺動，我迅速伸頭至艙外，依據岸上定點目標定位。我要確保我們的船錨沒有脫勾。在我手中緊握的是一把牛排刀，若必須緊急離開時用來割斷船尾繫繩。
我允許自己淺淺入睡，任何加深的睡意襲來，我就趕緊伸頭出艙，確認我們仍在原地。
一個人要怎麼確定船錨緊抓海底安然無恙？錨繩與水深比例在這種情況要多少才夠？在半夢半醒間，我真的可以意識到船開始漂移了嗎？
凌晨3點半，風逐漸止息，終於，我擁有幾個鐘頭的完全休息。
