Getting it down

There is an art to anchoring.  Or docking.  Or picking up a mooring.  I took my son dinghy sailing recently out on a lake in an nice little 18-foot open boat.  I was going to show him how to do it.  Late in the afternoon, a squall rolled in fast and we tried to pick up the mooring.  Quickly, it turned into a scene as the 25-knot gusts hit and the knots in the ends of the jib sheets let go.  The sail's flapping sounded like automatic weapons fire as the sky opened up and I hung my head over...