Marine VHF Radio Accidentally Broadcasts Marital Argument to Entire Harbor

A Chesapeake Bay couple's anchoring dispute was broadcast in its entirety to approximately forty-seven vessels monitoring VHF Channel 16 on Saturday afternoon, after skipper Gary Windlass inadvertently activated his radio's transmit function during what his wife, Doreen, describes as 'a routine disagreement about his absolute refusal to accept that the anchor was dragging.' The transmission, which lasted approximately ten minutes, was recorded by at least three vessels and has since been shared widely in local sailing forums. 'It started with chain scope,' said listener and fellow cruiser Brenda Rode. 'She told him he hadn't let out enough scope. He said five-to-one was fine. She said they were in fifteen feet of water and he'd let out forty feet, which is less than three-to-one. Then it went from anchor engineering to his fundamental inability to accept feedback.' Highlights of the broadcast, as transcribed by multiple listeners, include: Doreen: 'The anchor is dragging, Gary.' Gary: 'The anchor is not dragging.' Doreen: 'We are fifty feet closer to that sailboat than we were ten minutes ago.' Gary: 'The sailboat moved.' Doreen: 'The sailboat is on a mooring, Gary.' The argument expanded to include Gary's navigational choices earlier in the day, his insistence on entering an unfamiliar channel without checking the tide table, and what Doreen characterized as 'twenty-three years of you saying I'll figure it out and then not figuring it out.' The Coast Guard, which monitors Channel 16, confirmed receiving the transmission but declined to intervene, noting it did not constitute an emergency 'in the traditional maritime sense.' Gary discovered the open mic when another boater hailed him on Channel 16 to suggest 'maybe try seven-to-one scope and also maybe listen to Doreen.'