Well, here it goes. It's been nearly 2 1/2 years since this happened and I still get the chills. I can at least talk about it without getting emotional. My longtime fishing buddy and I were fishing the Umpqua River below Elkton like we had done many times before. This day turned out to be one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. It was mid December, and like we had done many times before, put the boat in at Scott Creek. The boat we used was a 15ft , with a 15 horse outboard. The river was a little high but not as bad as we had seen in the past. We put in and started out fishing below the ramp. With no luck there we pulled the anchor and headed up stream to try another spot we liked. As we headed up the anchor came loose from the bow and all the rope, along with the float, came out of the boat. As we moved downstream we could see the float bobbing up and down in the current. We decided to come along side and I would grab the float and pull up the anchor. Well, that's when things got hairy. We couldn't see at the time but there was a knot about 20 feet from the end. By the time I noticed the dangling rope behind the float it had already got into the prop. Within a few seconds the motor stopped and we realized we were in trouble. The bow began to swing around and I knew that our only chance was to cut the rope. I looked for the knife but before I could get to it we were now faced with a boat anchored off the stern and in heavy current. The water immediatly started coming over the back and about the time my buddy yelled, the boat start to go down.Within a couple of seconds, completely under the water!! In an instant we were both faced with the possibilty of drowning. Nether of us had a life jacket on and, since it was cold, were wearing our insulated coveralls. I dove in and started to swim towards the bank. I made it to calmer water within a few seconds. When I was able to look back I saw nothing. The boat, my buddy, everything gone. I thought for sure that he was going to drown. I began to pray!! Just then he popped up and right beside him a float cushion came up as well. As he moved down stream quickly I could tell he had no strength to swim to shore. God was watching over us that day because just down stream there were a couple of guys bank fishing. They had a boat and were able to get my buddy out after a minute or two. We lost all of our gear, the motor and the top. Fortunately we were able to recover the boat after a few hours with the help of a friend. It was pretty banged up but repairable. I learned several valuable lessons that day. One, it wasn't either of our times to go yet. Two, I love my family and friends very much. Most importantly, wear a life jacket and there is no anchor in the world worth taking a chance like that. Ever!!