Anchoring

[GHA]

I have added Google earth to my method.. Cruising the Turkish coast if anchoring at night in a new anchorage checking where the weedier side of the bay is helps and cuts down the risk of anchoring in weed.. Not % but gives a fighting chance for this solo sailor

Agreed, usually bing is best but sometimes arcgis & occasionally google.
But forget google earth, opencpn is far more useful, sasplant lets you download the images as mbtiles then set them up as chart groups in opencpn.

Add radar finding a spot over some sand is just so much easier If you sail somewhere nice with clear water anyway..
sometimes not too clear but usually obvious enough to be very useful.

Have a look on screen and very often there's a nice gap, stick a waypoint over some sand & drop the hook there. Range rings turned on for waypoints helps. With radar if there's enough breeze you can drop a waypoint on the boats around you to get a guess where their hooks are.

Also, if you have a raspberry pi & enough power to leave it running all the time, which ain't much for a 3, it's a great way to keep an eye on what is actually going on with the boat & the hook. Leave opencpn running with tracking on. Takes all the guesswork out of it.

The waypoints over the other boats here were put in when there was a bit more wind so gives a good idea where their hooks are with no wind, really useful. The Pi can be viewed from any laptop/phone/tablet so where the wind is up you can keep an eye on your neighbours without having to move, just a few seconds away from youtube will show whats happening

 

[RupertW]

Agreed, usually bing is best but sometimes arcgis & occasionally google.
But forget google earth, opencpn is far more useful, sasplant lets you download the images as mbtiles then set them up as chart groups in opencpn.

Add radar finding a spot over some sand is just so much easier If you sail somewhere nice with clear water anyway..
sometimes not too clear but usually obvious enough to be very useful.

Have a look on screen and very often there's a nice gap, stick a waypoint over some sand & drop the hook there. Range rings turned on for waypoints helps. With radar if there's enough breeze you can drop a waypoint on the boats around you to get a guess where their hooks are.

Also, if you have a raspberry pi & enough power to leave it running all the time, which ain't much for a 3, it's a great way to keep an eye on what is actually going on with the boat & the hook. Leave opencpn running with tracking on. Takes all the guesswork out of it.

The waypoints over the other boats here were put in when there was a bit more wind so gives a good idea where their hooks are with no wind, really useful. The Pi can be viewed from any laptop/phone/tablet so where the wind is up you can keep an eye on your neighbours without having to move, just a few seconds away from youtube will show whats happening

I like Anchor app as it leaves a trail too (as do some others), and very helpfully changes to a different colour every hour so you can see the trail changing position on the circle over night.

The other feature allowing you to take a slice out of the circle also helps because just having a 120 degree safety ark is often just what you want in non- tidal waters.

 

[GHA]

I like Anchor app as it leaves a trail too (as do some others), and very helpfully changes to a different colour every hour so you can see the trail changing position on the circle over night.

The other feature allowing you to take a slice out of the circle also helps because just having a 120 degree safety ark is often just what you want in non- tidal waters.

Used anchor pro for a good while, like it but gone over to signalk anchor alarm now on the raspberry pi, partly to free up the phone & not have that siren go off every time I paddle ashore..- A not uncommon sound round the anchorages...

 

[RupertW]

Used anchor pro for a good while, like it but gone over to signalk anchor alarm now on the raspberry pi, partly to free up the phone & not have that siren go off every time I paddle ashore..- A not uncommon sound round the anchorages...

Oh yes, and every time we up anchor and leave the harbour. One day in the far future I will remember to up anchor on the app before doing it for real

 

[GHA]

Oh yes, and every time we up anchor and leave the harbour. One day in the far future I will remember to up anchor on the app before doing it for real

I´ve even got it on the "leaving anchorage" check list but still manage to leave it on half the time

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Blimey. I’m still at the era of dropping the hook, laying out some chain and warp, adequate plus for the depth, setting it by motor or sail and thats it really. Ok, I’ll go to the foredeck 2 or 3 times in the first hour, or if I suspect. Taking hold of the warp, you can feel if the anchor is moving, it leaves you in no doubt.

 

[GHA]

Blimey. I’m still at the era of dropping the hook, laying out some chain and warp, adequate plus for the depth, setting it by motor or sail and thats it really. Ok, I’ll go to the foredeck 2 or 3 times in the first hour, or if I suspect. Taking hold of the warp, you can feel if the anchor is moving, it leaves you in no doubt.

Prob as good as it ever needs to be for most.
Live on the move with your home always on the hook and nowhere to run to when the big winds come, over the years there's a tendency to keep trying to get the odds as much in your favour as possible.
I normally give a long hard burst in reverse to dig the anchor in a bit then let the boat spring back forward 10/15m. Then reverse again so it gets up to 2 or 3Kts way on in reverse and wait for the bang as the bow dips down & 10 tonnes of boat stops in an instant & feels like you've just run into a harbour wall. Very comforting knowing there's a good few 100's of kg of force available to keep your home where it is should the need arise

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Prob as good as it ever needs to be for most.
Live on the move with your home always on the hook and nowhere to run to when the big winds come, over the years there's a tendency to keep trying to get the odds as much in your favour as possible.
I normally give a long hard burst in reverse to dig the anchor in a bit then let the boat spring back forward 10/15m. Then reverse again so it gets up to 2 or 3Kts way on in reverse and wait for the bang as the bow dips down & 10 tonnes of boat stops in an instant & feels like you've just run into a harbour wall. Very comforting knowing there's a good few 100's of kg of force available to keep your home where it is should the need arise

My boat being small and very light, everything is done by hand, and wekd get no momentum in reverse like that. Which accounts for us not being that adventurous anchoring. Though we hope to make the Scillies next year, we’ll use our tiny draft and drying ability for security.

 

[RupertW]

Blimey. I’m still at the era of dropping the hook, laying out some chain and warp, adequate plus for the depth, setting it by motor or sail and thats it really. Ok, I’ll go to the foredeck 2 or 3 times in the first hour, or if I suspect. Taking hold of the warp, you can feel if the anchor is moving, it leaves you in no doubt.

I’m happy with that too for a lunchtime hook, but if I’m staying overnight I add the latest easy thing to my toolset.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I’m happy with that too for a lunchtime hook, but if I’m staying overnight I add the latest easy thing to my toolset.

I’ve tried a GPS alarm, but we skate about at a couple of knots sometimes at anchor, the hook is in and secure, it’s just the antics of a light weight low draft high windage boat.

 

[Boathook]

My boat being small and very light, everything is done by hand, and wekd get no momentum in reverse like that. Which accounts for us not being that adventurous anchoring. Though we hope to make the Scillies next year, we’ll use our tiny draft and drying ability for security.

Being able to dry out at IOS opens up many more places to stay and being able to walk ashore makes the dinghy redundant some days.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Being able to dry out at IOS opens up many more places to stay and being able to walk ashore makes the dinghy redundant some days.

One of the things we love about our tri is being able to nose her onto a beach and just step off.

 

[RupertW]

I’ve tried a GPS alarm, but we skate about at a couple of knots sometimes at anchor, the hook is in and secure, it’s just the antics of a light weight low draft high windage boat.

So do we though probably much slower. But that’s where choosing your circle works best. Unless you are dragging it can’t go further than your rode so I tend to set a circle then modify it as the boat veers about and I can start to see where the circumference is, and therefore where the centre (anchor ) actually is, so adjust the anchor position.

Anchored fairly happily for decades before these tools appeared, usually just setting a min and max depth on the echo sounder but that was often not very helpful in bays with flat bottoms and rocks in one direction but not another.

 

[wonkywinch]

I normally give a long hard burst in reverse to dig the anchor in a bit then let the boat spring back forward 10/15m. Then reverse again so it gets up to 2 or 3Kts way on in reverse and wait for the bang as the bow dips down & 10 tonnes of boat stops in an instant & feels like you've just run into a harbour wall. Very comforting knowing there's a good few 100's of kg of force available to keep your home where it is should the need arise

Ouch I was taught (in cars, planes & boats) to be a bit more mechanically sympathetic. Presumably you've got a windlass bolted to cast iron metalwork in your boat

 

[noelex]

I’ve tried a GPS alarm, but we skate about at a couple of knots sometimes at anchor, the hook is in and secure, it’s just the antics of a light weight low draft high windage boat.

The secret is to set the alarm so the alarm radius is centred over the anchor. If this is done it does not matter how much the boats skates about, the alarm will never sound unless the anchor moves.

Setting the alarm this way means you can be alerted to quite small movements of the anchor (down to less than 5m) giving you time to react. In many locations a tight alarm radius is not needed, but it can be useful in locations where a small drag could cause problems.

 

[GHA]

Ouch I was taught (in cars, planes & boats) to be a bit more mechanically sympathetic. Presumably you've got a windlass bolted to cast iron metalwork in your boat

Nope. Some 12mm stainless flat bar chain grab welded to the deck which just takes a tap with a big toe for the chain to slot in. A very productive hour with some spare stainless that was.
Far better to know your anchor system isn't strong enough or anchor too small on a nice sunny afternoon than 3am when a thunderstorm sweeps though the anchorage with hurricane force winds putting boats on the beach.

 

[Poignard]

The secret is to set the alarm so the alarm radius is centred over the anchor.

[...]

That makes perfect sense but how do you do it if you are single-handed?

By the time I have got back to the GPS, which is down below over the chart table, the bow is no longer over the anchor.

 

[FairweatherDave]

[...]

That makes perfect sense but how do you do it if you are single-handed?

By the time I have got back to the GPS, which is down below over the chart table, the bow is no longer over the anchor.

With the anchor pro app on a phone you just put a bearing and distance to the anchor once you have anchored. It is precise enough. Not to mention you can watch your track where you have drifted so have a good idea if you got your estimate right. If your alarm goes off that means your phone has dragged .....
Reckon it would be good for Chiara's slave as his high windage boat skating will give a lovely map..... much easier than occasional transits.

 

[14K478]

Ouch I was taught (in cars, planes & boats) to be a bit more mechanically sympathetic. Presumably you've got a windlass bolted to cast iron metalwork in your boat

I grew up with a wooden boat with a Stuart Turner and my father’s much loved and carefully resuscitated Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire. I tend to pussyfoot around everything, making sure that the revs have dropped right back when going from ahead to astern through neutral, creeping up to buoys and berths, and so on!

My merchant seaman son is far more brutal with the boat’s equipment, presumably on the basis that what’s good for 45,000 tons will be good for twenty tons…

 

[NormanS]

[...]

That makes perfect sense but how do you do it if you are single-handed?

By the time I have got back to the GPS, which is down below over the chart table, the bow is no longer over the anchor.

I don't normally use any of the suggested electronics as a drag alarm, but I do quite often put a way point on the plotter at the approximate position of the anchor. Once you're anchored, you know how much chain you've put out, you know the depth, and as long as there's some wind, you have pretty fair idea where the anchor is. Just place a way point x metres ahead, at where you estimate the anchor is. If you then want to use an alarm system, base it on that way point. (I find having a waypoint at a previously used anchoring position, makes subsequent anchoring much easier, either in murky conditions, or simply when the tide is high, and previously used indications are under water.