First night at anchor

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alcyone
  • Start date Start date
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Note to self: When laying out 50m of 8mm chain and retrieving it three times, by hand, remember to look at the GPS SOG rather than paddle wheel log - the astern wash makes it look like you are moving.........

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Dont do either. The nature of GPS can make the location readout wander a bit depending on age of system, sat location etc. Best simply take two or three transits, note them down in the book. Chose transits that you can see by moonlight cos if you do drag you can be sure it will be about 3am (and raining)
 
To be honest, I'd normally do that, but it was pretty dark, and very little to see.

some pics:
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Nice pictures especially the CG with cruising chute pic.

Initially after anchoring as matelot says a transit of a couple of trees or the ridge of a house with a tree behind or whatever will tell you if your dragging ,then I generally enter a waypoint up channel somewhere when at anchor then check now and then that the distance hasnt changed.You can do this quickly if you wake up during the night and want confirmation you are staying put.

If you look at theSOG your almost constantly getting a reading of some movement as you range around the anchor a bit.
 
Unless I am close inshore and can get a good nearby transit I find the gps method perfectly acceptable. Sure, it ranges about a bit, but there is a noticeable difference between readings jumping around either side of zero, and a consistent 1 - 2 kn in one direction when dragging under motor. After the final hard rev the boat moves forward as the chain relaxes, which also shows up well on the gps.

My boat gives me problems when first going astern, especially if there is any wind, because it crabs sideways with the prop walk and windage, which often makes it hard to use a transit at first.
 
Many thanks for taking the pictures of Cobby girl and posting them on here and www.cardiffyachtclub.org. There seems to be a problem with your camera, it makes me look fat and bald!
One point about anchor alarms, I always use my handheld GPS as I can have this on the bunk next to me. When I drop the anchor I try to do it, initially, from a stationary boat. Once the boat has stopped, I set the GPS alarm before going forward. I then drop the anchor and twice the depth of chain. Then I give the boat a small burst of reverse to spread the chain and add the rest of the chain required. As my boat is heavy and my motor is quite powerfull I only ever reverse with low revs to set the anchor. My main point is to set the anchor alarm near to the centre of the anchor circle, so you can set it smaller.
Allan
 
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