Sleeping whilst at anchor?

[fredrussell]

Primarily in the Med (no tides to worry about) I use the anchor alarm built in to the Furuno GPS 32, its loud enough to wake me from about 3 metres. I slept well

Ha! That’ll teach me to RTFM- I have a Furuno GPS 32 and had no idea it had an anchor alarm.

 

[slipknot]

I found that a good anchor alarm really helped. (I use ‘anchor’) You set the swing range you are happy with and it does the rest. If you wake you can just glance at your phone to see that you are in fact still in the set range. If the alarm does go off as it has done for me when a low tide increased my scope, it reassured me that it all works as it should. With it on your phone you can play with it at home. Set your range. Go for a walk and see how accurate & reliable it is. It works for me and enables me to sleep.

 

[chockswahay]

OK here I go;

Some rules of engagment/ ground rules first if you like;

1 - Its not about types of anchors
2- Its not about snubbers
3 - Its not about anchoring technique
4 - No arguing please

OK - I have started to anchor alot overnight in prep for my trip south. I have a Raymarine Axiom CP, a Samsung tablet and phone with Anchor Pro app and Navionics on.

My current anchoring modus operandi is to drop the pick, set it, prove its dug in and go below for a cuppa. I set an alarm on my phone and tablet, 3 position fix on paper chart and go to sleep for an hour. Wake up and visually check outside bearings etc to ensure all is well and Im still where I planned to be. Repeat every hour (well try anyway).

It sounds all good but where it falls down is that I cant seem to sleep well at all! Im convinced Im going to drag and end up on the beach/rocks with someone from here posting a photo of the carnage alongside some smart arse comments

Im trying to achive a good nights sleep and letting my tablet/phone take care of the watch - am I missing anything else that may help? What does everybody else who anchors overnight do to achieve a good nights sleep?

Thanks

Oops, deleted this one as double post ?

 

[Never Grumble]

In the south coast of England harbours where the water is dirty, cold and full of sewage I have no desire to dive on my anchor.

All my anchoring experience is in big grey ships, very minimal in my yacht. If you are concerned I'd suggest setting an alarm for just after a tide shifts and go and check both on your plotter and how you are lying.

 

[RichardS]

In the south coast of England harbours where the water is dirty, cold and full of sewage I have no desire to dive on my anchor.

You're not really selling me on UK sailing.

Richard

 

[chockswahay]

OK here I go;

Some rules of engagment/ ground rules first if you like;

1 - Its not about types of anchors
2- Its not about snubbers
3 - Its not about anchoring technique
4 - No arguing please

OK - I have started to anchor alot overnight in prep for my trip south. I have a Raymarine Axiom CP, a Samsung tablet and phone with Anchor Pro app and Navionics on.

My current anchoring modus operandi is to drop the pick, set it, prove its dug in and go below for a cuppa. I set an alarm on my phone and tablet, 3 position fix on paper chart and go to sleep for an hour. Wake up and visually check outside bearings etc to ensure all is well and Im still where I planned to be. Repeat every hour (well try anyway).

It sounds all good but where it falls down is that I cant seem to sleep well at all! Im convinced Im going to drag and end up on the beach/rocks with someone from here posting a photo of the carnage alongside some smart arse comments

Im trying to achive a good nights sleep and letting my tablet/phone take care of the watch - am I missing anything else that may help? What does everybody else who anchors overnight do to achieve a good nights sleep?

Thanks

Yup, I know exactly how you feel......

We do the usual stuff regarding appropriate scope,position, wind etc..... but there is always a very small doubt. So we have a brief that we both agree on in the event of a few scenarios that we can then action. This might involve a direct exit to safe water, having all our oilies, lifejackets etc in a ’ready state’, having the key in the ignition (yes!). The key is to keep it simple and safe and ensure every crew members knows exactly what to do depending on the nature of the situation.

I take my lead from my years as a commercial pilot, we ALWAYS had a plan that everyone knew and understood.

We still have the odd sleepless night but in the event of a ‘situation’ we always have a plan ?

 

[Bouba]

If it’s not an anchor problem then it is a psychological issue.
We need some aversion therapy. First pick a dead calm night, one where don’t even need an anchor (but still anchor properly). If you eventually do get the sleep you desire, then try a night with a slight off shore breeze and so on and on

 

[chockswahay]

Just as aside, we have had false alarms with anchor alarms. The range needs to accommodate a LOT of movement if you are on a 6 or 7 to1 scope, then there is the issue of GPS accuracy or your phone going off the mobile network ?

Where does it all end? Do the best you can for you then sleep well ? (as best you can haha)

 

[noelex]

My current anchoring modus operandi is to drop the pick, set it, prove its dug in and go below for a cuppa. I set an alarm on my phone and tablet, 3 position fix on paper chart and go to sleep for an hour. Wake up and visually check outside bearings etc to ensure all is well and Im still where I planned to be.

Excellent

Repeat every hour (well try anyway).

There is nothing wrong with a conservative approach when cruising, but unless there are unusual conditions such as a poor substrate or very strong wind, this caution is not needed. Anchoring is never 100% secure, but with good anchoring gear and the backup of an anchor alarm, sleeping peacefully through the night is perfectly reasonable.

We anchor over 300 days a year and only very occasionally do we deliberately wake to check our position or adopt the more extreme step of taking an active anchor watch. The last occasion was Storm Adrian last year.

Ha! That’ll teach me to RTFM- I have a Furuno GPS 32 and had no idea it had an anchor alarm.

The Furuno GPS 32 has a great anchor alarm that allows the centre of the alarm radius to be specified as the anchor drop point, rather than just the current position which is the only option available for many chartplotters. It also has lower power consumption than a typical chartplotter.

The software apps also offer these advantages and can also be a good choice, but the Furuno has an external GPS aerial and no risk of software updates, program conflicts, power loss, or muted volume.

 

[Neeves]

When we drive to the boat show at Sanctuary Cove, 800km north, we don't have a plan. if something goes wrong we address the problem as it develops. When we come back to The Mother Country if the schedule goes awry we address the change in schedule.

When we (the 2 of us) anchor - we don't have a plan. We trust each other.

Sailing is meant to be a pleasure, its not an SAS endurance exercise.

BUT - when we are on passage - our LJ, harnesses and tethers are always on a hook just outside the cabin door, our wet weather gear is always on another hook - or being worn. The jack stays are always attached. We have spare tethers (and harnesses) in the saloon. We have a torch, always, at the helm, we have knives at the helm and in pockets, etc etc - this all gets stored away when in home waters. If we are anchoring - on passage - everything is 'put away' in case (the dinghy is on its davits), but winch handles in their pockets - but primarily it means we can get an early start the next day.

Jonathan

 

[Graham376]

I've fitted an external alarm on our old Garmin gps, via latching relay, set it as the anchor hits the bottom, to reduce alarm radius. I leave the gps on track page so can see at a glance which direction we've dragged. No problem sleeping well, it's a very loud alarm and since we binned the cqr lookalike, haven't dragged.

 

[doug748]

I think some people are laid back and some more naturally apprehensive, however Bouba has a point, you should make a point of working up to the more stressful anchorages.

Some Cornish coves are dreadful with little space, hazards through 270 degrees and a high level of jeopardy. Others like Cawsand and St Austell Bay you could drag for miles, in the prevailing winds and currents, and not get into trouble.

I think the Vesper you are thinking about has a wind alarm which could be useful reassurance, in warning of the breeze turning inshore.

.

 

[laika]

It sounds all good but where it falls down is that I cant seem to sleep well at all! Im convinced Im going to drag and end up on the beach/rocks with someone from here posting a photo of the carnage alongside some smart arse comments

If you're anything like me it's simply a confidence thing. I used to do all the right things: check the bottom on the chart, ensure the anchor was dug in, take my bearing to objects on land and regularly check them but I'd still worry and not be able to sleep. I'd worry about having misunderstood the weather forecast and what happened if some obscure meteorological phenomenon suddenly changed the forecast dead calm into an onshore gale? Knowing different hull profiles swing differently what if that boat downtide has a hull made of unicorn horn which swings to the full extent of its scope *before* the tide has turned? Some years on I still check the chart, dig the anchor in well, take my bearings* and re-check them every so often but after years of never dragging I'm rather more rational. If I wake up after the tide has turned I'll definitely pop my head up to check everything is ok but otherwise I sleep soundly.

*EDIT: clarification in light of below post..."find a transit"

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

OK here I go;

Some rules of engagment/ ground rules first if you like;

1 - Its not about types of anchors
2- Its not about snubbers
3 - Its not about anchoring technique
4 - No arguing please

OK - I have started to anchor alot overnight in prep for my trip south. I have a Raymarine Axiom CP, a Samsung tablet and phone with Anchor Pro app and Navionics on.

My current anchoring modus operandi is to drop the pick, set it, prove its dug in and go below for a cuppa. I set an alarm on my phone and tablet, 3 position fix on paper chart and go to sleep for an hour. Wake up and visually check outside bearings etc to ensure all is well and Im still where I planned to be. Repeat every hour (well try anyway).

It sounds all good but where it falls down is that I cant seem to sleep well at all! Im convinced Im going to drag and end up on the beach/rocks with someone from here posting a photo of the carnage alongside some smart arse comments

Im trying to achive a good nights sleep and letting my tablet/phone take care of the watch - am I missing anything else that may help? What does everybody else who anchors overnight do to achieve a good nights sleep?

Thanks

You seem to have omitted the final item of the anchoring procedure - " ...when the boat has settled, take a transit".

 

[michael_w]

Practice and confidence in your technique and equipment (Ooh er!) It's on moorings I fret, having broken one and ended up ashore.

 

[RupertW]

For us - and we spend a lot of time sleeping at anchor then what reassures us is:

1) Dig it in under full reverse to see if we can trust the seabed
2) Snorkel over it - because the water is warm and clear and the image of a well dug in anchor is helpful later at night and set anchor alarm, and to further reduce anxiety ensure all fenders are out so later anchorers won’t damage if they bang against you.
3) Eat well and get totally trashed
4) Dive in for a midnight swim because, well, I can’t usually remember but it’s nice to be cool before a sleep on a hot night
5) Sleep very soundly

 

[Travelling Westerly]

I think some people are laid back and some more naturally apprehensive, however Bouba has a point, you should make a point of working up to the more stressful anchorages.

Some Cornish coves are dreadful with little space, hazards through 270 degrees and a high level of jeopardy. Others like Cawsand and St Austell Bay you could drag for miles, in the prevailing winds and currents, and not get into trouble.

I think the Vesper you are thinking about has a wind alarm which could be useful reassurance, in warning of the breeze turning inshore.

.

You have it in a nut shell I think - Im very cautious (read over cautious probably).

I anchored in Lamorna Cove and there were big rocks on every side - the type that just touching would send the boat to the bottom
Safe distance to each side was less than 50m (excluding scope) so it would not have provided much time to react if something happened.

Maybe it was a bad cove to anchor at considering Im new to overnight anchoring but there was no wind and the water was mirror calm. The chain never moved from the straight up and down position so I think the anchor was never even used, just the weight of the chain. It still didnt allow me to sleep well which must mean, as others have pointed out a mental problem!

Next post will be how to sort mental problems out - I suspect I wont be alone in that post

 

[Poey50]

Next post will be how to sort mental problems out - I suspect I wont be alone in that post

The main psychological methods of reducing anxiety are flooding and desensitisation. Frankly considering 'flooding' in the context of anchoring probably isn't going to help so that leaves desensitisation. Basically keep doing it until it don't scare the crap out of you.

 

[Gary Fox]

Flooding? I anchored once just 10m from some rocks in Norway, no wind no engine, too close to use a GPS anchor alarm; we were all so tired, after beating across the Skagerrak twice, I decided to use the sound of actually hitting the rocks as an anchor alarm, and we all got a good night's kip. I thought the desperately needed sleep was worth the risk and we were a bit short-handed.

In the morning, we had dragged a few yards but were not quite touching, so it worked..it certainly made me more relaxed about anchoring, not quite sure if it counts as flooding.
In my defence the rocks in question were very smooth and rounded!

 

[Graham_Wright]

Ha - I was thinking about that too - a few pints may make it go a bit better

With a few pints inside you, you need to get up anyway and, while you're up, you might as well check the anchor.