Anchor Alarms

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Lee Coller

Lee Coller

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Oct 22, 2005
257
Hunter 44DS Redondo Beach, CA
Once I was anchoring in 85' of water at Catalina Island (yes, we really do that). While playing out my 300' of chain plus another 75' of rode (basically all I had) a small power boat came up behind me and dropped anchor. When I had the anchor set the power boat ended up about 100' from me. I asked the skipper how much rode he had out, and he said he didn't know for sure but thought he had about 75' out. When I informed him he was in 85' of water he picked up and moved.
 
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Bob S

Bob S

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Sep 27, 2007
1,807
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
Lee, funny you mention that. A woman I work with owns a brand new 30' power boat. She was talking to me last season of an incident anchoring off of P'town (Cape Cod). Her husband laid out everything they had, all 75' and went ashore for a cook out. They literally watched their boat floating away. He just managed a dinghy ride back in time to sandwich the dinghy between their boat and another. A lesson learned the hard way!
 
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Gail R

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Apr 22, 2009
261
Pearson 34 Freeport, ME
Ross said:
I remember reading that we should take bearings on three distant points and record them to be able to check for anchor drag. Pre GPS days. We can get too dependant on modern toys.
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Thank you Ross. I was wondering if anyone was going to come forth with an old-school response.

Before we set, we will look at the anchor rode angles of other boats and ask people on board how much rode they have out. When we're setting the hook, my husband and I both sight a range to make sure that the hook has bit.

We have never, ever used the anchor alarm on the GPS. Perhaps that is foolhardy, but setting it properly in the first place seems to be the best line of defense, and the last thing I need in the middle of the night is to be woken up because the boat swung two feet too far in one direction.
 
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tsmwebb

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Jan 1, 2009
371
Atlantic 42 Honolulu
Ross said:
I remember reading that we should take bearings on three distant points and record them to be able to check for anchor drag. Pre GPS days. We can get too dependant on modern toys.
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Good practice to be sure. But, to make it work you need some nicely spaced landmarks and you need to be able to see them. It's true that you don't really need an anchor alarm in fair weather, but foul weather can happen unexpectedly. On a dark rainy night even if your marks are lit you wont know where they are until you can reach out and touch them... I've spent many a stormy night watching my GPS. I typically set my Furuno GP-31's anchor alarm so that my goto mark is where I started back down the anchor and set the alarm to .03 to .05 nm depending on the depth of the water. I find I get very few false alarms.

--Tom.
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
If I am concerned about actually dragging, I check course and speed. If I am swinging around the anchor I finally get to one extreme and stop and then swing back. it all shows up on the display.
 
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tsmwebb

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Jan 1, 2009
371
Atlantic 42 Honolulu
Ross said:
If I am concerned about actually dragging, I check course and speed. If I am swinging around the anchor I finally get to one extreme and stop and then swing back. it all shows up on the display.
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Yeah, me too. I leave the screen on the track mode and it makes a "furry" arc or circle. If I'm inside the arc I'm good. You can get going pretty quickly without dragging. During a frontal passage in a very deep, down-slope anchorage in the Societies we were doing 4 to 5 knots as we swung over the anchor in the shifts and traveling in a straight line for disconcerting periods of time-- of course it was dark and raining (how else?). But we didn't drag.

--Tom.
 
caguy

caguy

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Sep 22, 2006
4,004
Catalina, Luger C-27, Adventure 30 Marina del Rey
Rick Webb said:
I was on a cruise with some older guys who had no idea the anchor alarm was going off. We where anchored off of Captiva and a front was coming through we decided that we should stand watches through the night. I was sleeping in the salon and was wondering why there was nothing happening when the alarm went off. I got out of my rack and asked my shipmate he said "What alarm?". We had swung a little bit but where OK we reset it and I crashed again. Two hours later we had swung back and the next guy on watch was equally oblivious and gave me the same reply, "What alarm?".
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Hearing it in the middle of the night is not generally a problem for us older guys, since we are up every 15 minutes to pee.
 
Bob S

Bob S

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Sep 27, 2007
1,807
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
There is a good article in this month’s Sail Magazine about anchoring in unfamiliar waters. Taking 3 bearings, knowing where the other boats are and writing down an exit strategy just in case you do drag and need to exit. They wrote down a detailed course and tape it to the compass. If you're dragging an anchor most likely the weather is the cause. Like Tom said, you could come topside a little disoriented and who knows what the "visibility will be". I found the article very interesting. You guys have far more experience than I but I’ve been gaining a little more this year and really loving it. I look forward to each weekend.:dance:
 
cscott

cscott

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Oct 18, 2007
188
Macgregor 26S - 1993 Aumsville, OR
When I anchor, because of the scope, I want others to know where my anchor is. I tie a line to the back of my anchor and run it up through a pully on a small float. I than tie about a one pound weight on the other end of the line. As the float goes up and down with the tide, the weight keeps the line tight and the float over the anchor. Others can than see where my anchor is. If the anchor gets stuck, I can use the line to pull the anchor up backwards. Use enough line for the depth of water you anchor in plus the tide.

I have never used my GPS anchor alarm because with my hearing loose in the 50's on a aircraft carrier, I woud not hear it. I will try the tracking next time. Last year anchored in Parks Bay across from Friday Harbor, I got up at oooo hrs and stayed up the rest of the night because of high winds. Turns out I didn't drag, but was worried.

Chuck
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,117
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
caguy said:
Hearing it in the middle of the night is not generally a problem for us older guys, since we are up every 15 minutes to pee.
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Just read recently, for those of you "younger guys," that the best anchor alarm is to drink 12 or more ounces of fluid before bed time.:):):)
 
Bob S

Bob S

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Sep 27, 2007
1,807
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
Stu,

Only 12 ounces?
I have a built in alarm, my wife wakes up 4-5x a night......HOT FLASHES!
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,117
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Bob S said:
my wife wakes up 4-5x a night......HOT FLASHES!
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Mine does, too, but I've learned to sleep through them all!:)

If I hadn't learned how to, I'd be a LOT older than I really are...
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Stu Jackson said:
Mine does, too, but I've learned to sleep through them all!:)

If I hadn't learned how to, I'd be a LOT older than I really are...
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Just don't complain or getting older will cease to be a problem.
 
RAD

RAD

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Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
If this helps I frequently anchor in about six to eight feet on an overnight stay with forty feet of chain and about twenty feet of rode and I played for awhile setting the anchor drag alarm at different settings from twenty to fifty and was constantly up all night with it going off and I have found sixty feet to be the magic number with that depth so maybe use that as a bench mark
 
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