Guys, I have been frustrated by the "anchor drag" alarm on Garmin chart plotter. The alarm menu asks for the desired feet desired before the alarm activates. What do you input for that field? Do you put, say, 10 feet? the length of your anchor rode? your boat length? Mine will continue to alarm unless I input a number close to the length of the rode.
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The lingth of the anchor rode if.....
If you set the alarm directly over the anchor then the length of the rode plus 20 ft will give you a working solution. The boat will swing around the anchor and if it drags 20 feet the alarm goes off. If you wait to set the alarm till after you have settled in place then the alarm will need to be set to twice the length of the rode as the alarm is centered over your present position and you could swing to the other side of the anchor (2x the rode length) before you would be dragging. Of course if the wind does not change direction and you drag the alarm will not go off till you drag twice your rode length. It is all about balancing a false alarm and a short drag distance. I got the admiral trained to hit the waypoint button as I drop the anchor and that pretty much solves the problem.
If you set the alarm directly over the anchor then the length of the rode plus 20 ft will give you a working solution. The boat will swing around the anchor and if it drags 20 feet the alarm goes off. If you wait to set the alarm till after you have settled in place then the alarm will need to be set to twice the length of the rode as the alarm is centered over your present position and you could swing to the other side of the anchor (2x the rode length) before you would be dragging. Of course if the wind does not change direction and you drag the alarm will not go off till you drag twice your rode length. It is all about balancing a false alarm and a short drag distance. I got the admiral trained to hit the waypoint button as I drop the anchor and that pretty much solves the problem.
bigger field
I think the GPS inturpets the wide swinging at anchor as dragging so I also use the rode lenght as a guide. If I Do all the little tricks to stop the swinging and I can cut the distance down a little Andy Hansom
I think the GPS inturpets the wide swinging at anchor as dragging so I also use the rode lenght as a guide. If I Do all the little tricks to stop the swinging and I can cut the distance down a little Andy Hansom
Ahansom
How do you stop it swinging when the wind shifts? The waypoint the GPS uses really has to be directly over the anchor and the anchor alarm distance the rode length. It even says this in the manual.
How do you stop it swinging when the wind shifts? The waypoint the GPS uses really has to be directly over the anchor and the anchor alarm distance the rode length. It even says this in the manual.
an example....
If you put out 30 feet of line and you have a 30 ft boat and the Garmin is 2/3 aft of the bow. This means that your boat on anchor can swing a 100 ft circle at the position of the GPS. Add a few feet, and a 360 degree setting woul be about 110' or a one direction setting would be about 60'. Hope this helps.
If you put out 30 feet of line and you have a 30 ft boat and the Garmin is 2/3 aft of the bow. This means that your boat on anchor can swing a 100 ft circle at the position of the GPS. Add a few feet, and a 360 degree setting woul be about 110' or a one direction setting would be about 60'. Hope this helps.
Ideally
set your alarm as you drop the anchor but if you are like me I set it after the boat has settled on its rode. So now I have a situation where the boat can swing twice the distance of the rode to the point where the alarm was set. Throw in a few feet to account for tides and possible drag and reset and you should be fine. Make sure you have no obstructions on your swinging arc. The alarm is no good unless you can hear it so unless you sleep in the cockpit or have a remote speaker it will be useless. We set the chartplotter to gather the data to analyze the following morning the movements of the boat but for alarm we set a handheld Garmin inside the berth. Make sure you have fresh batteries as it is not nice to be awoken and spirited to deck only to find out the unit is just letting you know the batteries were low. That little unit and its anchor alarm has saved the boat in at least three occassions and provided peace of mind in countless outings.
set your alarm as you drop the anchor but if you are like me I set it after the boat has settled on its rode. So now I have a situation where the boat can swing twice the distance of the rode to the point where the alarm was set. Throw in a few feet to account for tides and possible drag and reset and you should be fine. Make sure you have no obstructions on your swinging arc. The alarm is no good unless you can hear it so unless you sleep in the cockpit or have a remote speaker it will be useless. We set the chartplotter to gather the data to analyze the following morning the movements of the boat but for alarm we set a handheld Garmin inside the berth. Make sure you have fresh batteries as it is not nice to be awoken and spirited to deck only to find out the unit is just letting you know the batteries were low. That little unit and its anchor alarm has saved the boat in at least three occassions and provided peace of mind in countless outings.
Confused
Thanks for the quick response. I am still a bit confused though. I usually calculate my drag solution AFTER the anchor is set and the desired rode is paid out. That being said, my unit (Garmin 176C)does not have a means to input an anchor position - Am I supposed to use a way point for that purpose. I usually anchor in a crowded anchorage of 15-30 feet depth. Therefore, its kind of unsettling to input 170 feet (140 feet rode and 30 feet boat length) as a figure to alert me if I am going to drag into one of my neighbors.
Thanks for the quick response. I am still a bit confused though. I usually calculate my drag solution AFTER the anchor is set and the desired rode is paid out. That being said, my unit (Garmin 176C)does not have a means to input an anchor position - Am I supposed to use a way point for that purpose. I usually anchor in a crowded anchorage of 15-30 feet depth. Therefore, its kind of unsettling to input 170 feet (140 feet rode and 30 feet boat length) as a figure to alert me if I am going to drag into one of my neighbors.
Sailing at anchor
sorry for the using the wrong term I ment sailing at anchor. I set the gps after the anchor is set and that allows for the boat to sail back and forth without sounding the alarm.
sorry for the using the wrong term I ment sailing at anchor. I set the gps after the anchor is set and that allows for the boat to sail back and forth without sounding the alarm.
You have a anchordrag/wind shift version
It is all about how you brief it. Your version that monitors the current position from when you "set the anchor alarm" also will wake you when the wind shifts +-120 degrees if you set it to the length of the rode. Probably a good thing to have as the anchor is probably going to trip when that happens and you will be ahead of the game.
It is all about how you brief it. Your version that monitors the current position from when you "set the anchor alarm" also will wake you when the wind shifts +-120 degrees if you set it to the length of the rode. Probably a good thing to have as the anchor is probably going to trip when that happens and you will be ahead of the game.
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