Best Anchor Watch/Alert/Alarms apps?

[Chotu]

It rarely needs to be so precise. If you drop anchor and then set the alarm later before bed, it's as easy as putting in twice your scope, plus a buffer.

Unless it's a VERY crowded anchorage, if I put out 100' of chain, I set the alarm to 250'.

I mean think about it. That's 5 boat lengths. Good enough. You don't want to wake up every time your anchor resets. You want to wake up when you're dragging way off station.

I mean look at the relatiive size of a boat length to free space even in a crowded anchorage in Miami.

[damianham]

Originally Posted by Zaria

Might be a dumb question ...but we only just started using a anchor alarm after dragging one night. But i am struggling to work out what distance to set it at? Have tried a couple of apps that have gone off during a night when all we did was turn in the wind / current without even dragging.
And the one we set using our chart plotter, we decided to test it the following day when leaving the anchorage...wasn't till about half a km away did it go off!

If you have a device on board that emits an NMEA 0183 or SignalK data stream (that includes your ships GPS receiver) over wifi then please try out the Anchor Watch function of my SmartBoat app for Android. The disadvantage of using the ships GPS is that you need to leave some electronics on. The advantage is accurate GPS when the tablet is beside you in your bunk. I think a future update will promote the Anchor Alarm to a top level function and allow the use of the tablet/phone internal GPS receiver but for now it only works with an NMEA 0183 or SignalK data stream.

I have had zero feedback from any user so I have no idea if it is fit for purpose (my boat is on the hard for the last couple of years so I have been unable to test it while anchoring). Without feedback I cannot fix any problems. It is a free app so no payment required.

I am quite certain the alarm will go off as soon as the GPS position goes outside of the guard circle. You can set the rode length, guard circle, fairlead height and GPS to fairlead offset. There is also a setting for catenary adjustment (which may or may not be useful) that is used in conjunction with the current depth and the rode length, fairlead height and fairlead offset to calculate the anchor position after it has set. It would be great to know how accurate this calculation is, as would ANY feedback about the app as a whole and the Anchor Watch function in particular. Come on guys (and gals) it is a free app - help me make it better!

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I mean think about it. That's 5 boat lengths. Good enough. You don't want to wake up every time your anchor resets. You want to wake up when you're dragging way off station.

There is no need for false alarms. A well set anchor alarm will not give any false positives.

You don’t want to wake up every time the wind changes direction (although it is possible to set an anchor alarm to warn you of this and occasionally this can be helpful).

Good modern anchors will rotate or “shuffle” in response to a change in the direction of pull. The anchor does not move other than rotating. So the distance from the centre of the anchor does not change. If you set an anchor alarm using the correct point, centred over the anchor, any change in direction will not change the distance and therefore will not activate the alarm.

Modern GPS units are much more accurate, especially with an external aerial and satellite differential fix. We have now reached the stage where it is possible to be alerted if the anchor changes position even if this change is only small. Anchors will often slowly drag some distance before breaking out completely. Very few people take advantage of these warnings even if conditions are bad.

A good test that can be conducted in reasonable wind is to let out a little more scope until the anchor alarm is triggered. This will give you an accurate idea how far the anchor can move before the warning is sounded.

None of the above is a substitute for a good anchor. Make this your first priority, but no anchor is foolproof.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by damianham

If you have a device on board that emits an NMEA 0183 or SignalK data stream (that includes your ships GPS receiver) over wifi then please try out the Anchor Watch function of my SmartBoat app for Android. The disadvantage of using the ships GPS is that you need to leave some electronics on. The advantage is accurate GPS when the tablet is beside you in your bunk. I think a future update will promote the Anchor Alarm to a top level function and allow the use of the tablet/phone internal GPS receiver but for now it only works with an NMEA 0183 or SignalK data stream.

I have had zero feedback from any user so I have no idea if it is fit for purpose (my boat is on the hard for the last couple of years so I have been unable to test it while anchoring). Without feedback I cannot fix any problems. It is a free app so no payment required.

If I can suggest...

Using the tablet/phone GPS would likely just be easier all round. Might not be a huge population of boaters who have 0183 (or 2000) or K available over WiFi... hence few users.... hence no feedback.

Whereas everybody and their monkey has tablets or phones with internal GPS...

Just a thought...

-Chris

[sailcindy]

Best anchor alarm I have found is “Anchor!” which runs on iPad (with Cellular, GPS) or iPhone. I set when anchor is dropped and then plug the iPad in next to our bed. Runs all night long and for days if needed. No instruments needed. It lays tracks as the boat moves. Has a circle around boat, easy to set distance by dragging diameter. You can move anchor location if needed (it will remember the last position). You can also set email notification if you have Wifi running all the time on your boat. Simple yet has all the needed features.

[Izikalvo]

Anchor

[hlev00]

I've just started just using Anchor!. Being able to see my anchor via my iphone when ashore is a nice feature. It has a few rough edges around the UI (IMHO) but works as advertised. When I get time I'll send the developer my suggestions but for it works fine. I hope all this technology doesn't make me lazy and cut corners on my anchoring.

[keelsidedown]

Not compatible with iPad2.

[hlev00]

I have run into a problem with Anchor! and Verizon wireless. The remote monitoring with iOS devices does not work. Verizon security blocks the app’s server that is used to connect the two devices. The developer is looking into the issue but after a week no resolution. I still like the app for monitoring but the remote mode was a big plus. In theory the problem can be resolved by adding a paid app to manage DNS configuration but, paid or free, I shouldn’t need another app to make this work. The developer has been very responsive. I hope they resolve the issue.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

I am happy with the WatchMate app that came with my Vesper AIS

Ditto. Used it the last 2+ months cruising, and very happy with it. Plus, it runs off the Vesper Ais which is low draw, and the only equipment needed to be on at night

[Phil_c]

I have tried several apps and also found Anchor seems the best of what I have seen. I was specifically looking for something that worked on my phone when I am ashore - which Anchor allows you to do - but I have to say the UI is not great. I'm a software architect - I think a few of us need to get together and lobby the developer to make some improvements to make it easier and more intuitive to use.

[Simi 60]

The one on opencpn is the best IMHO
But a decent anchor works better.

[hlev00]

Originally Posted by Phil_c

I have tried several apps and also found Anchor seems the best of what I have seen. I was specifically looking for something that worked on my phone when I am ashore - which Anchor allows you to do - but I have to say the UI is not great. I'm a software architect - I think a few of us need to get together and lobby the developer to make some improvements to make it easier and more intuitive to use.

I'm guessing you don't have Verizon. I couldn't use it ashore with Verizon last summer. Verizon Wireless blocks DNS for the app server used to share the location between devices. The developer's suggestion is to install a VPN or an app to manage DNS. There must not be enough customers on Verizon as the developer didn't seem too interested in fixing it on their end.

I agree the UI is pretty rough. A little more work could make it all a lot more intuitive.

[NorthernMac]

I’m running anchor alarm pro, works well, but I’ve has a few loss of GPS alarms, great way to wake up at 0200!

I’ll look at the phone, it’s plugged in and normally showing about 19’ accuracy, but falls back to 50+’ and trigger the alarm, this is on a iPhone X with nothing above it minus the top of the fiberglass cabin. I don’t think there was any mil GPS testing going on it the area or anything.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by hlev00

I'm guessing you don't have Verizon. I couldn't use it ashore with Verizon last summer. Verizon Wireless blocks DNS for the app server used to share the location between devices. The developer's suggestion is to install a VPN or an app to manage DNS. There must not be enough customers on Verizon as the developer didn't seem too interested in fixing it on their end.

I agree the UI is pretty rough. A little more work could make it all a lot more intuitive.

These days crazy to not be using a VPN anyways

Just find one that’s not 14 eyes, supports openvpn and doesn’t keep logs

[damianham]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

If I can suggest...

Using the tablet/phone GPS would likely just be easier all round. Might not be a huge population of boaters who have 0183 (or 2000) or K available over WiFi... hence few users.... hence no feedback.

Whereas everybody and their monkey has tablets or phones with internal GPS...

Just a thought...

-Chris

Chris many thanks for your feedback, greatly appreciated. I finally got around to adding support for using the phone/tablet internal GPS receiver in the Anchor Watch instrument in SmartBoat (search for smartboat on Google Play). Sorry it took me so long but many other things got in the way.

One of the features of SmartBoat is that if you wish you can sync the data stream to the Smart Boat Network website from one instance of SmartBoat and sync FROM the website with another instance so you can monitor the boat at anchor remotely. The data syncing is optional so if you don't enable it then no data is sent to the website.

As before feedback and feature requests greatly appreciated.

regards
damian