Ideas for an anchor alarm?

[Bay Breeze]

We cruise a few months each year and spend a good bit of it at anchor. Like most, we have had our share of anchorage adventures. But last year's near disaster in a tiny, crowded anchorage shook us up and led to new ground tackle and a little less sound sleep.

We now use an old Garmin 640 GPS for an anchor alarm. Seems to work pretty well, but it stays lit all night and drains out the internal battery in a few hours unless plugged in to the boat system. We have a Drag Queen iPhone ap, but with less confidence.
Anybody use something that works well in the V-berth to monitor the anchor? Thanks!

[Training Wheels]

Fisherman's alarm clock. Drink lots of water before you go to bed!

[belizesailor]

MAW (My Anchor Watch) on my Samsung phone. Great app. Battery easily lasts the night.

[StuM]

I'm very happy with SlimJIM's Anchor Alert on my Android phones and tablets.

[Wanderlust]

I liked the Slimjim Anchor Alert on Android as well. What is great is the ability to point the phone to the anchor while setting it, and enter the distance (calculate by length of rode). It then uses the inbuilt compass and GPS to accurately determine the anchor's position, so you could define as small a swing radius as you liked.

But I did get the occasional false alarm when the phone lost GPS signal down in the cabin. Some phones work better than others. It would also drain the battery overnight if not plugged in.

I now use the anchor alarm system inbuilt in the Vesper AIS system. It's not as flexible in setting options, but I have never had a false alarm.

If I didn't have the Vesper system I would probably search out a phone that has more reliable GPS reception and dedicate it to anchor alerting using the Slimjim software.

[Steven UK]

Garmin quatix sailing watch has an anchor alarm, never used mine but it does have one.

[chouliha]

Best anchor alarm IMHO is a combination AIS and anchor alarm. The vesper watchmate 850. We have been using it almost daily for the past 6 years. Every time we anchor we enable it. With the transmit turned off on the AIS it uses milliamps.

Safe anchoring

Chuck
Jacaranda
Tahiti

[brianlara 3]

After very careful research I settled on an oversized Manson Supreme and heavy chain.
Sleep like a baby....Rocna, Spade, Ultra. Anything concave. And no current draw.

[Frankly]

Most chart plotters have a GPS alarm and some of the older units had a dedicated output line for a remote Sonalert. Getting a 12V say cig lighter connector up in the vberth area should be no big deal (tap a lighting circuit).

Along with good ground tackle we also add a bright LED anchor light to the end of the boom (temp install).

Only defense against nitwit on a lunch hook dragging down on you is a 105 Howitzer to sink him before he gets to you (will typically wake everybody in the anchorage though).

[UNCIVILIZED]

Some folks set up WiFi on the boat, so that you can do your navigating via a pad or similar, & thus keep one by the side of your bunk with various alarms & nav data. This in addition to drag alarms on small, handheld devices. And there are also, older methods, though for small anchorages with lots of boats, they're tough to use, if viable at all.

It's normal for a skipper to get up many times through the night to check on things. One of the perks of the job. But then again, you get to set the watch sked, & decide if you're part of the watch sked at all, or just float, & step in as needed.

[Don C L]

One old fashioned way is to drop a heavy weight on a line below the boat let it hit the bottom and give it enough slack to account for tide changes and a little swell. Tie it to a big cast iron skillet on cabin top such that it will fall on the deck when tugged on.

[brianlara 3]

Clever old bugger.

[conachair]

Anchor pro on an android phone, worked perfectly so far. Though never dragged, just keep forgetting to switch it off when raising moving the boat..

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Frankly

...

Only defense against nitwit on a lunch hook dragging down on you is a 105 Howitzer to sink him before he gets to you (will typically wake everybody in the anchorage though).

I actually was up on anchor watch one stormy evening with my "Howitzer"...12 gauge pump shotgun loaded with slugs.

Just at dusk someone came in an anchored an old derilict boat and abandonded it. Later, wind shifted with the weather and it was to windward of me. If it started to drag, my plan was to put a few well placed slugs just below the water line.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Frankly

Most chart plotters have a GPS alarm and some of the older units had a dedicated output line for a remote Sonalert. Getting a 12V say cig lighter connector up in the vberth area should be no big deal (tap a lighting circuit).

That's what I have. The permanently installed chart plotter with an external alarm. No extra equipment, nothing to forget (except setting the alarm in the first place.

That said, there is a lot to be said about anchoring correctly in the first place so you don't need the alarm. The only time mine has ever sounded is when I don't set the circle large enough.