What Setting do you use on your Anchor Alarm?

[bazzer]

What setting do you use onyour anchor anchor alarm? I am thinking take the radius of the circle of the length of rode you have out, double is to give diameter and use that as the alarm distance setting. Do you think this is to much?

[noelex 77]

The anchor alarm should be centered at the anchor.
It therefore needs to be the length of the scope+distance back the GPS aerial is from the bow+a small margin to allow for GPS error.

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The anchor alarm should be centered at the anchor.
It therefore needs to be the length of the scope+distance back the GPS aerial is from the bow+a small margin to allow for GPS error.

Thanks, I totally missed centering on the anchor and not the gps

[zeehag]

i donot use alarms as i have found them to give too many false readings...i use my w=eyes and distan markers to check bearings----much more accurate.

aside from the fact that neighbors at anchor donot enjoy hearing your unanswered damnable screeching alarm when you leave the boat...

[Group9]

I sleep with a small handheld GPS next to me. I make where I dropped the anchor a waypoint, and then I order the GPS to navigate me to it. As long as the distance to the waypoint stays about the same, you know you aren't dragging. It's nice to be able to wake up in the middle of the night, look at the GPS screen and know I'm still the same distance from where I dropped the anchor.

[MarkJ]

I, too, sleep with a hand held GPS. WOE IS ME!!!!!!!!!! A girlfriend would be much nicer to sleep with!

<Sob>

And its set to 50 meters. <sob><sob>

And, unlike what Noelex says (and he's Married! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh) I dont center it on the anchor as I am in trade wind areas. But I have the distance set on clear water that I could drag back safely.

<sniff>

I like OpenCpn because not only can you do anchor watch, but 2 anchor watches that than be a minus - number, say -50 meters, to keep you away from a dangerous area.

But I cant keep the laptop going all night... so I <sniff> sleep <sob> alone <sniff> with just <sob> my cuddly, sexy, pretty GPS

[noelex 77]

My GPS is right next to my bed as well.(but my wife gets much more attention )
A H\H is a good solution, but an external aerial ensures a top class glitch free, accurate position report.

[svseachange]

We use My Anchor Watch Pro on an Android device (two backups...). We never manage to set it as the anchor drops. we set it when we know the anchor is set.

Radius depends on the situation, but it is always small enough to alert us to a significant wind shift. It lives plugged in about a foot from my head. We leave it going when we weigh anchor to test it.

I love it. If I am a little worried about an anchorage I can wake up in the middle of the night and check our drift pattern. Increases safety, especially because every anchorage we visit is new to us and holding info can be inaccurate. Don't want to wake up to the boat hitting anything.

[Privleoplag]

I always set the tracking on the handheld garmin as soon as we set anchor and let it track us until we are ready for bed, then decide by the amount of swing what I want to set the distance for and start the alarm when I've swung into the middle of the track.

I don't mind a false alarm during the night (where I've swung, but the anchor hasn't moved), it's comforting and easy to check the handheld to see what the situation is and if the alarm is from a wind or current shift and not an anchor drag. I'll reset the anchor alarm to the center of the new tracking arc, and sometimes I'll increase the distance if I'm comfortable with the anchor set and think we might be swinging back the other direction again.

[Hudson Force]

I use a great variety of distances for which I set my drag alarm. I often start with as few as forty feet just after anchoring so that over the next hour I see the pattern of my swing and any initial concern with a poor set. Then, I select a distance that depends on the tidal condition and, matched with the weather, a choice wether I want to be awakened when the tidal current chages or not. I also alter the distance I select for the alarm depending upon what dangers or risks are near,- reefs, rocks, neighbors, lee shore...... I guess I'll just have to admit that I don't have an answer.
I do wish I had a "screaming alarm" like the ones that Zeehag's dragging neighbors have. Mine is a weak peep barely audible from my V-berth!

[sailorboy1]

I set mine (when I set it at all) to the lesser of: 1 - a little less than the distance to something I'm concerned about hitting, 2 - twice the amount of scope I have out

[jimbim]

Works out to about 75 feet, regardless of scope. If the wind changes and it wakes me up, that's okay, I like to know what's going on.