a couple of questions

[modernviking]

Hey guys
first post on the forum. 21 years old and got my first sailboat (Grace 30, from '72) this spring. and got a couple of questions.

1.
I'm looking for a good anchor-watch-app for a android tablet can you recommend some and what your experience in general with them?

2.
i would like to sail more singlehand, but without selfsteering(windvane or tiller pilot) it's almost impossible to sail nonstop. are there any guides on the internet (or anything like that) that shows how to make a homemade wind vane

3.
this question is properly mostly for the european sailors on the forum. As you know equipment is quite expensive (I live in Denmark) i have found some german and british webshops but for a student it's still expensive xD is there some marine wepshops in Eastern Europe f.x. Poland, baltics etc. that ships to the rest of EU?

Thank you in advance, cheers
Modernviking

[redhead]

hi ModernViking - welcome to CF!

I can't answer questions 2 or 3 but as for anchor watch apps, we've been very happy with "Drag Queen". Hope this helps.

(pssst - post some pictures of your boat....please)

[fatherchronica]

I bet a search online would give a lot of youtube videos of homemade self steering.

[modernviking]

Redhead: found the app, had to put anchor alarm in the end to get the right result ;-)

fatherchronica: well i saw some videos, but nothing that really helped me. i have tried different solutions but no luck so far

[indimini]

This pdf book may be of some help re: windvane

[Alberg30Shill]

+1 for anchor queen. I love my tiller pilot (never single-handed anything bigger than a dinghy without), I would try and pick one up cheap. Perhaps defender.com with international shipping could be an option.

[StuM]

Personally, I use and recommend Anchor Alert by SlimJimSoftware.

[JPA Cate]

Don't know if you'll be fitting AIS, but our Vesper Marine one has an anchor alarm function with which we are quite pleased.

My husband, Jim, build an auxiliary rudder type wind vane for our previous boat. He'd most likely tell you about it if you ask.

Also, there is a reference book by Letcher: Self Steering For Sailing Craft. It was written when there wasn't much ready made, and is full of ideas to try.

Finally, welcome aboard CF.

Ann

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Modernviking.

[akprb]

Drag queen. I tried it but didn’t really care for it.

Why not just use your GPS? That has worked great for us over the years and simple.

The other stuff? Tiller pilots are simple and disposable. Perhaps eBay or similar for two used ones ;-)

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by modernviking

2.
i would like to sail more singlehand, but without selfsteering(windvane or tiller pilot) it's almost impossible to sail nonstop. are there any guides on the internet (or anything like that) that shows how to make a homemade wind vane

Modernviking

Hello and congratulations on your new boat. I'm not sure how far you plan on sailing but depending upon your boat and where you plan on sailing, you may be able to do two things. First, some boats will sail pretty well when the sails are trimmed properly and the conditions don't change too much. If you are not sailing to far, this may suffice until finances permit a self steering system. Second, you can rig a type of self steering using the main sheet and the tiller usually called sheet to tiller steering

Here is one decent article on this:
Sheet-to-Tiller Self Steering

There are also a number of videos on how to set this up.

For equipment try a number of the boating chandlries here in the U.S. Many will ship overseas although there may be customs issues. Some you may wish to reach out to include Jamestown Supply, Defender, West Marine, etc. If you prefer smaller local chanleries, let me know and I can give you some good shops in my area.

[Uncle G]

Re home-made wind vane:

https://www.amazon.com/Self-steering.../dp/0851330606
If you can get hold of a copy of this, there are plenty of pictures of simple DIY self steering rigs. It's old, so maybe in a used book shop?

Also the AYRS has lots of information on its site. There is a pdf of a good book with drawings:

https://www.ayrs.org/repository/AYRS013.pdf

Lots of other freebies there also at:

https://www.ayrs.org/booklets/

[michaeld]

I recommend Anchor Sentinel https://arachnoid.com/android/AnchorSentinel/ It's available in the Google Play Store. BTW, the author circumnavigated solo. Here's his story.... free https://arachnoid.com/sailbook/

[TrentePieds]

Hej på dej! Kongratulerer med båden og byder dig velkommen her :-)

Much depends on where you intend to sail and to anchor. Much depends on just exactly what a Grace 30 is :-) I've never heard of the beast, but I assume that given its vintage it would be rather like a slightly inflated Spækhugger. With any luck she'll be tiller-, rather than wheel-steered, which will keep your life simple. If she is indeed like a Spækhugger you can, when she is on the wind, rig a simple tackle twixt the mainsheet and the tiller. She will then go for longish periods without your having to be at the tiller yourself. Off the wind she'll require a little more attention.

But please consider that you are required by law as well as by common sense to keep a proper look-out. Since you have to be in the cockpit to do that, where is the problem with giving the tiller a little poke now and then? If you trim your sails correctly you don't have to hang on to the tiller (or the wheel) in the verkrampfte fashion you have to in a car! There are, as Ann Cate sez, lots of "roll-your-own" self-steering gears described in books of yore. If you are handy with the welding gear, there is no reason you shouldn't build one. Ann referred you to Letcher's book. That's a very good starting point.

Remember also that many of the Danish inland waters are subject to strong tidal currents. You certainly wouldn't want to attempt to go through either Lillebælt or Svendborgsund under self-steering! So just how important is it to have it? Just how justifiable is the expenditure to acquire it?

As for a app to tell you when you are dragging: We are back to the legal requirement that you use your patented, chromium-plated eyeballs. In Danish waters you are not likely to drop your hook where you cannot see land. I'm sure you have a hand-held bearing compass aboard. Unless you are anchored out in a fog - which isn't a smart thing to do since little snug havens are but a few miles apart in Denmark - three bearings, about 120º apart or, in a pinch, two bearings 90º apart, will tell you what you need to know. And you need to take the bearings anyway in order to monitor the veracity of your satellite based readout. I find, not infrequently, that the coordinates I get here in the Salish Sea are miles off. Then, fifteen minutes later, they are plausible again.

God fart :-)!

TP

[NevisDog]

I've never bothered with an anchor watch - just get a decent modern anchor (or two). Otherwise you'll hear the chain dragging and be on deck in an instant! I've always found you can feel the change the instant an anchor begins to drag, asleep or awake. The Kobra anchor from Germany is incredibly cheap and way better than many SHHP anchors three or four times the price.