Laser Rangefinder Anyone use for anchoring?

[sailingabe41ds]

Where I sail we always anchor and I have been doing this for 25 years. That said, I have never been able to properly judge distances when I anchor. I always think I am closer than I am only to find out I am not. I do have radar and plotter which I can use if I need to.
Does anyone ever use a laser rangefinder to see how close you are to the shore when anchoring? Am I the only that has a problem with judging distances?

Abe

[jackrabbit59]

I use one all the time. I can't judge the distance to shore very well. I have a 1000 yard model. Works great. Also have forward looking sonar. I do a 360 spin to check the bottom for the scope I plan and check the distance from the shore with the range finder. The maps on the chart plotter are not very accurate here in Mexico.
The range finder also works to see how close I am to other boats in the anchorage. Highly recommend one myself.

[musher]

Same here. I have an old 1000 yard model that I use regularly to range the shore and other boats. I think I'm getting better at guessing the distances, but I'm regularly surprised at how much farther the rocks are than I thought... I tried it the first time last year and the rangefinder hasn't left the boat since.

[chris mac]

I use my old hunting rangefinder It works great for knowing distance to shore and other boats. It also works well for floats on crab traps.

[Paul L]

I don't have a rangefinder, but always thought it would be handy. I use our Radar to measure how many yards we are off shore or other boats.

[Nicholson58]

I use my chart plotter and GPS. We anchor in many busy harbors, sometimes close to other boats. Practice and you will get proficient at estimating your swing and others. Depth is more important.

[Training Wheels]

We love our laser rangefinder, use it often.

[pilotbk]

I would also like to get a rangefinder for anchoring.
Any suggestions on which one to buy that you have used?

[noelex 77]

I would also agree that laser rangefinders are a very useful tool.

Even the less expensive models seem to work well. As you pay more the optics, range and reliability improves, but unless you are anchoring frequently try a cheap version.

[meirriba]

I have and use Lomvum 600m rangefinder.
Not often in a bay anchorage but very often when we anchor Med style (anchor out, stern to quay) as I want to drop the anchor at a pre-defined distance from the quay.

[SV__Grace]

Knowing the distance to shore or other boats is necessary and hard for me to judge by eye, but when anchoring I’ve come to rely on my chart plotter and radar, which visually displays all that information and makes it far easier to decide where to drop.

[Bittern]

Hello. We’ve used two older rangefinder and twin-lens reflex cameras. Quite accurate. There are lots of them about, second-hand. Cheers, Peter

[SailingFan]

Hmm... Never considered using a twin reflex camera... Those things are pretty common in yard sales, flea markets, and the like. I may even have a couple.. I will have to check into mine and see if I can figure out how to use them for extended ranges.. I never used the feature much, I am afraid. The cameras were from the 80's if memory serves (and it may not), and I did not use the cameras much other than to ensure they were within "indicated" focus and I let the exposure be what it was. Of course, I also had some pretty..interesting...results coming back from the processors too... Let's say I did not get billed for much of my photography results back then...

[Tomodore]

Rangefinder is part of our arsenal along with radar, chart plotter, cruising guide and depth sounder. Not very expensive and damn handy.

[wsmurdoch]

We have both radar and a laser rangefinder. We use the laser rangefinder to check our distance to nearby anchored boats. Our is an older Nikon Prostaff 550 with a LCD display. A LED display or an illuminated display would be better in low light situations, but such models are rare and more expensive.