Liveaboard Anchoring .......

[ausaviator]

DragQueen is the name of the app on the iPhone that you can use. You'll need to leave it plugged in though when you're using it or it will go flat quickly.

Half or full power backwards sounds like a great idea until the wind changes, swings you in the opposite direction and your anchor spins around and lets go!

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

DragQueen is the name of the app on the iPhone that you can use. You'll need to leave it plugged in though when you're using it or it will go flat quickly.

Half or full power backwards sounds like a great idea until the wind changes, swings you in the opposite direction and your anchor spins around and lets go!

Sounds interesting (if not quite PC ). Do you need to be online to use it? I wont have Internet in most places I anchor.

[ausaviator]

It runs off the GPS of the iPhone so no Internet necessary.

Give it a try, I think it was free or only 99 cents or something tiny.

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

It runs off the GPS of the iPhone so no Internet necessary.

Give it a try, I think it was free or only 99 cents or something tiny.

Excellent. Thanks! Got it but...some interesting apps near it in search-watch which one you press!

[Downtothesea]

Get the biggest anchor you can handle, all chain rode with a snubber, and anchor all time and after six years you will feel more confident that your anchor will hold as you sleep or leave the boat BUT you will still be a little anxious and you should be! Use an anchor that will reset in a 180 degree wind or current shift and that means a plow, Bruce, Delta Fastset, or one of the newer types and NOT a Danforth or other lightweight type anchor (those have their uses but you won't see an experienced full-time cruiser using one as their main anchor.

[River Cruiser]

300' of chain & a Fortress, anchor out several times a month. The good thing is the current remains consistent in its direction. But I still stay alert, have never gotten comfortable being completely relaxed while anchored.

[Nicholson58]

HA HA to you all. I love low tech and low/no power especially, however, I use the anchor watch feature of our Watchmate 850. Power use is only 3 watts but it needs an aux claxton. I know what my mate would tie the anchor line to.

[SurferShane]

I discovered a month back that sometimes it does not matter what you do when others anchor on top of you, your boat can end up in all sorts of danger. This happened at a particularly perilous anchorage where the most used cruising guide clearly states has very poor holding with many boats being wreaked on the beach. Then you always have the chance of loosing your rigging on the jetty to the south or getting smashed on the breakwater to the north.

Due these hazards in rough or questionable weather there is really only room for two boats in this given area. Yet it is not uncommon top get up in the morning to discover someone has anchored right on top of you pushing in-between a number of boats. The last person who did so to me tripped my anchor causing my boat to end up right in the wave zone against the breakwater. It was not pleasant to come back from shopping to find my home and most of my earthly possessions meters from destruction, especially when I knew I had done everything possible to leave them securely anchored.

It was also very evident that the offender had pushed into the middle of the anchorage so he could leave his boat unattended for the weekend. What he thought was good holding was nothing else than his anchor caught directly under mine!

So the thread does not end up and argument, I don't want to go into any more details except to say it was obvious the other person did not have a clue what he was doing. As such, I am almost willing to forgive him. What annoyed me much more was the attitude of some people who like to consider themselves "more experienced", enough so that they will adopt similar practices even assuming the role of "Anchorage Monitor" when this is their first visit to the place. I know one thing though, next time someone anchors uncomfortably close I am going to have no hesitation confronting them about the potential dangers even if they do think they "know better"!

The other detail worth mentioning is that when something like this happens - well as long as you still have your boat - the great thing about being an anchoring live-aboard is that you can pull anchor and sail off to somewhere hopefully a lot more peaceful. In the case above this is exactly what I did!

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

DragQueen is the name of the app on the iPhone that you can use. You'll need to leave it plugged in though when you're using it or it will go flat quickly.

Half or full power backwards sounds like a great idea until the wind changes, swings you in the opposite direction and your anchor spins around and lets go!

That was fun. I tested the Drag Queen App in our hotel (liveaboards on a land holiday- bathtub & all). It worked well (I dragged around the hallway 'til it went off...pretty loud but I may need speakers for my phone for it to wake me. It was free too!

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I find the GPS alarm too mild to alert me when I'm sleeping in my berth. A battery powered "baby monitor" placed next to the alarm can be useful; however, nothing beats the "low-tech" anchor drag alarm that I used back in the 70's before GPS. Just drop a dinghy mushroom anchor over the bow on a light rode that is led through the deck vent with the bitter end tied to a saucepan lying on the floor. When the pan hits the headliner,- you're dragging!

That is one of the most ingenious ideas I've ever heard of.

[tager]

Sheer genius.

[Bash]

I needed an anchor alarm in my last boat because I slept in the aft cabin. In my current boat I sleep in the forward cabin, and I can hear the chain move on the bottom. No more need for an anchor alarm.

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by Bash

I needed an anchor alarm in my last boat because I slept in the aft cabin. In my current boat I sleep in the forward cabin, and I can hear the chain move on the bottom. No more need for an anchor alarm.

That would definitely get your attention!!

[Ashura]

Umm.. if you guys need a louder alarm for your iphone/smart phone, if your alarm program has an vibrate mode, set it to that and place the phone on top of couple of cookie pan or place it in a metal bowl thats large enough to hold the phone in but small enough where the phone wont rest on the bottom. It rattles like a very loud bell.

... And if you have a real bell even better

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by SurferShane

I discovered a month back that sometimes it does not matter what you do when others anchor on top of you, your boat can end up in all sorts of danger. This happened at a particularly perilous anchorage where the most used cruising guide clearly states has very poor holding with many boats being wreaked on the beach. Then you always have the chance of loosing your rigging on the jetty to the south or getting smashed on the breakwater to the north.

Due these hazards in rough or questionable weather there is really only room for two boats in this given area. Yet it is not uncommon top get up in the morning to discover someone has anchored right on top of you pushing in-between a number of boats. The last person who did so to me tripped my anchor causing my boat to end up right in the wave zone against the breakwater. It was not pleasant to come back from shopping to find my home and most of my earthly possessions meters from destruction, especially when I knew I had done everything possible to leave them securely anchored.

It was also very evident that the offender had pushed into the middle of the anchorage so he could leave his boat unattended for the weekend. What he thought was good holding was nothing else than his anchor caught directly under mine!

So the thread does not end up and argument, I don't want to go into any more details except to say it was obvious the other person did not have a clue what he was doing. As such, I am almost willing to forgive him. What annoyed me much more was the attitude of some people who like to consider themselves "more experienced", enough so that they will adopt similar practices even assuming the role of "Anchorage Monitor" when this is their first visit to the place. I know one thing though, next time someone anchors uncomfortably close I am going to have no hesitation confronting them about the potential dangers even if they do think they "know better"!

The other detail worth mentioning is that when something like this happens - well as long as you still have your boat - the great thing about being an anchoring live-aboard is that you can pull anchor and sail off to somewhere hopefully a lot more peaceful. In the case above this is exactly what I did!

G'DAy SS,

Couldn't have been Coffs Harbour, could it??

We've taken to anchoring on the other side of the old wharf for just this reason... too many boats in the best protected (and that's not very good either) spot. Sure wish that they had put just a little overlap on the breakwaters...

Cheers,

Jim