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A friend was just telling me he has an app on his phone that makes it call another number (his wife's phone) if the GPS notes he moves more than x metres. Uses it when he goes ashore, if he drags the boat calls him and tells him.

Sounds like a good trick, anyone else know about it?

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I have been using an android one for about 4 years called Anchor Alarm, works very well.

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.meditgbr.android.anchoralarm&hl=en

 

Nice to have when its windy as it displays the distance from where you dropped the pick even before it triggers the alarm. Good piece of mind without having to get out of your bunk.

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The phones/tablets use a mixture of Cell Tower triangulation, what WiFi networks it can see, and GPS. Some devices do not have a GPS chip (iPADs with no GPRS functionality for instance) & rely on the first two, the others would use whatever mix is available with you would hope a preference for GPS.

 

At least with iPhones/iPADs they upload a list of GPS coordinates & visible WiFi networks so via a data connection a device can figure out where it is in the absence of GPS.

 

Recently we moved house, WiFi moved with us with the same ID, then looking on "Find your iPhone" one or two devices still showed as being at the old address even thought they had GPS chips in them, so they were reporting their location back based only on viewable WiFi networks rather than consulting their own GPS data. Although at some point the coordinates of the network must be reported & it did correct after a few days. Would expect that Navigation apps use the GPS chip all the time, would not like to think they were using the boat next door's WiFi ID that was updated a day or so earlier!!

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The phones/tablets use a mixture of Cell Tower triangulation, what WiFi networks it can see, and GPS. Some devices do not have a GPS chip (iPADs with no GPRS functionality for instance) & rely on the first two, the others would use whatever mix is available with you would hope a preference for GPS.

 

At least with iPhones/iPADs they upload a list of GPS coordinates & visible WiFi networks so via a data connection a device can figure out where it is in the absence of GPS.

 

Recently we moved house, WiFi moved with us with the same ID, then looking on "Find your iPhone" one or two devices still showed as being at the old address even thought they had GPS chips in them, so they were reporting their location back based only on viewable WiFi networks rather than consulting their own GPS data. Although at some point the coordinates of the network must be reported & it did correct after a few days. Would expect that Navigation apps use the GPS chip all the time, would not like to think they were using the boat next door's WiFi ID that was updated a day or so earlier!!

 

On android phones there is a GPS only setting for location. I assume the same is available for iphones?

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Or buy a new anchor from CRA

My boss is waiting to have a piece of KM next time she sees him, he's removed her biggest concern whilst cruising now we have a new Sarca Excel anchor

I'm now worrying about what she will start worrying about now.

Sets the best of any anchor I've ever seen and when everyone was dragging at Fitzroy over new year our biggest concern was wether we would be able to lift ours after 3 days in one spot, we had to drive over it twice but then it lifted, for a moment I thought that all the water may disapair as we had lifted the plug.

But no all good when we left, so if Fitzroy is now dry it was Knot Me.

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Or buy a new anchor from CRA

My boss is waiting to have a piece of KM next time she sees him, he's removed her biggest concern whilst cruising now we have a new Sarca Excel anchor

I'm now worrying about what she will start worrying about now.

Sets the best of any anchor I've ever seen and when everyone was dragging at Fitzroy over new year our biggest concern was wether we would be able to lift ours after 3 days in one spot, we had to drive over it twice but then it lifted, for a moment I thought that all the water may disapair as we had lifted the plug.

But no all good when we left, so if Fitzroy is now dry it was Knot Me.

 

This is good to hear, as I have purchased a S/Excell off KM too, but am yet to use it in anger - but seems like it is living up to it's billing as one of, if not 'the' best out there.

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I'd be happy with a sarca too I think, but I have the same problem with a Rocna, and a buddy has the same issue with a Supreme. Getting the thing up after a day or three in a blow is always an issue. Always highly amusing to see the bow dip a few inches as the chain comes vertical.

 

Did that many many times this holiday cruise. Too many. One time in the matauwhi bay new year bath/rain /general drowning I'm pretty sure one of those permanently moored dinghies on the boat club wharf became reabsorbed by the earth mother. Since they don't seem to ever move , its the only explanation for it going.

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Just a note on modern anchors - yep they hold fast and sink right in. If they are stuck real well, I hope you all are not using an anchor winch to recover them? - they WILL break the winch over time.

 

I know, I've destroyed 2 worm drives by being too rough! I'm trying to be more careful....

 

Unless it is really urgent, let the cat do it (the catenary weight of the chain, not the meow cat :roll: !) and then when "up and down" use the snubber tied off to the bollard/mooring cleat and the boats momentum to pull the anchor free. Then the winch to recover the freed anchor and chain.

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Just a note on modern anchors - yep they hold fast and sink right in. If they are stuck real well, I hope you all are not using an anchor winch to recover them? - they WILL break the winch over time.

 

I know, I've destroyed 2 worm drives by being too rough! I'm trying to be more careful....

 

Unless it is really urgent, let the cat do it (the catenary weight of the chain, not the meow cat :roll: !) and then when "up and down" use the snubber tied off to the bollard/mooring cleat and the boats momentum to pull the anchor free. Then the winch to recover the freed anchor and chain.

 

For dumbasses like me, you mean: Motor forward, cleat / bollard off when 'up and down', slowly motor forward again, anchor then frees (hopefully) and THEN use your electric winch.

Right?

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Oo, did I just get told off ?( smile face here).

 

I tell by the tone of the winch motor how much load is on it ,I am in touch with my inner motor self.... It has a sweet spot. Generally I like some load and use the weight of the chain to soak forward on.

But there is always the point you come to where you have to discover whether your stuck deep or not, give it a blip and feel it. Thats what I do.When the bow dips , you go to plan b.

'course , there's always the situation when you just have to go a bit brutal, last year at barrier I had to go hard and fast at it to bust out before the raft up of short anchored dragging anchorwankers hit me in 25 or 30 knots . I made it by shortening up as far as I could , hitting reverse and just hauling the whole schmeer out from under them for some room.

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I saw a Swan 72 dump all its chain and hit full reverse to avoid a ship that had broken down and was drifting on to him. He figured if he backed into the mangroves the ship would go aground before hitting him, and it was all happening so fast he wouldn't have time to get the anchor up. Papeete around the early 80's.

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A friend was just telling me he has an app on his phone that makes it call another number (his wife's phone) if the GPS notes he moves more than x metres. Uses it when he goes ashore, if he drags the boat calls him and tells him.

Sounds like a good trick, anyone else know about it?

I can see the app being useful while onboard,being ashore alarm goes off,by the time you get back boat aground?  I would not use with 2degrees thats for sure as reception around coromandel is hit and miss

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For dumbasses like me, you mean: Motor forward, cleat / bollard off when 'up and down', slowly motor forward again, anchor then frees (hopefully) and THEN use your electric winch.

Right?

Really there is no need to motor fwd at 1st - that bit is "let the cat do it". Unless it is pretty windy, you can normally use the winch to lift the chain off the bottom - then wait, while the boat moves fwd towards the anchor, take the chain off the bottom again, etc till the chain is up and down. You can often build up enough momentum by that point to simply lock the chain, and the boats momentum will be enough to break out the anchor. Otherwise, then engine assist can help. Once broken out, it's not much load to lift it aboard. Many do motor fwd, which is ok, still relieves the winch load, but it's not as seaman like :thumbup: .

 

However, to make this clear;

 

It's not the MOTOR LOAD I'm talking about here. It's the load on the worm drive in the gearbox, as the winch tries to override the clutch and pay out when the anchor is up and down, and the winch is (should be!) stopped. AT the very least, use the chain pawl, although a really stuck anchor could rip the winch from the deck - hence my comment about the chain hook, snubber and anchor bollard/cleat. They (should be) are designed for the loads....

 

It is the worm drive and gear (broken teeth) that have failed on mine, 2 x in a bit over 1000 nights at anchor... I now try to use this method virtually all the time. Just seems sensible.

 

The anchor winch is supposed to lift the ground tackle, not pull the boat to it, nor break it out after X tons of boat have pulled it well in and set it deep!

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