![]() The red circles show each waypoint’s alarm radius. We placed three waypoints on the reef (like the slats in a picket fence) and set their alarm radius to the minimum our Simrad allows – 0.01 nautical miles (60 feet). ![]() Here’s one solution: We found that we can set an alarm radius on waypoints. (Dear Marine Manufacturers, Please allow us to set the center of the anchor alarm zone to the actual latitude and longitude of our anchor! What were you thinking? Thank you.) ![]() On our Simrad, I’d have to repeat this process anytime the alarm goes off as acknowledging the alarm cancels it. I guess you could motor over your anchor after it’s down and activate the anchor alarm. Anchor alarm zone set when the anchor is dropped. I never seem to have enough hands to do that, nor can I split my concentration enough to do it while I’m doing all the other tasks required to get the anchor set. (The blue line is our track as we swung on the anchor during the night.) And in the above illustration, as tight as this zone is, it wouldn’t keep us off the reef.Ī better approach, illustrated below, would be to set the anchor alarm when you drop the anchor. If you make the alarm radius small enough to keep you clear of dangers, like the brown reef area in the illustration above, the normal swing of the boat will set off the alarm. I think the problem with this approach is clear. The red circle above illustrates such a zone. Usually, activating the anchor alarm sets an alarm circle around the boat – that is, around where the boat is when the anchor alarm is activated. (Below, by way of illustration are screenshots from our Simrad.) Most chartplotters have some kind of anchor alarm, including our Simrad NSE8. Let me explain – maybe you’ll find it useful someday. In order to get any sleep at all, we used what I’ve been calling a “picket fence” anchor alarm. Looking at the reef just off our stern at Telekivavau. We got the hook down and ended up about a boat length upwind of a very solid and boat-unfriendly reef with the wind blowing about 20 knots. We knew the anchorage would be small, but are you kidding, this small? I guess we should have gone elsewhere but the sea was rough and we just didn’t feel like it. We spent the day slogging upwind to get to Telekivavau (Ha’apai, Tonga).
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