Anchoring at night

usafaviator

I wanted to get some opinions from you all on this topic and how me and my wife spend our summer weekends just to make sure we are not doing anything dumb, dangerous, or different (USAF aircrew saying). We have a baby cruiser with a v-berth that we like to use. Our lake we boat on here in NM is over 2 hours away and we like to sleep on the boat at least one night, sometimes more to get the most out of the weekend. The boat has a windlass with a 15lb delta anchor and 20 feet of chain. We use two favorite coves that are small and keep the winds of NM off of us most nights. I set the anchor usually using a 1:5 or 1:7 ratio and depending where we are through out a stern anchor to keep the swinging to a minimal. Now for the questionable part, I don't usually wake up in the middle of the night to check our position unless the wind is bad, there is virtually never any traffic on the entire lake at night, so none in the coves that we frequent. I do have an automatic float switch for the bilge and am thinking of installing a high water level alarm just for comfort. Anyway I know not having someone on watch during the night when under way is a big no no on open water, but just wanted you guys opinion to see if we need to change our habits up.

I hope everyone has an excellent weekend, remember there is always a service member somewhere in the world away from his or her family on these weekends, please take a moment to think of them.

Joe

Dan4754

Personally, I think your precautions are more than adequate.
The chances of you getting a leak that your bilge pump won't keep up with are slim and none.
Anything bigger would be caused by something that would wake you up 

Handymans342

Do you have a GPS with an anchor alarm?

usafaviator

I don't

rasbury

your in a lake, where is the boat going to go? Also, I do not see any notation of having any lights on- that's a must so other boaters will see you if needed. Sounds like you have everything covered to me!

LaRea

Once you're confident you've set the anchor and it won't drag, turn on the anchor light and get a good night's rest!  No need to post a watch unless you're expecting really bad weather -- in which case you'll probably wake up anyway.  

Personally, I don't like stern anchors.  I'd rather swing so the wind is always from the bow and the load is on the primary anchor.  

redlightning

there is an anchor alarm app you can download on your iOS device.

I have GPS with anchor alarm but I am going to set both just in case.  we are also on a lake with nice coves to stay protected.

DanD2

We stay on the hook often and always set a stern anchor. If it's windy I set two stern anchors, one angled out port and the other angled out starboard and set my anchor alarm on my chartplotter. I make sure that the anchor light is on and then we enjoy the night. If you're worried about springing a leak, then you shouldn't own a boat....lol.

Your fine with what your doing, don't worry about it and have fun.

andyd

There's an app called DragQueen. If you have no problem explaining the icon on your iPhone to your wife and/or friends, I can say it works in the sometimes unpredictable Pacific Ocean:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragqueen-anchor-alarm/id489294173?mt=8

Andy

Weber

Get the app, it's great.  I believe you can also have it set on two devices to text or alert you if you leave the boat while its anchored.  We sometimes anchor and take the dinghy to sure, set the iPad or wife's phone up on the boat and keep an eye on it while we are ashore with my phone.

sail boaters hate stern anchors, I always set one.  Swinging is not a problem, but breaking loose and moving while it resets is something I don't like.  I like to stay where I want to be.