Best Anchor Watch/Alert/Alarms apps?

I've tried to review what I think are all the relevant older threads here and on CF, but inexact app names as folks have sometimes apparently reported them complicates further evaluation...

Background is that we have built-in anchor watch alarms/alerts in the plotter and our redundant DGPS... as well as depth alarms on both depthfinder and fishfinder... and radar guard zones... but they're all on the (often enclosed) bridge and not hear-able from inside the boat. I could fix that, but it uses a boatload of power to keep almost any of that running all night...

And then we also have built-in anchor watch alarms in laptop and tablet/phone apps (TimeZero, Plan2Nav, iSailor)... but those are pretty much just a circle around the boat, without any additional settings (especially set-able afterwards) for exact anchor location... OK as far as they go, but not particularly exact...

And then there's Drag Queen... which works well enough for the basic functions (and let's you set/refine the anchor location after the fact)... but it doesn't really do much more than that (graphic time plots, SMS to phones, etc.)...

So I thought I'd look to see if any of the other apps out there might be truly wonderful, something we could use as yet another layer of redundancy. All this brought on by a bouncy/rolly anchorage last night, where Drag Queen worked fine even if minimally...

We do Android; has anyone used any of these?

Anchor Watch/Alarm (free and paid/pro versions) – Peckish Sloth
Anchor Alert (paid version) -- Slim Jim
Sailsafe Anchor Alarm (free and paid/pro versions) - HCSoft
Anchor Watch (free and paid versions) – net.fs
My Anchor Watch (free) – SjaellSoft
AnchorWatch (free) – Michael Konz
Anchor Sentinel (free) – Paul Lutus
Any other great ones that I didn't think to list?

Findings? Pros/cons? Are any of these on both Android and iThing platforms?

-Chris

Aqua Map - which I am starting to use more also has an anchor alarm built in. It is somewhat settable but I haven't tried it in an actual anchoring situation yet.

Unfortunately, Drag Queen does not work on newer version of IOS and it appears to be gone from the App Store.

Ken

Drag Queen was acquired by Garmin when they bought ActiveCaptain. Alas Garmin killed it. It was a free app, so no profit in it for Garmin.

Anchor Watch Pro for Android. Just remember to set it when you drop the anchor and not after it's already set. It has a nighttime setting that turns the background black so it's easier to see if you wake up in the middle of the night. It shows the boat position, anchor position, distance from the anchor, anchor bearing, and the radius that you set for the alarm. It also shows the battery remaining on the phone. I leave it plugged in at night so I don't have to worry about it shutting off.

I am happy with the WatchMate app that works with my Vasper AIS.

am happy with the WatchMate app that came with my Vesper AIS”

I also second the WatchMate for the VesperAIS. I also believe the Anchor Watch is excellent that comes with the Aqua Map App. That is actually my primary anchor watch device on either the iPad or iPhone with the other running the Vesper AIS anchor watch. In my opinion, the Aqua Map is a little more user friendly and visually easier to set and view.

kchace said:

Aqua Map - which I am starting to use more also has an anchor alarm built in. It is somewhat settable but I haven't tried it in an actual anchoring situation yet.

Unfortunately, Drag Queen does not work on newer version of IOS and it appears to be gone from the App Store.

Click to expand...

Woodland Hills said:

I am happy with the WatchMate app that works with my Vasper AIS.

Click to expand...

Steve Bedford said:

am happy with the WatchMate app that came with my Vesper AIS”

I also second the WatchMate for the VesperAIS. I also believe the Anchor Watch is excellent that comes with the Aqua Map App. That is actually my primary anchor watch device on either the iPad or iPhone with the other running the Vesper AIS anchor watch. In my opinion, the Aqua Map is a little more user friendly and visually easier to set and view.

Click to expand...

We already have AIS, so the Vesper unit isn't all that attractive.

Our cup (of charts) runneth over, to a certain extent. We already have three back-up nav apps -- with NOAA charts, C-Map charts, and Transas charts -- that incorporate an anchor watch of sorts. Not really excited over the idea of getting yet another one...

I could use any one or all of our currept apps to watch over our track movement and relative location at anchor... but OTOH, all they do is create an imaginary circular fence around the boat)... using the device's location at the time the anchor alarm was turned on. IOW, they don't have a way to accept coordinate inputs about actual anchor location after the fact.

Does Aqua-Map perchance do that?

Using Drag Queen (which still works on some Android devices*), I've captured the location -- from the bow -- as I drop the anchor. Then I can use that to enable Drag Queen on all the other devices, using the same coordinates -- entered after-the-fact. But the alarm pretty much QUIET or LOUD, with some additional info like momentary distance from anchor and momentary GPS accuracy. No graphics...

Also, even this isn't perfect. Where the anchor initially drops is not the same as where the anchor actually sets. Haven't worked out any better approach except to run the boat back up the rode to the anchor -- after it's completely set -- to capture the location again. In our area, that either means mud all over the boat or washing the rode as we move forward... and I guess I'd rather not spend an hour or so anchoring...

* Oddly, Drag Queen needs Adobe Air in order to work. And for some reason, wifey's smartphone (Samsung Galaxy S5, same as mine same Android version number, only hers is on Verizon whereas mine's on AT&T) can't find Adobe Air. Not only is it not available (doesn't even show up) from the Play Store, a direct download attempt from the ADobe site says "not compatible with this device."

Thinking out loud a bit, a graphic track representation is one feature I'd like (and may be able to solve "good enough" with one of our existing nav apps. I hadn't thought to enable any of the other three apps, to see if the graphic displays would be useful to augment DQ; maybe I'll want to do that...

Another that I hadn't thought of myself but noticed mention of in some other on-line reading is SMS warning messages. OTOH, that would suggest the app would have to be running on one of our SMS- or at least cellular-capable devices (IOW, one of our two smartphones) and that device would still have to be on the boat... which would mean we'd only have one phone with us if we're off the boat... Or else it becomes a "new hardware and installation" problem; I suspect we've got enough hardware to fool with...

-Chris

Hi,

I have this Anchor Sentinel (free) – Paul Lutus

I think he was perfect and he developed it for his own needs in Alaska for his travels.

NBs

After Drag Queen quit working I use Anchor!, which I think is better.

I'd like to have one that allows setting sector boundaries rather than just a circle, that way you'd get an alarm if the wind or tide changed and could go check things.

DDW said:

After Drag Queen quit working I use Anchor!, which I think is better.

I'd like to have one that allows setting sector boundaries rather than just a circle, that way you'd get an alarm if the wind or tide changed and could go check things.

Click to expand...

I agree about sectors. Near as I can tell, Anchor! is only for iThings.

-Chris

Chris wrote: “using the device's location at the time the anchor alarm was turned on. IOW, they don't have a way to accept coordinate inputs about actual anchor location after the fact.

Does Aqua-Map perchance do that?”

Yes, you an input the long/lat on Aqua Map/

Steve

I loved Drag Queen, very easy to use and was saddened when it wasn’t updated to work with the new IOS but then I found anchor and like it just as well plus I can move the anchor position after the fact. I also use the Garmin anchor watch on the big screen. Redundancy. I’ve also been known to use the radar alarm.

Aqua Map allows you to use GPS position with one click or one can enter any Lat Lon. One can also set Alarm Radius, Alarm Delay, low battery Alarm, or loss of GPS alarm, it can also record and show the vessel's track while the alarm is on. Of course there is also the chart part of the app if one wants to use that, but you don't need to in order to use the anchor watch feature.

Ken

Steve Bedford said:

Yes, you an input the long/lat on Aqua Map/

Click to expand...

kchace said:

Aqua Map allows you to use GPS position with one click or one can enter any Lat Lon. One can also set Alarm Radius, Alarm Delay, low battery Alarm, or loss of GPS alarm, it can also record and show the vessel's track while the alarm is on.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

-Chris

Following

I have been using this anchor alarm device for 3 years now. I have tried the app mentioned above and was never satisfied.

Boathooked.com: Anchor Alarm

Stand alone, portable, i.e. move from bridge to bedroom and not tied to cell or Wifi service. Not sure if Rick has the device in stock but IMHO worth your time to investgate.

knuckelbuster said:

Boathooked.com: Anchor Alarm

Stand alone, portable, i.e. move from bridge to bedroom and not tied to cell or Wifi service. Not sure if Rick has the device in stock but IMHO worth your time to investgate.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the mention. I just did review info on that link; looks decent enough, but I'm not enthused about acquiring yet another "device" for something like this. Usually we have 8 different GPS sources aboard already... and while they don't all (yet) do exactly what I've had in mind, more devices just doesn't ring my chimes just now.

-Chris

I tried to order a boothooked alarm but the email on the website gets bounced back, guess they aren’t available anymore.

We use Anchor Watch. Really like it.

Lots of good solutions, clearly. Just to add to the mix, I used a combination of Coastal Explorer boundary circles, and Maretron’s Anchor alarm. Both allow you to adjust the location of the anchor, which it seems is a common complaint with some other alarms. And of course the alarm radius can be adjusted too.

When scouting out a place to anchor, I create an anchor circle with CE and place it in the approximate location where I want to anchor. That provides a bit of pre-clearance that there is enough room, depth, etc.

Then as I approach the final anchor spot, I lower the anchor to within about 10’ of the bottom. When I am in my final location, I lower the rest of the way and center the boundary circle on the boat right when the anchor touches down. Then I also enable the Maretron alarm which picks up the current location.

I like CE because it continues to draw my track so I can see how the boat is swinging, and if I am dragging. And I like Maretron because it’s linked to the speakers in the pilot house and when the alarm goes off it will wake the dead.

Last, I use a screen mirroring program on an iPad to see what’s on the Maretron anchor watch screen. It has the anchor circle, of course, but also weather and depth. I keep that bedside so with a quick glance I can see how we are doing without waking up too much.

It has worked well, but there are many, many ways to solve the problem.

Additionally, once you are anchored, AquaMaps also allows you to enter an offset location from your anchor by pointing to the anchor with the phone (which uses the compass in the phone for a bearing) and the distance from where you are standing (pulpit, for instance) to the anchor. Very easy.

While we didn't drag anchor the first time I used it, I did set the warning circle just a little tight, I can confirm that the warning klaxon will get you from horizontal to vertical in about a half-second.

Anchor Monitor Apps

No one has mentioned "Anchor Pro" available on android type devices. It allows one to enter an anchor location by current location, direction and distance or by direct lat/lon. You can set a distance for notification from the anchor location and allows notification by direct alarm, or phone or text notification. The latter obviously means the device must be on the vessel and the system notified by phone or text must be with you wherever you are.

I've used it but cant attest to the text or phone notification since I've not had an anchor drag since I've been using it. Next time out I'll set the distance to some value that will force an alarm and try and see if it correctly informs me.

RB Cooper