Want to overnight - but nervous

[mrsrobinson]

We had one night where the water constantly chine slapped and I barely slept

You and me both, I call this slappy hull, and it's not unique to anchoring overnight. Seems to get us at almost every transient slip.

Great replies to this thread, I have learned a few things.

 

[Skybolt]

... Any sort of current/wind/waves really makes it miserable. We had one night where the water constantly chine slapped and I barely slept ...

Best night sleep ever, unless it heavy thunderstorm wind. But the general 10-15 will keep me sleeping like a baby. And we sleep in the bow v-birth where the water hits the loudest. That along with slight rocking, that's the perfect nights sleep on the boat.

 

[jmauld]

I like the water lapping on the bow and it helps me sleep. My wife doesn’t. So she generally gets up and sleeps in the little aft cabin.

This was another benefit of the Venture 370 with the main berth under the cockpit where the inboards used to be.

 

[mrsrobinson]

I am too tall to sleep in the forward berth, I sleep in the aft one. Both are loud. I use a sound machine now that helps.

 

[Creekwood]

You are getting good advice above. If you have no generator, and plan to anchor out more, I recommend getting higher capacity batteries for the house bank. One less thing to worry about. (I put a pair of high capacity 6v golf cart batteries in the bilge and retired the house bank to those two)

The thing I worry more about is anchor slipping if there is a storm. So I always anchor in sheltered spots and make sure to put out a lot of scope to the anchor rode. I also have about 150ft of chain before the rope rode, so usually I am anchored with all chain out. Never has moved. With my last boat I had about 10ft of chain and the rest was rope. That setup was prone to slipping unless I used a lot of scope (usually 7:1).

Sleeping at anchor in a quiet cove is one of my favourite things to do. I wake up early and a coffee outside on a flat calm morning watching the mist on the water is a piece of heaven. Second to watching the sunset with drink in hand and friends or family on board. Enjoy.

 

[mrsrobinson]

Regarding the anchor slipping, boat moving, etc. My GPS has an alert for this I set once anchored. I think there are other apps and such you can download as well.

 

[jmauld]

Regarding the anchor slipping, boat moving, etc. My GPS has an alert for this I set once anchored. I think there are other apps and such you can download as well.

Mine too but it’s not loud enough to wake me. And my phone doesn’t get a strong enough signal in the cabin for it to be reliable. I might need to add an external alarm to my display

 

[Skybolt]

I also use an anchor watch app running on a small tablet. My Vesper (now Garmin) AIS unit has an app called watch mate. It uses the AIS's GPS and monitors anchor drag. I am also all chain with an over sized Danforth anchor @ 65lbs. Like I said, good night sleep, until dog gets up and wants a dinghy ride that is.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Looks like another "one hit wonder". Asks a question and disappears 3 minutes later. I'll never get it.

 

[jmauld]

Looks like another "one hit wonder". Asks a question and disappears 3 minutes later. I'll never get it.

At least he’s not arguing with the advice!

 

[mrsrobinson]

Looks like another "one hit wonder". Asks a question and disappears 3 minutes later. I'll never get it.

Yeah, we need to be able to review "prospective members" before they join

 

[Skybolt]

Yeah, we need to be able to review "prospective members" before they join

I appoint you as the guardian

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Same thing happens on the truck and car forums I'm on.

 

[Quint4]

Looks like another "one hit wonder". Asks a question and disappears 3 minutes later. I'll never get it.

Yep....pet peeve of mine......kinda rude.

 

[Stee6043]

All you guys talking about having a hard time sleeping....makes me think you don't drink enough.

A proper nightcap would help

 

[mrsrobinson]

I laugh every time I see one post from a new member, we continue for three, four, and five pages, and they never even get back on the thread. Is that a reflection on us? By the 5th or 6th page in the thread we have all of their issues figured out, and even help them fix issues they didn't even know they had.

 

[Pirate Lady]

If you haven’t spend 5 days on a hook eating goumet spaghettios, dinty moore stew, instant coffee, warm pickles, lechoy chow mein, all on an alcohol stove that nearly set your cabin headliner on fire, you haven’t boated.
Sorry but on hook with a genny, ac, fridge running. Cmon man, just get a slip at a Hilton marina.

 

[Pirate Lady]

I laugh every time I see one post from a new member, we continue for three, four, and five pages, and they never even get back on the thread. Is that a reflection on us? By the 5th or 6th page in the thread we have all of their issues figured out, and even help them fix issues they didn't even know they had.

 

[Pirate Lady]

Lead acid batteries also need to be topped off with distilled water from time to time to maintain their charge and efficiency.

Distalled? If that 3 month old piss warm water in my plastic tank is good enough for my kids to drink it’s good enough for the batteries!

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

If your batteries are in good shape you should have zero issue overnight. How old are they? I generally get a good 3-4 seasons from the batteries I buy. After that, it's time to start shopping.

Thanks for the response. One of the batteries is new this winter, and the other three are new within the last few years.