Welsh bilge keelers

[Andrew]

It's finally happened...!

Went on a Cruise around Hinchinbrook Island last week. On the first night an anchoring/navigation error resulted in being careened on a sandbank during the night as the tide fell. The angle of 30 degrees heel makes it hard to sleep or even move about the boat. but once the anchor was found in a safe spot (and not puncturing the hull) got some sleep.

awoke at 4 am to be free floating again, so moved to deeper water.

Drying out like that would have been a pleasant experience in a Welsh bilge keeler though. But since its a keeled Investigator, got me thinking allot about avoiding the problem in the first place.

so Depth sounding, GPS chart plotting and bring the correct scale paper chart. The tidal range in this area at the time was about 3.3m to 0.8m, about floor to ceiling height in a house..but that's small compared to Whitsundays and further south from there..Navigating in tidal waters is a whole new subject.

[Andrew]

Gday David, I think my new Garmin striker +4 fishfinder/sounder has depth alarm and anchor drag warning functions. Did a bit of a scroll through and saw them on the menu, but still early days and unfamiliar with its operation. so will update once i learn more about using the unit.