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Is the Anchor Holding? Transits & the Anchor Watch
💡 A set anchor is one you've proven holds by backing down, then guard it with a transit and a GPS anchor alarm sized to your swinging circle.
You've dropped the hook and paid out scope (recall the 5:1 to 7:1 rode-to-depth ratio). But an anchor that reaches the bottom isn't the same as one that's dug in. Confirming the set means proving the flukes are buried before you trust them. The classic test: back down. With the rode straightened astern, put the engine in slow reverse (roughly 1500 rpm) and watch — if the boat stops and the bow tugs firmly against a taut rode, the anchor is holding. If it skips and the boat keeps sliding, it's dragging and hasn't set.
The most reliable way to see movement is a transit (a range): line up two fixed objects — a rock in front of a distant hilltop, or a chimney against a headland — that sit roughly abeam or ahead. If those two objects stay aligned, you're not moving. The moment they slide apart, you're dragging. Your eyes can't judge a slow 20-metre creep against open water, but a transit turns it into an obvious, unambiguous split.
Because wind and current shift while you sleep, back up your eyes with an anchor alarm — a GPS feature on a chartplotter or phone app. You drop a pin at the anchor's position and set a watch radius equal to your swinging circle: the length of rode out plus the boat, with a safety margin. If the GPS wanders beyond that radius, it sounds. Set it too tight and normal swinging triggers false alarms; too loose and you'll be on the rocks before it wakes you. If the alarm goes or a transit splits, act fast: start the engine, check your position, and be ready to re-set — haul in and re-anchor, or motor to more room.