The Solo Sailor's Guide to Sleeping Safely at Anchor

The Solo Anchoring Challenge

On a crewed boat, overnight anchoring follows established routines. Someone takes an anchor watch, or at least, multiple people are aboard who might wake up if something feels wrong. The motion changes, a noise is different, the boat heels unexpectedly — any of these might rouse a light sleeper.

When you're solo, you lose all of that. You are the crew, the captain, and the watch — and you also need to sleep. The challenge is bridging the gap between necessary rest and continuous monitoring.

The good news: modern technology has transformed solo anchoring safety. A GPS anchor alarm app on your phone acts as a tireless digital watch partner, monitoring your position every second and sounding the alarm if anything changes.

Choosing an Anchorage as a Solo Sailor

Your anchorage choice matters even more when you're alone. Apply the same criteria as any other sailor, but be more conservative:

Prioritize Shelter

Choose the most sheltered anchorage available. As a solo sailor, dealing with a dragging anchor in deteriorating conditions at night is significantly harder alone. What's merely inconvenient on a crewed boat can become dangerous when single-handed.

• Look for bays protected from the forecast wind direction
• Favor anchorages with protection from swell, not just wind
• If weather is unsettled, choose a harbor or marina over an open anchorage

Favor Uncrowded Anchorages

With no one to monitor other boats while you sleep, a crowded anchorage adds risk. Other boats may drag into you, or you might drag into them. When solo, give yourself generous room.

• Anchor well away from other boats if space permits
• Avoid positions where you're directly downwind of a tightly packed group
• If the anchorage is crowded, consider whether a less popular spot nearby might be safer

Check the Seabed

Good holding ground is always important, but it's critical for solo sailors. You need maximum confidence that your anchor will hold while you sleep.

• Sand and firm mud offer the best holding for most anchor types
• Avoid weed, rock, and coral if possible
• Check the chart for bottom type before committing to your spot

Setting the Anchor Single-Handed

The physical process of anchoring alone requires some adaptation. Without a crew member on the bow, you need a system that lets you manage both the helm and the anchor.

Pre-Rig Everything

• Prepare the anchor and chain before entering the anchorage. Have your target scope of chain free and ready to run.
• Set up a remote windlass switch if you have one, or mark your chain at key lengths (e.g., 15m, 20m, 30m, 40m) so you can measure scope without running back and forth.
• Have a snubber ready to attach once the chain is deployed.

The Solo Anchoring Technique

1. Approach slowly into the wind. There's no rush. A slow approach gives you time to move between the helm and the bow.
2. Stop the boat and put it in neutral. Walk to the bow and lower the anchor.
3. Return to the helm and use the engine in gentle reverse to pay out chain slowly and evenly.
4. Once at your target scope, cleat off the chain and increase reverse to set the anchor. Watch your GPS to confirm it's holding.
5. Attach the snubber and ease chain until the load transfers to the snubber.

Use Extra Scope

As a solo sailor, err on the side of more chain. Use 8:1 as your minimum for overnight anchoring and 10:1 in anything less than calm. The extra scope gives you a larger safety margin because you won't be on deck to react immediately if conditions change.

Not sure how much chain to let out? Use our anchor scope calculator to get the exact length for your depth and conditions.

Your Digital Watch Partner: The Anchor Alarm

This is the single most important section of this article for solo sailors. A GPS anchor alarm replaces the human watch you don't have.

How It Works

An anchor alarm app like Safety Anchor Alarm uses your phone's GPS to continuously track your boat's position. You set a safe radius around your anchor point, and the app monitors your position through the night. If the boat drifts outside that radius — indicating the anchor has dragged — the app sounds a loud alarm to wake you up.

Setting Up Your Alarm

• Set the radius correctly. It should be slightly larger than your expected swing circle (rode length + boat length) to avoid false alarms from normal swinging, but not so large that you've drifted significantly before being alerted.
• Keep your phone charged. Plug it in overnight. GPS monitoring uses battery, so don't rely on battery alone for an 8-hour overnight stay.
• Set the volume to maximum. The alarm needs to wake you from deep sleep. Test it once before relying on it.
• Keep the phone near your bunk, not in the chart table or cockpit where you might not hear it.

Why It Matters More for Solo Sailors

On a crewed boat, an anchor alarm is an excellent safety tool. For solo sailors, it's an essential one. Without it, you're relying entirely on waking up naturally if something goes wrong — and tired sailors in deep sleep rarely wake up until the situation is already serious.

Before You Sleep: The Solo Sailor's Checklist

Run through this checklist every time you anchor solo overnight:

1. Anchor set and confirmed — reversed under power, GPS shows stable position
2. Scope is adequate — minimum 8:1, calculated for high tide
3. Snubber attached — reduces noise and absorbs shock loads
4. Anchor alarm activated — radius set, volume on max, phone charging
5. Anchor light on — visible all around, required by law
6. Engine key accessible — you want to start the engine within seconds if the alarm sounds
7. Weather checked — no unexpected changes forecast overnight
8. VHF on — monitoring channel 16 for any local warnings
9. Cockpit clear — no lines or obstacles if you need to get on deck quickly in the dark
10. Torch and lifejacket — within reach of your bunk

What to Do If the Alarm Sounds

When your anchor alarm goes off at 3 AM, you need a clear plan. Fumbling in the dark is not a plan. Here's your step-by-step response:

1. Start the engine. This is always step one — it gives you control immediately.
2. Check your position. Look at the anchor alarm app — how far have you moved? Which direction? Is there immediate danger?
3. If you have room: try letting out more chain. Sometimes extra scope allows the anchor to reset.
4. If the anchor won't hold: motor gently toward the anchor, retrieve it, and either re-anchor in a better spot or leave the anchorage entirely.
5. If there's immediate danger (drifting onto shore, toward rocks, or into another boat), use the engine to motor clear first, then deal with the anchor.

Night Mode and Battery: Practical Considerations

A few practical notes for overnight solo anchoring:

• Use night mode on your anchor alarm app if available — Safety Anchor Alarm's night mode uses a dark red display that doesn't ruin your night vision if you glance at it
• Always charge your phone overnight — GPS monitoring uses significant battery
• Consider a backup alarm — some sailors use both a phone app and a standalone GPS alarm for redundancy
• Disable do-not-disturb on your phone — make sure the alarm can actually sound

The Bottom Line

Solo anchoring is one of the great pleasures of single-handed sailing. The independence, the quiet, the complete connection with the sea — there's nothing quite like it. But it requires a different level of preparation and a more conservative approach than crewed sailing.

The three pillars of safe solo anchoring are: a well-chosen anchorage, generous scope, and a reliable GPS anchor alarm. Get these three right and you can sleep soundly, knowing that your digital watch partner has you covered.

Safety Anchor Alarm was designed with solo sailors in mind — continuous GPS monitoring, loud alarms that cut through deep sleep, battery- efficient background operation, and a night mode that doesn't blind you at 3 AM. It's the watch partner that never falls asleep.