Tech: Anchorage Finder Web App

Click here to go straight to the app.

Cruising is all about sailing to new places, whether 10 miles away or 10,000, and a big part of the fun is exploring new anchorages. Where I live and sail one does not need to venture very far. South Australia has more than 160 islands scattered around its coastline. While some, such as Liguanea Island, are rugged, inaccessible affairs others, such as Williams Island, offer calm anchorages with sandy beaches. Then there is Kangaroo Island, Australia's 3rd largest island, which is in a class of its own with over 500 km of stunning coastline. Finally, the mainland is not without it's charms too, with many a scenic anchorage.

Liguanea Island.

Williams Island.

In the 6 years since I've owned Arriba, I've visited over 60 different South Australian anchorages (plus a few more in interstate waters). They range from tiny coves to wide-open beaches, and all are lovely in their own way. I've also written about almost every place I've visited, and several also rate a mention in my Cruising Guide to Sailing in South Australia. If I was writing a book, I'd list them all in an index. Being on the web though lends itself to an app instead.

Enter the South Australian Anchorage Finder (top image). Simply specify a position and the app looks up the nearest 3 anchorages. Check "Include marinas" if you want include marinas too. For example, if your position is 35°40'S 136°55'E, then your nearest 3 anchorages are Western River Cove, Snug Cove and Kangaroo Beach which are 2.7, 3.8 and 4.9 nautical miles away respectively. Selecting an anchorage brings up additional information, including the GPS coordinates and wind shelter information. For example, Western River Cove is protected from winds from E thru NW (going clockwise) shown visually as this cute "wind pie". 

The rest of the line contains links to articles. The Arriba button links to my blog posts which mention the anchorage and the RSAYS button links to the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron anchorage notes (if any). The app works offline too (except for links to articles).

With just a few exceptions, I've only included anchorages that I've personally visited, and I plan to update Anchorage Finder as I visit more places.

If you sail South Australian waters, I hope you find Anchorage Finder useful. If you sail elsewhere, feel free to modify the app to suit your own needs. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

OVER.

PS Works best in Chrome.