Anchor buoy forbidden in Greece?

[john_morris_uk]

If someone started hurling abuse at us for ‘anchoring so as to end up lying over their anchor’ I’d probably go very deaf and retire below.

If they came over and started knocking on the hull I’d be very polite… but so long as we were clear and safe I’d not be looking to up and move on their whim.

 

[pmagowan]

My actual experience doesn't bear that out. As I said I rarely use an anchor buoy and the only time I had a problem with one was when my own boat drifted over it at night and the line got caught on the rudder. Snorkel on and an early morning dip and solved in a couple of minutes. On the plus side I did have a situation where the trip line helped me escape from an abandoned chain in around 8 metres.
It does amuse me why so many boats anchor too close to others when there's absolutely no need to. My practice is to move as far as I can from others - that way I avoid having to listen to their generator, conversation, music etc and they mine. I appreciate sometimes it's unavoidable and then we all need to be tolerant of each other and help each other. A few weeks ago I was anchored in a narrow bay on Gaidharos [I think] island just off Syros. I have a shallow draft so I was well in towards the beach. A medium sized motor yacht anchored around 200M further out. A sail boat came later and went to anchor more or less midway between us. I had 25M out in 3M and the motor yacht was in 6/7M so I imagine he might have had up to 60M out. The sail boat was going to anchor in around 5M so would probably have put out 30/35M. All good you'd think, except the owner of the motor yacht started screaming at them first from his bow and then on Ch16 - would it be racist to disclose he was Italian. As they were about to leave I beckoned to them and suggested they anchor much closer to me. I had overnighted there a couple of times before and I knew the holding was exceptional and we wouldn't swing too much.

I have to say I am not a fan of diving to clear a rudder from a tripping line and I think this is a risk, particularly in the temperatures I sail in. I tend not to anchor where there is a high risk of fouling and I think I would prefer to use alternate methods to resolve a snag than a trip line. I rate their risk greater than their benefit in almost all cases (not to mention the inconvenience for others stated above). The worst case is you lose an anchor and some chain which you may be able to get recovered.

I too prefer to anchor away from others but you will notice an anchored boat is an attraction to others, perhaps of a less confident sort, or without local knowledge. I regularly anchor in bays that require most of the space to be occupied and often this is because people are holed up in bad weather. I have only a few times had the misfortune that a boat loved the spot my anchor occupied so much as to stubbornly refuse to lie to any other place but given there is a full 360 degrees of options and winds and tides tend to be in certain directions it can almost always be avoided and when not, alleviated by the previous risk-free (if such a thing truely exist) strategies.

Each to their own but I don't foresee using a tripping line any time soon

 

[Irish Rover]

Last time I anchored and ended up sitting over the anchor of the boat behind us, when they wanted to go I simply started our engine and motored (still anchored) to one side while they retrieved their hook. We then turned the engine off and allowed our boat to swing back into place. Stress free and simple.

Wouldn't it be grand if everyone took the same attitude. Unfortunately they don't.

 

[Irish Rover]

I have to say I am not a fan of diving to clear a rudder from a tripping line and I think this is a risk, particularly in the temperatures I sail in. I tend not to anchor where there is a high risk of fouling and I think I would prefer to use alternate methods to resolve a snag than a trip line. I rate their risk greater than their benefit in almost all cases (not to mention the inconvenience for others stated above). The worst case is you lose an anchor and some chain which you may be able to get recovered.

I too prefer to anchor away from others but you will notice an anchored boat is an attraction to others, perhaps of a less confident sort, or without local knowledge. I regularly anchor in bays that require most of the space to be occupied and often this is because people are holed up in bad weather. I have only a few times had the misfortune that a boat loved the spot my anchor occupied so much as to stubbornly refuse to lie to any other place but given there is a full 360 degrees of options and winds and tides tend to be in certain directions it can almost always be avoided and when not, alleviated by the previous risk-free (if such a thing truely exist) strategies.

Each to their own but I don't foresee using a tripping line any time soon

Each to their own indeed.

 

[Bodach na mara]

I used to think that anchor buoys were a good idea until I was cruising in company with two other boats. The skipper of one boat always buoyed his anchor in case it fouled and I sometimes did but we all anchored in a loch with a restricted area for anchoring on a narrow shelf. As the tide changed my boat swung to be too close for comfort to his buoy an I moved in case I got his rope round my prop or skeg.

The following morning his buoy was nowhere to be seen. We only found out where it was when the anchor was raised and the buoy rope was seen to lead astern and was caught on something. Yes, as the boats swung it had wrapped itself round his rudder. He was near enough to warp alongside my boat and go swimming to free it, a job that he didn't enjoy. I've never buoyed off an anchor since.

 

[Sandydog2]

Last time I anchored and ended up sitting over the anchor of the boat behind us, when they wanted to go I simply started our engine and motored (still anchored) to one side while they retrieved their hook. We then turned the engine off and allowed our boat to swing back into place. Stress free and simple.

We always do the same, or if we plan to leave soon we just take a few metres of chain up.

If someone is over our anchor and won't move, or can't (it's happened before when the skipper has gone ashore and whoever is left on board doesn't know what to do) we just shorten the chain until we are very close, then reverse with only a few metres of chain still out and pull it from under them.

 

[sailaboutvic]

As I posted many time before and still not sure why people don’t do it .
if there was a case when we needed to put a tripping line which really is the only reason a buoy should be used and not to mark where the anchor is ,
we would set the anchor as normal then once we happy one of us would get in the dinghy remove the buoy and use a sinkable line the. Bring it back to our bow .
in that way no one is going to run over it or get it tangle in their prop, Use it as a mooring buoy, or take up valuable space .
if then our anchor did get foul the line is ready on the bow .
try it guys , it take very little time to set up and what else is there to do other then a cool beer .

 

[Bouba]

I’ve been at anchor when another boat arrives and puts out a stern anchor as well so that they can be permanently close to the beach...then when the wind changed they complained that I was coming too close to them...I won’t print my reply

 

[pmagowan]

I’ll take the beer and the risk

 

[Trident]

If they weren't under his stern there wouldn't be an issue in the first instance. Anyway, I'll be happy to subscribe to your YouTube channel if you want to demonstrate it for us.

I've had to do this many times in the Balearics - its just not a big deal at all. I've been able to sit at the bow before and just change the angle of the offending boat with a foot as we wind in the chain. No one is talking about a ramming speed! It would not make good video and is very common place In places like San An in Ibiza or Soller in Mallorca in bad weather there is a helluva mess or boats all over each others chain and nowhere else to go.

 

[Irish Rover]

I've had to do this many times in the Balearics - its just not a big deal at all. I've been able to sit at the bow before and just change the angle of the offending boat with a foot as we wind in the chain. No one is talking about a ramming speed! It would not make good video and is very common place In places like San An in Ibiza or Soller in Mallorca in bad weather there is a helluva mess or boats all over each others chain and nowhere else to go.

Of course it's not impossible to recover your anchor when another boat is sitting on top of it. I've had to do it a couple of times myself and if you look back what I said was "it's a pain" and, it's particularly so when your single handed which I am much of the time. My reference to a good video was a tongue-in-cheek response to a coming alongside suggestion. My main point all along has been that this situation arises in circumstances where it is completely avoidable and where there is absolutely no need for boats to be so close to each other. I've also acknowledged there are circumstances where it is totally unavoidable which appears to be what you are describing.

 

[kingsebi]

Thanks for the interesting replies. I thought it was a good idea to mark my anchor, so others can see and avoid it. And of course have a tripline ready in case. I realize though that the buoy can be a hazard (especially at night) and that it takes up space in a tight anchorage.

 

[grumpygit]

Thanks for the interesting replies. I thought it was a good idea to mark my anchor, so others can see and avoid it. And of course have a tripline ready in case. I realize though that the buoy can be a hazard (especially at night) and that it takes up space in a tight anchorage.

A seasoned yachty would see a marker buoy and know what it was for even though he may be cussing you profusely under his breath, but what about the charterer clowns that generally wouldn't have a clue? Thinking about it they'd probably try mooring on to it. Keep it simple and be safe!

 

[Irish Rover]

Very frequently on here I see posters being advised to charter a yacht to gain experience of a particular type of boat, a lifestyle or just to expand their overall level of experience. Good advice I'd say, but should we also tell them we'll all treat them like pariahs or lepers or drunk drivers when they're in charge of a chartered boat

 

[dslittle]

If someone started hurling abuse at us for ‘anchoring so as to end up lying over their anchor’ I’d probably go very deaf and retire below.

If they came over and started knocking on the hull I’d be very polite… but so long as we were clear and safe I’d not be looking to up and move on their whim.

Only twice have we had the misfortune to listen to abuse from another yacht when we’ve anchored. On both occasions, we were (in my opinion) a good distance away from the other yachts with good swinging room.
BOTH of the ‘offending’ yachts were single crewed and appeared to be long term liveaboards - there does seem to be a reason why some people are single crewed!!!

 

[Ningaloo]

I’ve been at anchor when another boat arrives and puts out a stern anchor as well so that they can be permanently close to the beach...then when the wind changed they complained that I was coming too close to them...I won’t print my reply

However in many parts of the world (Greece, Croatia, Turkiye) lines ashore are the normal way of mooring, usually, but not always because the depth is too great to free-anchor. To free anchor in such a way as to impede line ashore mooring would be rather bad manners.

 

[Bouba]

However in many parts of the world (Greece, Croatia, Turkiye) lines ashore are the normal way of mooring, usually, but not always because the depth is too great to free-anchor. To free anchor in such a way as to impede line ashore mooring would be rather bad manners.

I think the correct protocol should be...mimic who is there first.

 

[Crisby]

Try it in Lakka or any other Ionian anchorage in the summer!!