Anchoring in Italy

[dgadee]

Not criticising Italy (I won't talk about their bandit marina charges) and not yet done Croatia, but I like the feel of Greece and the anchorages are great. My only comment was about the Italian litter everywhere.

We have felt safe everywhere - except when crossing roads in Italy. I have been teargassed in Istanbul by Erdogan's police so not sure what to expect in Turkey.

The crew is a very fussy eater (very limited veggie stuff - almost the ancient Roman diet of olive oil, bread and wine) so we don't tend to eat out much - saves me having to listen to all her complaints about what they serve vegetarians - but I agree with your food comments.

 

[Metabarca]

Not criticising Italy (I won't talk about their bandit marina charges) and not yet done Croatia, but I like the feel of Greece and the anchorages are great. My only comment was about the Italian litter everywhere.

There is Italy and there is Italy: you can't generalise too much. Come up in the north-east and I think you'd have problems finding even a cigarette butt on the ground. In the south, littering happens for all sorts of reasons: inefficient rubbish collection, mafia involvement causing stoppages, but it is also cultural, alas, though changing. But not all the country is like that.

 

[kingsebi]

I got another question about anchoring in Italy. I understand that depending on the place you have to anchor 200/300m away from the land (I suppose this is valid only for swimming beaches?), does this apply in winter aswell, when nobody is swimming?

 

[dgadee]

I got another question about anchoring in Italy. I understand that depending on the place you have to anchor 200/300m away from the land (I suppose this is valid only for swimming beaches?), does this apply in winter aswell, when nobody is swimming?

A lot of the swimming markers were removed (but not all) by the time we left at the start of [edit] October so there shouldn't be too many problems with them. On how close, I believe it is outside the markers rather than a distance from the shore. Hopefully if I am wrong I will be corrected. Not a rare occurrence.

 

[Mistroma]

We haven't sailed in Italy for a few years but would imagine the rules haven't changed much. I think that the general rule was under 3 knots withing 500m and no anchoring closer than 200-300m. I think swimming buoys were generally meant to be set at 250m from the coast. However, we were always warned to check local laws for exceptions as there isn't a standard national rule. I imagine that 300m is a pretty safe distance but you can still be asked to move (e.g. close to a harbour entrance. We have had that even when not actually anywhere near the entrance.

We always anchored outside markers and many boats were quite close to them. No idea about winter when they aren't in place. I don't remember any mention of exceptions and imagine that the rule still applies even in absence of the buoys.

 

[kingsebi]

That's what I thought. No markers doesn't mean the rule doesn't apply. I found the coop supermarket by the way

 

[MapisM]

I got another question about anchoring in Italy. I understand that depending on the place you have to anchor 200/300m away from the land (I suppose this is valid only for swimming beaches?), does this apply in winter aswell, when nobody is swimming?

Yes it does.
It would be pretty hard to think of a rule like that making its validity dependant on the number of people swimming at any time, if you think about it.

That said, if you keep a decent distance from the shore, I believe it's VERY unlikely that the CG will ask you to move.
Personally, I wouldn't want to drop the hook at less than a hundred meters (at the very least!) from anything hard, regardless of rules, when anchored for overnighting. Should the wind change, you don't want to find yourself ashore in a minute...!

 

[RupertW]

Yes it does.
It would be pretty hard to think of a rule like that making its validity dependant on the number of people swimming at any time, if you think about it.

That said, if you keep a decent distance from the shore, I believe it's VERY unlikely that the CG will ask you to move.
Personally, I wouldn't want to drop the hook at less than a hundred meters (at the very least!) from anything hard, regardless of rules, when anchored for overnighting. Should the wind change, you don't want to find yourself ashore in a minute...!

I understand your sentiment but my wife always likes to be in shallow turquoise water so we often find ourselves very close in (not in Italy but other places where it’s fine to anchor close or even tied back to the shore).

 

[kingsebi]

MapisM: I prefer not to anchor too close either. My point is that from 100m to 300m there can be significant differences in depth. So I have to take out 40m of chain instead of 20m. It's just my lazyness talking.

 

[Mistroma]

That's what I thought. No markers doesn't mean the rule doesn't apply. I found the coop supermarket by the way

I imagine that the path between the building and the wall is pretty overgrown at this time of year. It does cut out a lot of walking.

The town quay were happy for us tie up and fill our water tanks for about 5 euro. Not too bad for 500+ litres. We never outstayed our welcome but often saw other boats sitting there all day and leaving just before 17:00. One guy said that he often came in to fill, have lunch, a few drinks and back out to anchor as long as it was before 17:00. Odd financial model as the place was often fairly full until late afternoon and you could see boats trying to find an overnight space. Then it would be almost empty because the overnight charge was around 120 euro for boats in our size range.

 

[MapisM]

I understand your sentiment but my wife always likes to be in shallow turquoise water so we often find ourselves very close in (not in Italy but other places where it’s fine to anchor close or even tied back to the shore).

Theoretically, in Italy you couldn't do that.
Further local restrictions aside, the general rule is 300m from beaches and 100m from anywhere else.
Now, I don't think you would want to tie back to the shore in front of a beach, but obviously 100m is too much also in front of a rocky coast.

BUT, I said "theoretically". I did overnight at anchor tied back to the shore in a few occasions.
It's a matter of using a bit of common sense, pick places where you aren't bothering anyone, etc.
Usually, wild and secluded spots, hard to reach from inland, are the nicest anyway, regardless of the regulation...

 

[kingsebi]

I imagine that the path between the building and the wall is pretty overgrown at this time of year. It does cut out a lot of walking.

No problem with the path. There are a bunch of shopping carts too and they even provided trashcans for recycling. Must be a very busy anchorage in summer. Now its just me and another sailboat with no one on board.

PS: Thanks for the information on getting water in the marina. That could come in handy at one moment.

Usually, wild and secluded spots, hard to reach from inland, are the nicest anyway, regardless of the regulation...

Thats exactly what I think.

 

[Metabarca]

Here in the Trieste area, you will find lots of boats at anchor at no less more than 50 m from the shore, but that's in areas hard to get to from land and also in part because of the mussel farms just offshore. And it's for daytime, lunch and swimming purposes, not for overnighting. Never heard of anyone being approached by the authorities because of this, although boats are apprehended (and fined) if they pass inshore of the buoys marking the marine reserve around the castle of Miramare.
In Croatia, of course, anchoring close to shore is the norm, often with a line ashore (that's if you can find a bay that hasn't been 'normalised' by the local authorities with the addition of anchoring points...

 

[kingsebi]

Thanks for the information Metabarca. I guess in the end it all depends on the local authorities and how they enforce the law.

I wish they would stop normalising this beautiful world.