Attention SoF boaters - new speed limit around Cap d'Antibes

jimmy_the_builder

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10 knot speed limit round the cap:

https://www.premar-mediterranee.gouv.fr/bons-reflexes.html?frame=download-arretes.php&fichier=2043

Helpful translation here:

https://www.pya.org/News/Speed-limit-around-the-Cap-d'Antibes.aspx

Here's the affected area:

Cap%20d'Antibes%20speed%20limit.jpg
 
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Thx for the heads up .Link has 18 June date ,Oops .:) went round last week planing :)

I,ll give it a wider berth when visiting Antibes in the future .Its less wavey the further out anyhow .

It’s been very busy recently the SoF more than I can remember it’s the adherence of the col regs by the Fr that need attention .

We return next week for more suffering after a cool down week in the mountains :)
 
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Thx for the heads up .Link has 18 June date ,Oops .:) went round last week planing :)

I,ll give it a wider berth when visiting Antibes in the future .Its less wavey the further out anyhow .

It’s been very busy recently the SoF more than I can remember it’s the adherence of the col regs by the Fr that need attention .

We return next week for more suffering after a cool down week in the mountains :)

Yep I've been giving it a miss for the past few weeks, generally I find the month from 14 July is always crazy busy and worth avoiding.
 
Blimey I went zooming through there at 22kts only 3 weeks ago coming back from the forum meet. Thanks for the heads up Jimmy. Any idea on what the penalties are and how the limit is being enforced?
 
Blimey I went zooming through there at 22kts only 3 weeks ago coming back from the forum meet. Thanks for the heads up Jimmy. Any idea on what the penalties are and how the limit is being enforced?

Could escalate into a bit more of a€€€ sapping experience .

Cynically - depends on flag .

I was “done “ way back in 94 albeit on a jet ski for zooming through the gap between he N Lerin island and Cannes .
Escorted to Cannes forces to pay Franc 200 or a night in jail and up in front of a judge in the morning .
Thing is they targeted me not the local F r lads .

Fast fwd recently
I was anchored in the middle of the Lerins ( not far from our forum meet so had a ring side seat ) and a rib packed ,we counted 14 pax blasted through .
For those unfamiliar it’s 8 knots .
A officialdom rib , blue lights and siren “ Maritime police “ caught them ,near us .
It took about 40 mins of admin , sheets of paper etc , they even made all pax don lifejackets which there was not enough and went through a pantomime of making the little kids don the oversized adults.
More what looked like fines .
Flare pack out and checked - more paperwork .

It was a Fr flagged rib btw so fair play to the cops .

Just broadening the debate , I looked up the Fr requirement s re flares safety gear / dates etc and crucially the power of enforcement by the Fr of there rules in Fr waters .
In a nut shell if transient ( defined less than 3/12 ) you can hide behind your own flag rule .
However technically if your boat is in Fr waters for over 3 consecutive months then you are obliged to follow Fr maritime safety rules .

One of which is a fine for carrying out of date flairs on board .

So with Bexit coming up and the recent dalliance with SY vat on fuel and crew social chargers , This year I have Fr regulation proofed by boat .

So answering your Q ,
A speeding fine is one thing ,it may be other stuff that they create fines for if they for what ever growing reasons they elect to throw the book at you .

My 0.02 p worth .
 
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You mean of course if you're flying the red ensign these regulations do not apply?

No they start to enforce there own safety based regs based on the none transient rule .
Permanently berthed in Fr means we meet the requirement irrespective of what flag you happen to fly .
This has always been so but up to now they have not bothered enforcing it .

Was thinking getting cought speeding like a traffic cop with a car they then check and process everything else , crack in a rear light lens etc .


Up to now when routinely boarded 3 x by douanes ( when anchored ) they have not bothered with any safety gear .

Speeding will be the maritime police with a completely different agenda - as highlighted- safety stuff and Fr rules compliance if they twig you don,t full fill the “ transient “ definition.

Get rid of any out of date flares , kept as spares etc - or hide them , I wouldn’t though .
 
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What are they trying to achieve by limiting speed ? There are no swimmers out at sea.

It is a very busy bit of sea with many craft proceeding at speed in all directions and whilst there may not be any swimmers in it there are often stationary fishing boats and dive boats to dodge and an anchorage which is all but untenable because of the wake of passing craft. Actually I think its quite a sensible move but it should have been publicised a lot better. The marina in Antibes where many forumites are berthed sends out all sorts of shit by email to berth holders but AFAIK have never informed berth holders about this
 
So I wonder how a visiting boater knows ? I suppose it will be on the charts if they are 100% up to date and on the electronic charts it is obvious and not just a note you are supposed to click and then read.

Lord they will be stopping anchoring on weed next. Oh hang on !
 
So I wonder how a visiting boater knows ?

If that boater were in the UK, the answer would be that he should be regularly updating himself via the Admiralty Notices to Mariners but I'm not sure if anything like that exists in France or anywhere in the Med. In some areas of the SoF where there are speed limits, there are buoys stating the limit in the area and I suppose in time these buoys may appear off Cap d'Antibes
 
It’s only just over a 1000 m or so on ave off shore so in reality it’s will make no odds , unless you carry on planing near the unmarked boundary and are caught .

I pass through often btw and thus far never seen any “ enforcement “ looking officialdom - lurking yet !

I think is as Mike says fishing .Theres often lots of little boats trolling about close in .

There’s speed limits sensibility through the Lerins and about 1/2 way into the Villfranche bay .
Additionally I allways drop off in the Agay bay voluntarily.
Porquerolles has yellow buoys far out and markers close in with 6 knots so visitors have no excuse .
St Trop bay has large yellows far out too , but you would not want to speed inside those anyhow - shoals .

It would be nice to know the rational for this though at Cap Antibes .

There’s a coast path almost round it ,certainly past Mr A ,s house that well known Chelsea fan the shore is all rocky so it’s not a trumped up coastal erosion thing or security thing for those residents with pied a eau .Aside winter storms thrash it more than any motor boater could even in SoF numbers .
 
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Lord they will be stopping anchoring on weed next. Oh hang on !
Funnily, around Sardinia (where Posidonia is very common on the seabed of many anchorages) there is a generic recommendation to avoid dropping the hook above it.
But aside from a very few specific restrictions in natural parks, it isn't actually enforced in any manner.
Sensible boaters just try to avoid it if possible, also because by doing so you're likely to pull the hook with a ton of Posidonia attached...

Ref. speed restrictions, I never really appreciated the fact that there isn't any, around my cruising grounds: I would have hardly noticed anyway, with my previous boat... :o
But now, this thread makes me smile at the thought that I can still make the 18Nm circumnavigation of S.Pietro island in 40 mins, if I wish - not that I normally will, anyway!
Also, not having to bother with equipment restrictions of any kind is a nice bonus.

Bottom line, glad to hear that our French neighbors are set to win a Med contest for the worst maritime bureaucracy, for a change! :D
Though they might struggle to beat the Croatian, I reckon.
 
Bottom line, glad to hear that our French neighbors are set to win a Med contest for the worst maritime bureaucracy, for a change! :D
.
You don't remember rolling around off Arbatax for about an hour then whilst Italian bureaucracy checked you out a couple of years ago for no good reason;)
 
Also, not having to bother with equipment restrictions of any kind is a nice bonus.

.

Are you sure ?
Is your boat IT flagged ?

I thought IT flagged mobo s required all sorts of #hit .
I do recall the broker the night before my Del trip arriving with all sorts of tick box stuff , like black anchor ball , radar reflector + much more .
Radar reflector is still in a box and per a recent thread some 4 y later I ve managed to figure out how the mount the ball on the bow .
Seriously the liferaft / flares had to be in date .

Then you have the mother of all bureaucracy = Guardia Finanza .

Oh I got done by those out side Roma , lurking as we fuelled up .
1hr rolling about while they went through the paperwork - Nail biting as the boat was still IT reg ,or twixt owners.
We got away , they could not find anything to stick a “give us some €€€ now on “

A lot of laptopping and a lot of phone calls ashore .
 
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You don't remember rolling around off Arbatax for about an hour then whilst Italian bureaucracy checked you out a couple of years ago for no good reason;)
'Course I do, and I'm not saying it can't happen again.
But aside from the fact that eventually the outcome in our case was the same as for PF - i.e. nothing at all - they have bigger fishes to fry now.
And afaik, they also got somewhat different directions ref. the attitude to keep towards pleasure boaters, particularly when non-IT.
 
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