Cruising in the Med

S

SpiceIslander1

Active Member
Joined
24 Jan 2008
Messages
47
Visit site
I am intending to sail from Portugal to northern Italy this summer by way of the Balearics and coasts of Spain and France and should be grateful for any information on recommended places to visit en route where one can anchor or where marina fees are reasonable. Information on particular places to avoid would also be useful.
Like most fellow yachtsmen I usually try and avoid expensive marinas, of which I am sure there are many along this stretch of coast.
 
Anchor for a day, or a week at Illetas, SW of Palma, Majorca. Lovely place with 4 anchorages providing shelter from all directions.

Avoid anchoring in Pto Andraitx - weedy as hell! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
My advice and I'm biased and I don't know your time constraints or previous cruising areas, is to not to be in to much of a hurry to get into the med - there's a whole seasons exploring and anchoring before going thru' the G straights - good luck
 
That's true. You can spend a couple of weeks in Olhau lagoon alone - catching octopus and squid and digging up cockles (on the lagoon side) and clams (on the Atlantic side). Free anchoring and free food.
 
Hello
We did this from The Algarve last year and thoroughly enjoyed anchoring in Majorca. Our biggest issue was when we came to find a winter mooring in the South of France - almost impossible last year (might be different this year!). We ended up in Port Napoleon near Marseilles on a hard standing.
 
Don't forget Corsica, Girolata is a sublime anchorage, although very busy in Summer, Porqueroles lovely island to anchor off choose your bays for shelter. Further west try Sete best to avoid the marina due to lots of swell from fishing boats, but go through to the Etang, we were able to tie up on the etang side of the railway bridge for free, no facilities, but near to fuel station. The bridges all lift so air draft should not be a problem. Then once in you can take a break from the Med and try some inland sailing either in the etang or up the canal to the first bridge, I am not sure if you will need a Vignette from the VNF. I have been led to believe there are some excellent restaurants in Sete, according to Rick Stein and others, we were there in winter where our priority was keeping warm. Sete has a water festival in summer with jousting off boats.
Calanques south of Marseilles.
We haven't found witer morings a problem, a number of places either don't take bookings, or have places booked for boats that don't turn up, generally if you are there thhey will find you a place, we spent our first winter living aboard at Port Saint Louis, we could only stay for a month at a time, but every month we just renewed, and stayed on.
 
Coming down the portugese coast is usually tail winds and big swell. You can look up the Rally Portugal site to give you most of the viable ports for yachts all the way to Lagos. (but you don.t need to go in there , just go a couple of miles along the coast to Alvor). Then take in Cadiz and Barbate before resting up at Gibralter and getting cheap(ish) fuel.
This will raise yowls of protest but the Costa del Sol is pretty boring althought Almerimar is a useful port en passage.On to Cartagena nd then you can decide whether to continue North or head for Ibiiza------now you are cruising and you can spend ages cruising the Balearics or make an overnight passa ge to Rardinia or Corsica, pop down to Sicily and over to Tunisia , go to Malta on to Greece and Turkey--------see you in ten years!!!!
I think Jim B. contacted you on the Scuttlebut post. His notes are terrific.
Good luck.
 
You missed out the nicest bits (not a criticism SWG)- up the guadiana, el rompido - punta umbria, mazagon, huelva, up the guadalquivir to seville there's loadsa places to explore on land - then you've got Tangiers and Ceuta
 
Last summer (2008) we cruised from Almerimar to Rome, via the south of France. There are plenty of decent protected anchorages along the French Riviera...we have a low tolerance to lumpy anchorages and put into Cannes on a couple of occasions and it was nowhere near as expensive as I'd expected. It is a bit tricky to find decent anchorages along the Spanish Med coast in part because the Spanish discourage anchoring overnight....they liken it to camping on a grass verge, I think.....gypsies. Many of the better places are, strictly speaking, off-limits for anchoring though we chanced it in a few places and were OK.

The French are very happy with anchoring and there is no problem there. We thought that the Porquerolles were one of the nicest spots we have ever found for anchoring and trips ashore, swimming and generally chilling. Once you are past the French Riviera, there are almost no decent anchorages along the Italian Riviera and the marinas up there are horrendously expensive. Treat yourself to a night or so in San Remo (Portosole) if you like chic. Even Cap Ferrat isn't as chic as San Remo, in my view...very old money, very subtle, in the town, I mean, Portosole is just a marina. Then Corsica, Elba, good anchorages.
 
Much as though I hate to disagree with any forumite I think Lemain has had a very bad deal with the Spanish. They are no different from any other country with regard to anchoring. The only problems are with people who insist on anchoring either in the fairway or in the access of marinas or harbours.
Things may well have changed but we spent a lot of time along the Atlantic & Med coasts of Spain, anchoring and had no problems at all.
Respect & courtesy go a long way to making life pleasant.
 
I replied to the parallel thread on Scuttlebutt, so I won't post it all again here.

I failed to find much that was chic about San Remo. Maybe I was looking in the wrong part of town. However, what we did find was, firstly, free berthing at the Porto Communale. Found the same thing at many other ports along the Gulf of Genoa. However, the best thing about San Remo was walking up to the sanctuary through the old town. One of the best experiences we have enjoyed when cruising Med waters. The route winds through tunnels and narrow walkways in the old walls, until it emerges near the top, where the sanctuary is sumptuously decorated and very beautiful.
 
All Italian harbours are supposed to have free moorings available but they do get busy. When we were in San Remo in August there was no room so we had to go into Portosole. I suppose the casual visitor to San Remo might not notice the chic - my parents lived there for over ten years so I know it quite well. This is a place to ensure that your other half does NOT go out with a credit card!
 
Have to say of all the coasts we've zipped past before, the Spanish east coast is one we'd zip past again...........

But things do change so suggest double check currency of advice before fixing plans in concrete.

We too are heading south once more this summer and look forward to exploring lots of places we zipped past on previous voyages.

But as an example, two years back Andraix was indeed a weedy rocky anchorage as Richard reported above. But in 2008 we found it a crowded but super holding in mud. Reason being they move the west side mooring buoys to the easter side, resulting in only safe anchirgae being inside the harbour proper. It was great - but whats it like 2009? I dunno.

Having had a couple of summer around Balearics suspect there will still be many anchorages one could use this summer, but it is changing. In 2008 saw anchor balls in previously empty bays - but even so would not discourage you going that way.

IMHO you could spend a summer cruising the four main islands and only ever resort to marinas for big shops or fuel.

But then what about S. France? Lemain did his run last year - still sounds awefully attractive to me........

Might be worth planning an initial route to suit what you want to see, remembering goodly part of cruising is the chance to see a bit more than sea. Then hone in on specific anchorage advice to fit the route?

Enjoy........and do keep us posted on what you find.

JOHN
 
[ QUOTE ]

Respect & courtesy go a long way to making life pleasant.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmmmm...well it's nothing to do with 'respect and courtesy', it is a cultural thing. I'm talking about the mainland, not the Islands which are totally different.

If you have anchored along this coast you will have noticed that if you arrive during the day the anchorage is full but by 7pm all the Spanish boats have left. You'll also have noticed quite a few Spanish yachts at anchor stern-to-stern or alongside one another, lying to one anchor. The Spanish are culturally more gregarious and sociable than Brits. While loads of Brit yachties like the 'peace and quiet' of the 'outdoor world' - 'back to nature', the Spanish love noise with everything and loads of company. Once the Spanish boats have gone you are left with mostly Brit and other northern European yachts, and the odd American.

We'd noticed this behaviour when we first arrived in the Med and during our first winter we were lucky to meet a Spaniard on the yacht next to us, who spoke good English and liked to practice it...so we became quite good friends and met several other Spanish yachting couples as a result. It was quite a breakthrough for us to be introduced to a friendly group of locals who spoke good English and who enjoyed telling us about their culture, where they came from, their lives and, of course, sharing experience of yachting.

On the anchoring thing, they explained that for the most part, anchoring along the coast is something they do for days out. Just as we Brits take a rug and a picnic down to the local beauty spot, the Spanish go out for a sail and anchor somewhere to swim and have lunch. At the end of the day they pack up and go back to a marina where they get ready to socialise in a restaurant or on board, with plenty of friends. When possible, they like to meet up with friends during the day in anchorages and either tie the boats together or abandon one to gather in the other.

The Spanish find 'our' less sociable behaviour a bit odd. The idea of a couple living together on a yacht, at anchor in an anchorage, for several days is, to their minds, very odd behaviour. As an analogy, what would you think if, at 6pm at Newland's Corner, instead of packing up their picnics and going home, a couple got a frame tent out of the car, erected it and a toilet tent next to it and proceeded to cook a meal over a camping stove? You'd think it a little bit unusual. Yes, you can understand camping somewhere remote like the middle of Dartmoor, but who would camp at Newland's Corner with dozens of hotels within a ten minute drive, or cook a meal over a camping stove with two perfectly good restaurants over the road and a couple of pubs five minutes away!? If they WANT to camp then why not go to a campsite, where there are proper facilities and no need for a toilet tent. Or, you turn up at Newland's Corner to walk the dog at 7am and there is that couple in the frame tent cooking their breakfast over the picnic stove and shaving in a plastic bowl.

They see plenty of northern Europeans (especially Brits and Dutch) doing this so they know that it is a norm in our culture but that doesn't really help them to understand what we are actually looking for -- why are we behaving like this, so oddly? For the most part they think that we are just trying to avoid paying (which, for many of us, happens to be true). We anchor because we like being at anchor, in peace and quiet....something that other Brits understand but the Spanish don't. Some Spanish actually feel quite angry that we expect to 'get away' without paying when (to their way of thinking) 'I have to pay, so should they'. I don't quite understand their logic as they are free to anchor if they want to...but this comes across clearly in discussions about differences in behaviour. Why would you cut your own hair unless you couldn't (or were too mean to) pay a hairdresser? To a Spaniard, the idea of wanting 'peace and quiet' is no more understandable than someone 'wanting' to cut his own hair.

There is another behaviour pattern, mostly of northern European, mostly Brits, that the Spanish don't like. These are mostly retired folk who gradually wrinkle in the sun getting poorer and poorer until they are living on a rotting hulk at one end of a harbour, with washing, dogs, mess and usually one or more rusting cars that are not properly legal. Often these folk haven't made any local contributions yet expect access to the Spanish social services for medical and other services. There are also families in this category who put their children through school at the expense of the Spanish taxpayer. The Spanish look at this group in the way that you and I look at what are euphemistically called 'travellers' in the UK. They call them 'water gypsies' (I forget the Spanish term for that, but that's what it means and it is highly derogatory). Any of us who have spent time along the Spanish Med coast will know what I am talking about...some of the groups are like slums and the harbours have had to have a big clear-out from time to time. Aguadulce? Torrevieja? San Antonio?

Sadly for us Brits, cruising boats can be and are mistaken for 'water gypsies'. You, like us, might pay your way, pay the doc when you see him instead of using the health service, eat in the local restaurants and contribute handsomely to the economy just as any tourist does, but THEY don't know that. To them, you are a scrounger because you are not paying -- you are just taking.

So when you anchor off the harbour and turn up in your tender a fair number of Spanish people in the harbour might have pretty negative thoughts about you. Not all of them, for sure. Many do understand -- but some don't. They are not going to cooperate if you just want to leave your tender somewhere to go ashore or steal water (yes, steal, Brits usually STEAL the water without asking and with no intention of paying). The marinas have to pay by the litre, how dare a foreign yacht come in and help themselves? Please folks, don't do this, it is very damaging for relations between British yachties and the locals [/rant]. By the way, if you need water there are a few public taps but the best and easiest way is to take on some fuel on the condition that you can water -- and offer to pay for the water, of course at around once cent a litre typically. Some people keep space in their fuel tanks so they can do that regularly.

That's why anchoring off mainland Spain is not the same as anchoring off the French coast, or, even, the Islands where there are not enough marina spaces anyway, so people do have to anchor. Mind you, San Antonio (Ibiza) still has its grotty part with Brits living in slummy boats (rusting workboats, rotting yachts,....) and it does our reputation no good, by association.

This is based on many discussions with Spanish yachting friends from Madrid and Andalucia. I think it's pretty representative of Spanish opinion along the eastern Spanish Mediterranean mainland coast.
 
Yes Lemain very informative, this is not a disagreement and I do hold with quite a lot you say. I would just like to add my take on our experiences.

We had a yacht in Benalmadena for 4/5 years and cruised the South and East coast often but we very rarely anchored.
Not because of what the Spanish thought but because there are very few safe havens or what I would class as safe anyway. We have anchored from time to time with no rebuff from the Spanish. Quite a few marinas have anchorages within the marina bays or harbour walls which where well used by others, again I didn't see or hear any displeasure from this. We are visitors in their country and we should be courteous to their ways and that should stand for wherever or who's ever country one is in. I have no complaints about the Spanish, treat them right and they can be quite charming in return once the ice is broken. I don't think we as English are quite their favorites but we are about tops I think !

And yes I do think the Spanish do think us a little strange, but in nature we are more to point of being loners and this probably goes generally for Northern Europeans. The Spanish are so family ( they do have large and extended ) orientated and love occasion and this I would say of most Mediterranean people. We are travellers to them the same as we would think the same to someone doing different in our country. After all when they have finished their days outing on their boats, picnics etc they have homes to go to where we are left floating in ours. The Spanish don't really need to travel, I think as they do that Spain does have it all so this is why they are quite insular.

One thing I did find annoying was if you called in on the radion for a berth they were always full, so I just went into the marina to the fuel pontoon tied there and asked for a berth. They would shout at me for not calling them and I would say the radio is kaput then they would growl at me, then I would say I needed a beer and to watch some Spanish football and that clinched it. It worked ever time ! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Pretty much my experience as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not mine. I must have spent my five years in a different time/space continuum. I found that smiling worked a treat. I do not recognise any of this 'sea gypsy' business. Perhaps if you go looking for trouble and conflict, you will find it. Respect and acknowledgement of the fact that we are visitors/ guests/travellers or whatever, in anothers'country seems the key to it all.

I don't think the average Spaniard spends the sort of time working up a froth about anchoring yachtsmen as Lemain thinks they do. They have much better things to be getting on with.

Once again, we seem to have an entire nation and its culture judged on the experiences of one person and their fragmented conversations with a few cohorts.

Not, in my opinion, a valid contribution to the original question.
 
I agree with that. The Spanish (Andalucians) are a lovely people and we are seriously thinking of settling there for 'good'. Very warm, welcoming people. They tend to be a bit 'by the book' about sailing matters which is out of 'national' character but understandable when you know their background.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top