Quiet Anchorages?

Lots in the Med this time of year. I have not seen another boat at anchor for the last month.
 
I have found the French to be very social at anchor....


arrived in a large bay , in the channel islands
dropped the hook.. theres a few boats anchored in the distance, but that dont count..
peace and quiet is the order of the day... luverly

go down to put the kettle on.... for a nice cuppa tea
on return to cockpit....

there is a french flaged yacht, only feet away..

....why....

again
one evening in a quiet spot, in one of the spanish rias,
reading a book in saloon, heard that annoying noise of knife and forks
clinking on plates
stuck my head out of companionway
and there they were.. inches away this time tucking into there food and wine

....why....
 
Loch Spelve - Mull

But don't tell anyone.

LochSpelveAug06.jpg
 
dab123 said:
I have found the French to be very social at anchor....


arrived in a large bay , in the channel islands
dropped the hook.. theres a few boats anchored in the distance, but that dont count..
peace and quiet is the order of the day... luverly

go down to put the kettle on.... for a nice cuppa tea
on return to cockpit....

there is a french flaged yacht, only feet away..

....why....

again
one evening in a quiet spot, in one of the spanish rias,
reading a book in saloon, heard that annoying noise of knife and forks
clinking on plates
stuck my head out of companionway
and there they were.. inches away this time tucking into there food and wine

....why....
Click to expand...

You have my utmost sympathies. One of my dreads...
 
I find the Germans and Austrians the worst for crowding (and gratuitous noise). Find a nice quiet bay and settle down, it won't be long before some bloody German (or Gulet) decides the other 3 Km of shoreline aren't good enough and drop their hook on top of yours. It may have something to do with inexperienced charter boats assuming the other guy has found the best spot but the herding instinct seems particularly strong in some nationalities.

My first introduction to this infuriating behaviour was with Austrians in the Kornati islands. I'd had this herding trouble a couple of times earlier in the week, and upon finding a nice quiet (deserted) anchorage dropped the hook and the girlfriend, a complete novice, said what on earth are we doing here? Sure enough by an hour an a half before dark there were 5 boats around us in the otherwise deserted bay despite being on the lee side and rather exposed. Half an hour before dusk we just put down out wine glasses and quietly slipped off to the obvious interest of the others. As we re-anchored on the oposite side of the bay you could almost see the thought-bubbles asking what does he know that we don't? Hmm, better do the same then. The place I'd picked didn't appeal to the GF either but pretty soon three of the five hurried over and fannied about settling in close by. The last crew only sat down and got the olives out just as dusk gathered and it was time to decamp to the place I'd had in mind all along. The look on their faces as we set off once more was a picture (Oh no! Not again! What's wrong with here? It's far too dark to anchor now!), but nothing to when I left them with a long, loud Baaaaaaaa! over the stern as we disappeared into the gloom.
I wonder if they understood?

Rigging fenders and head wagging sometimes works but can achieve woefully small gains in distance after the ensuing hour of thrashing and chaos, though if they just put fenders out too you know there's no sense or feeling there and it's you that will have to move.

Any tips on shifting Gulets would be much appreciated, I've yet to achieve that feat though a midnight swim with a carpenter's brace and 2 inch bit is sometimes tempting.
 
Last edited:
Mino said:
Eastern or western Med?
Click to expand...

Eastern med. Cyclades.
There is not even anyone left in the small marina here. We had our first blow for the winter a couple of days ago and I think they concluded (probably correctly ) that the marina would not be safe.
 
dab123 said:
I have found the French to be very social at anchor....


arrived in a large bay , in the channel islands
dropped the hook.. theres a few boats anchored in the distance, but that dont count..
peace and quiet is the order of the day... luverly

go down to put the kettle on.... for a nice cuppa tea
on return to cockpit....

there is a french flaged yacht, only feet away..

....why....

again
one evening in a quiet spot, in one of the spanish rias,
reading a book in saloon, heard that annoying noise of knife and forks
clinking on plates
stuck my head out of companionway
and there they were.. inches away this time tucking into there food and wine

....why....
Click to expand...

Yes Ive noticed this herding instinct in many places myself and never understood it. I think if they see another boat at anchor they reckon it must be the best place with the best holding etc so they zone in. pita

Once at anchor alone off Errikousa island, Ionian.. ( massive anchorage capable of taking scores of boats with loads of space.) 2 yachts came in and anchored one either side of me with hardly a boats length between us. They were Italian and therefore talked incessantly and they were travelling together so carried on their conversation across us. We eventually had to re anchor half a mile away to get some peace.
 
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