Boating in the Med V Boating in Australia

Now to preface this post I’m going to say that we are visitors in all the countries we have travelled this year and as visitors we must abide by the laws of the country and respect the way they do things……………BUT!.........it doesn’t stop me from highlighting some of the differences between the countries. 

This post was mostly started due to some comments on a Facebook page I am a member of.  It is a sailing page and mostly quite helpful but can also be used to have a bit of a whinge. 

This post started out with the author wanting to know what was reasonable for them to endure in a crowded anchorage when their neighbours were partying like it was 1999!  One of the replies caught my eye and tickled my fancy so I thought I would write about that here. 

This sounds Spanish as F*&k to be fair.  There are many Spanish Festivals and holidays that get celebrated with tremendous frivolity.  Its also a UK bank holiday, so we had our tunes loud and some rum.  But we are not close to other vessels.  

After a season around Spain and the Balearics, we have learnt the Mediterranean rules about anchorages.   

Got a jet ski?  Doing donuts 10m off the stern of another boat is not only absolutely fine and, in the handbook, it shows that you love your new neighbours a lot.  

Got a 65ft Sunseeker?  A 1.5m wake in an anchorage is appropriate, everyone would not be on boats if they didn’t like waves.   An anchorage is super crowded, but you want to be there for just a few hours?  Drop your anchor chain over the anchor chains of three boats with lines ashore.  If you pull up all the anchors when you leave, that’s ok they’ll be heading back to a marina soon also won’t they?   

Have a rent-a-crash boat for a day?  Ensure you only drop 10m of chain in 5m of water, if you drift, simply bump off other boats.   

If there is an anchor buoy marker from another yacht, simply tie up to that.  That’s what neighbours are for! 

It certainly had us laughing and nodding our heads in agreement. The big difference between Australian boating and European boating is “personal space” and “the speed in which you pass another boat at anchor”.  Europeans would never have heard the phrase “Keep the waves friendly” and the idea of giving another boat 10-20 metres distance or more when passing by is more likely to be them passing close enough to "High 5" you as you hold on while their waves knock you sideways.  

So apart from the fact the water is much colder in Australia, I’m looking forward to a Summer on the water with a bit more space and not so many waves!