Mediterranean Mooring with anchor - How to moor stern to to a dock or quay. Med Mooring in Greece.
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- Опубліковано 19 сер 2024
- In this special episode, we share our first short-handed med mooring experience with Anchor. Mediterranean mooring, also known as med mooring or stern to mooring is a common practice in Mediterranean countries. Often skippers shy away from the maneuver due to its complexity. This is how we did it in Sami town in Greece.
We are sailing in the Mediterranean and living on our sailboat since 2021. We embark on a passage from Croatia to Turkey. We plan to use the entire 2022 sailing season for this 1100 journey to explore 4 Mediterranean countries. Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, and Turkey. From Adriatic, through the Ionian to the Aegean. We share some beautiful anchorages, marinas, unspoiled islands, great sites, and expenses along the way.
We recently quit our high-tech jobs in California, bought a sailboat, and moved to the Mediterranean. We are just starting our adventure of sailing around the world and experiencing life on a sailboat. In this sailing vlog 2022, we will share our experiences as a sailing couple on UA-cam who spends our first year sailing extensively throughout the Mediterranean coast. We will document our experiences, travel discoveries, and costs throughout our sailing journey. Croatia, Greece and Turkey offer some of the best sailings in the Mediterranean and Europe. We hope you will find the sailing passage in this video helpful.
This is great and thanks so much! we are sailing in 58 days and just practiced in Seattle. Docking with a Cat is soo much easier :) Couple things I have learned - when 1 boat length out pause the anchor and make sure it sets - you did that :) Start 3 boat lengths out and i think dropping anchor to depth + a bit and then start backing is a good strategy - much cleaner and important if there are a lot of anchors around. Im going to bring walkie talkies so then its much easier to communicate - or use the boat radio if you have a handheld one. At the end i do think you should have waited for Danielle to get to the stern - if you have it set nice you should be able to hang on the anchor + prop nice and close to step off - falling off is the risk and most dangerous if you are trapped by another object and probably most risk of getting into the prop. When i dock i always get the lines on to pause the boat first - i dont lock the lines, just enough 8s to have enough friction. once everything is in the right place i go through all of them. So running them back could be done after they are all set. I think this is my biggest docking rule - I get the boat to the right position and will pause - all lines on with no slack and quick tie - goal is to pause the boat - then go through and make them nice and lock on the cleat - then you dont go back and forth with the boat moving.
Thank you for your input. It is great to get input from other cruisers. This was truly impromptu as we were counting on some dock help which never showed up - someone usually does. I would not normally step off myself but as you may have noticed, I spent almost a minute assessing the situation and felt safe enough to go for it. There are other comments below relative to better communication mediums as we struggle to hear each other under loud chain noise. Duly noted.
@@SeaBeeSailing I think the key thing with assessing stepping off is having the boat under control - if you are on the hook and holding it with the prop - pause to make sure its not shifting - its managed safe :) Great work and thank you so much for sharing! Will report back on our Greek sailing adventure and what we learn :)
Nice video, but a few suggestions to make it less stressful
1. When you are lining up with your target berth pre drop some chain, eg if you are in 8m of water drop 5m. This means that when you do decide to put the anchor on the bottom it is much quicker and can be done whilst reversing slowly and avoids drift due to wind.
2. Agree how you’re going to communicate hand signals or voice, with engine and windlass it’s noisy!
3. A boat length or so out check your anchor holding so that you are confident you can reverse against it
4. When you come up to the dock you need to balance the pull of the anchor chain with the engine in reverse. It will bounce a little but you can get it to be stable even with no other boats around. Don’t put the engine in neutral when you step off, the chain will immediately pull the boat forward and you will be fighting it with the lines.
5. This is why you need to be confident of your holding and wait for the boat to settle.
6. Using the windlass to snug the chain in will put a lot of strain on your windlass. Ease your stern lines before lifting, and the reverse against the anchor as you tighten your stern lines.
I have a remote for my anchor at the helm and therefore I am happy docking like this solo and with no one on the dock..
This is a great instructional video for 45 Degree Sailing - ua-cam.com/video/LAXLLNP48t8/v-deo.html
Thank you for your input and suggestions for all.
Top tips I’ve picked up over the years… Line up, start the reverse, drop the anchor just into the water. Drop anchor at skippers command 3 boat length out is normally sufficient. Once you start reversing do not stop the reverse and do not stop letting anchor chain out( this will cause the anchor to bite and swing you off and then you also lose steerage) when 2metres from dock stop the chain/ windlass but keep the boat in slow reverse. All being well the boat should come to a stop pulling against the anchor stepping distance from the dock. Someone then steps off and takes the windward line ashore. Tighten and repeat with other line. Then neural and let the boat settle and adjust lines & anchor chain to suit.
nicely done and nice tutorial, thanks
Good to learn subdle thingies. Thanks for that kind of video.
YW
Thank you for the great video.
you are most welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Well done
That was a fun video as I ate lunch at my desk today. 🙂
awesome
Great video. I have done countless of Marina docking and still find it utterly stressful 😂
Great demonstration. In the video shot of the chain box (vault, cabinet?), it looked like the end of the chain was shackled to the boat directly. This is quite dangerous. If you run out of chain, and your boat is in reverse, the forces may be too big for the ring to bear, and you lose your ground tackle.
Consider using some (three strand) nylon rope between the attachment point to take the shock load in such cases. Make it long enough, and you can extend your anchor rode that way in the rare cases you run out of all chain rode.
Excellent point! Duly noted.
Good manöver,
I would also tie the snubber line to chain. If the dock lines are tight, it creates a lot pull of the chain and load to windlass. Good explanations. Thank you.
Great point!
Great video - thanks! Docked in Sami last week on a cat, which is somewhat easier due to the better control, but principles are completely the same.. Had an incident there where I found myself in the water during the mooring process😢, but I guess you learn from every mistake. So my advice to you is - don't use the gangway to get to the quay during the process because it might fold on you... 😂
Every skipper who docked in Sami should get a ribbon or banner of some sort to indicate the achievement.
So helpful! I'm just now becoming familiar with this as I plan to cruise Greece in a year. Going on a non-sailing trip there soon and I'll study the practices of others at quays. Thank you !
you are welcome
If you had better communication while dropping that would be one of the best videos about Med mooring. Well done also for all the tips about good seamanship!
Well observed. Some viewers recommended hands-free walkie-talkies, which we are looking into.
Beautifully done! (Makes me appreciate not having to med moor in our cruising grounds!.)
I think its a great skill - getting off the back of the boat is the safest for the crew and looks\is rock star!
Hi, Another great vlog👍 Have you ever thought about walkie-talkie for med-mooring, really cheap & really helpful to chat to each other when mooring. We moored there 2yrs ago Sami, right in front of the bar’s & restaurants 🍷🍻🥙😃love Greece.
my thought as well - communication is key and we have simple tools! then there is no confusion. Or use a handheld VHF and pilot has their wired one.
we actually have a set but could never find a way to use them properly. I have to put it down when dealing with the throttle with one hand and helm the other. Perhaps we should get the earpiece which may make it more useful.
well done!
thank you
Great video, thanks! I’ve sailed in Canada, USA and BVI for more than 30 years, anchored hundreds of times yet never had to do a Med moor (yet!) . I have however set a stern line to shore many times in a crowded bay to limit swinging room, which I imagine is pretty similar. I’ve even set a stern line to shore a few times while single handing, which is especially tricky! But in those cases I usually wasn’t too close to other boats so didn’t have to worry about hitting them or fouling their ground tackle. A couple of questions: 1. I noticed you did not seem to set your anchor before the final approach to the dock. I usually set the anchor by backing down on it under power to make sure the set is good and there is no slack in the chain. In this case you didn’t really put the anchor under load until the last few meters before reaching the dock, but what if the anchor didn’t grab? Do you ever find the anchor will not grab the first time and you need to reset it and try again? If that’s a significant possibility I would tend to set the anchor first before doing final approach to the dock. 2. In this case the wind was on your bow pushing you almost straight back which is the ideal. What do you do when the wind is more on the beam? I have found it very challenging (sometimes impossible ) to set a stern line when the wind is on the beam, especially when singlehanding because you need to leave the helm to take the stern line ashore. In that case there’s little choice but to let the boat drift down wind on the hook, take a very long line ashore (like 50m or more ) using a dinghy, then pull the stern toward the shore to get the boat lined up. I think that would be very hard to do in a crowded harbour with other boats close by.
Excellent questions, thank you for taking the time,
I am no expert, but here is my take.
As for setting your anchor before your final approach. I believe your proposal would be ideal if there were no other boats around. The immediate issue with your suggestion is that once you set your anchor, you lose speed; therefore, you lose steerage. At that point, you are at the mercy of wind and/or current, whichever is stronger. Your next move would be to reorient your boat so that you can steer her to the desired spot. For that, you have to maneuver, and that is where you would likely hit trouble. First, you limit your boat's movability with your ground tackle down. Second and more importantly, you would drag your chain on the sea bed where other chains and anchors are present. This is the risk you are taking. With the most commonly accepted approach, which is what we exhibited in this episode, the risk you are taking is your anchor is not hooking. If the case you go out and retry. I found that most town keys in Greece are rather shallow, 3-5m. By the time you let 30-40m you have plenty of scope and chain to work with. Once in the spot, slowly retrieve your chain; with all the scope, you give your anchor plenty of chance to grab.
As for your second question, hats off to you for doing the maneuver single-handed. In our case, we actually had the wind on our starboard quarters, and as you can see from the footage, our stern was not aligned to the wall at the town quay. The stronger the crosswind, the more speed you need to maintain steerage. I found the bow thrusters provide minimal help with your ground tackle down. What is working for you, however, is the weight of the ground tackle, which makes the bow somewhat stable, and your close proximity to the windward cleat when you step off the boat. (vs, in your case, to swim to a rock or other suitable object). Once you secure the windward dock line, you drop the boat into forward gear, throttle up until the bow straightens, and collect the slack of your chain until it is rock solid.
I would welcome if there are other opinions on this subject.
All very good, bravo. One nasty comment😊, I realize you want to care for your partner, but unless she is capable of handling the boat alone, you should not be the one jumping on the dock…
I agree.
Is it possible to use a boat hook to loop the mooring line around the dock cleat to avoid jumping off the boat? We have pretty good success using this technique on floating finger docks in marinas but could this work on a town quay when med mooring? My wife is not agile so no jumping allowed on our boat! We hope to reach the Med this year so your videos are a great resource, many thanks!
It may work, but in Greece, you don't know what you are going to get. Sometimes it is a cleat, sometimes an iron loop or a bollard
have you been to Slovenia , where Elan boats come from? They are made under Julian Alps in cute place named Begunje na Gorenjskem ;) Nice vlogs btw. Greetings from Slovenija, Tom
Not yet! Hope to get an invitation from Elan 😁
@@SeaBeeSailing you seem to me both it would be country just for you
What a pain. Mooring buoys and anchoring in the bvis is way easier.
Indeed
A very useful video. Can I ask you about your snubber, which I agree is a good idea, what are you using to attach to the anchor chain, its difficult to see in the video. Many thanks, and keep the videos coming, Cheers
it's a heavy-duty hook purpose-made for chains. In our case 10mm. Rather than hook going through the chain loop, the chain actually slides into the groove of the hook sideways if that makes sense.
@@SeaBeeSailing thanks for the info, I would be interested to hear the make of the hook, so I can look them up, many thanks, cheers Clive
I know nothing, but why wouldn't you stop letting out chain while backing, confirm a good anchor bite, then continue to dock?
If you pause to set or test the anchor, you lose directional control once water isn't flowing past the rudder. In any wind from either side, the boat will rotate so you are no longer perpendicular to the shore. Accelerating in reverse to re-establish rudder control means you're now accelerating the stern toward a neighboring boat in tight quarters, which won't end well. Better to drive the boat under control all the way to the wall and deal with the anchor once stern-tied.
baby sailing
She didn’t hear you on time. Stop means stop.
Needless to sa, that anchor must have tug to dig in.
Don’t use the winch for that job. It’s not made for that.
Get your self a remote switch so your wife can be nearby.
Never step off if no one can handel that boat.
You guys look anything BUT in control
Hope others can learn from our mistakes
I completely disagree. Some skippers and crew act like cool cats and others project anxiety. This was clearly a team that knew what to do and familiarity can replace verbal communication. But mooring in an unfamiliar port is always a stressful activity - by stress I mean focus and heightened awareness. Proof is in the continuous shot and finale. They studied the wind, the anchors and then executed a flawless docking. Look at the boat momentum - not at the voice stress and jerky body movement. Two hands for a medmoor with anchor in an unfamiliar port. Good job.
I thought they did a nice job. Nothing hit or broken, minimal yelling, zero anger, that is a win in my book!