Mooring and anchoring

Mooring vs anchoring: what's the difference?

Anchoring means holding the boat with your own anchor and chain, dropped onto the seabed. Mooring means tying the boat to something fixed that is already there: a quay or pontoon in a marina (in the Mediterranean usually stern-to, with lazy lines) or a permanent mooring buoy.

Anchoring is free and lets you stop almost anywhere, but you choose the spot, let out enough chain and keep an eye on it. Mooring is easier and usually more secure, but often comes with a fee. A boat that is moored is tied to a quay or buoy; a boat that is at anchor is holding on its own ground tackle.

Mooring and anchoring is a necessary evil!

Often you will be in full sight of everyone already there and will feel very self-conscious as you do it — not unlike parallel parking your car in front of a pub full of men who, in your mind, are giving you marks out of ten for the manoeuvre.

The first thing to remember in all cases is that a little throttle at a time is less dramatic, but frequently more effective, than a lot of throttle.

When you steer the boat at sea, the same thing applies. If you put on too much helm, the bow will over-react and you will zig-zag.

In port or at anchor, think along the same lines. The boat may never react if given full helm or full ahead every time, and while dramatic, it could lead to the collision that everyone is talking about in the taverna that night as you try to find a corner to hide from the knowing looks!

Here are some tips and tricks for coming alongside in a marina and anchoring properly.

Marina: stern-to (Mediterranean) mooring

Mediterranean mooring can be difficult, but it is a fact of life in this part of the world. Here are the steps that make it routine.

1. Go in gently. Respect the marina's speed limit — usually no more than 3–5 knots.
2. Prepare before you enter. Fenders out on both sides, at the height of the neighbouring hulls. Two stern lines ready, one on each side, cleated on board and led outside everything, so they can be thrown straight to the quay.
3. Find your berth and pass it slowly. Then put the boat in reverse and stop it with a little forward throttle.
4. Reverse in steadily. Line up the stern with the gap and go back with gentle throttle, just enough to keep steerage. Small helm corrections, early.
5. Stern lines first. As soon as you are close enough, the crew on the stern hands or throws the windward line ashore, then the leeward one. Make the windward line fast first: it holds the boat in position.
6. Pick up the lazy line. Take the lazy line from the quay, walk it forward along the side of the boat and pull it tight from the bow. Never let it near the propeller.
7. Find the balance. Tighten the bow line and the stern lines so the boat sits about a metre off the quay — close enough to step off, far enough not to touch it in a gust.

Sound difficult? By the end of the first week you will be able to do this in your sleep!

Coming to a buoy

Once you have established that the buoys in an anchorage are for visitors and that you are willing to pay a fee to use them, follow this procedure:

1. Approach into the wind (or into the current, if that is stronger), slowly enough to stop alongside the buoy with a touch of reverse.
2. Pick up the mooring line with a boat hook from the bow. The helm keeps the boat steady with gentle throttle while the crew has the line in hand.
3. Lead the line through the bow fairlead and make it fast on a cleat. If the buoy has only a ring, pass your own line through it and back to the boat, so you can release it from on board.
4. Check the mooring once the boat settles: the line should not rub on the bow or the anchor.

Then stop the engine and open the beer.

Anchoring

First establish that the anchorage is safe to use. Four things decide it.

The bottom

If it is sandy or muddy, the anchor will dig in and hold well. Weed, rock and large stones are poor holding. Avoid seagrass (the dark patches you see in clear water): the anchor sits on the leaf mat instead of digging in, and the chain damages a meadow that takes decades to grow back. Look for a pale sandy patch, or check your chart.

The wind

Consider the direction and strength of the wind — now and overnight. Is the anchorage sheltered from it, and is the wind forecast to shift so that it blows straight in?

Yachts around

Check how close the other yachts are and how much chain they have out: they will swing on their chain, and you need to swing without touching them. In summer, Greek anchorages are busy; it is rare to be alone, and an empty anchorage usually has a reason.

The chain

Measure the depth with your echo sounder. Then let out at least five times the depth (5:1) whenever you have room; three times is the minimum in a crowded anchorage in calm weather, and seven times is better if the wind is coming. Add the height of your bow above the water to the depth before you multiply.

Why does this matter so much? Below about 5:1 the pull on the anchor stops being horizontal and starts lifting it, and the weight of the chain on the seabed is what keeps it flat. The numbers, angles and diagrams are explained in The Physics of Anchoring.

How to do it

1. Choose your position with room to swing, and approach it slowly into the wind.
2. Stop the boat over the spot and lower the anchor to the bottom — don't drop the chain in a heap on top of it.
3. Fall back slowly in gentle reverse, paying out chain as the boat moves, until the full length is out.
4. Set the anchor: hold the chain and increase reverse gradually for 20–30 seconds. Watch two fixed points on the shore: if they don't move, you are holding.
5. Secure the chain with a nylon snubber or bridle, so the windlass doesn't take the load.
6. Take a mark or set the anchor alarm on your plotter or phone, and check again after the first hour and whenever the wind changes.

Get the beer out.

Anchoring in Greece

Greece has some of the most beautiful anchorages in the world — and a few local habits worth knowing before you drop the hook.

• The meltemi. In July and August a strong northerly wind can blow for days in the Aegean, often building in the afternoon. Check the forecast every morning and choose anchorages with shelter from the north. In the Ionian the summer breeze is usually a north-westerly that rises after midday and dies at sunset.
• Busy bays. Popular anchorages fill up in high season. Arrive early in the afternoon, give your neighbours room to swing, and expect boats to anchor closer than you would like.
• Lines ashore. In small, deep bays many boats drop the anchor and take a long stern line to a rock or tree on shore. It saves space and stops the boat swinging; have a long floating line ready and a crew member who can swim or row it ashore.
• Seagrass and local rules. Avoid anchoring on seagrass (Posidonia). Anchoring on it is prohibited in some protected areas, and rules are increasingly set locally, so check before you go. Where eco-mooring buoys are provided, use them.
• Swimming areas and harbours. Keep clear of marked swimming zones near beaches, harbour entrances and ferry routes, and follow the instructions of the local port police.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to moor or to anchor?

Neither is better in itself. Mooring in a marina gives you water, power and an easy step ashore; a buoy is quick and secure. Anchoring gives you freedom, privacy and no fees.

Most charter skippers in Greece do both in a week: a marina or town quay for supplies, anchorages for swimming and quiet nights.

What is a lazy line?

A lazy line is a rope that runs from the quay to a heavy weight or chain on the seabed in front of the berth. When you moor stern-to, you pick it up at the quay, walk it to the bow and pull it tight. It does the job of an anchor, without anchors crossing each other in a crowded harbour.

How much chain should I let out?

At least five times the depth (plus the height of your bow) whenever there is room, three times only in calm weather in a crowded anchorage, and up to seven times if the wind is rising.

Can I anchor anywhere in Greece?

In most bays, yes — anchoring is generally free. Avoid harbour entrances, marked swimming zones, cables and pipelines shown on the chart, seagrass, and protected areas where anchoring is restricted.