Balearic Islands Don't Want Cruisers

[sy_gilana]

It seems this prime cruising ground is going to be deserted soon. There seems to be a concerted effort to squeeze the little guy out. All they want now are the big spending sunseekers etc. Here are links to two recent events which are quite ridiculous.

Google Translate

This new law basically says if your boat is bigger than 12m (40') you will have to anchor in 35m (113') of water if there is turtle grass (posedonia) in the area.
Clearly they have not got a clue!

Then theres this one...

Google Translate

Basically you will have to pay about 700 Euros a month for a mooring on the cheap monthly rate!!

In a nutshell, if you are coming to the Balearics, bring cash, plenty of it, or sail on by...

Were gettin' out of Dodge!

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

It seems this prime cruising ground is going to be deserted soon. There seems to be a concerted effort to squeeze the little guy out. All they want now are the big spending sunseekers etc. Here are links to two recent events which are quite ridiculous.

Google Translate

This new law basically says if your boat is bigger than 12m (40') you will have to anchor in 35m (113') of water if there is turtle grass (posedonia) in the area.
Clearly they have not got a clue!

Then theres this one...

Google Translate

Basically you will have to pay about 700 Euros a month for a mooring on the cheap monthly rate!!

In a nutshell, if you are coming to the Balearics, bring cash, plenty of it, or sail on by...

Were gettin' out of Dodge!

700 a month for a 20m boat that's cheap by med standards.

Dave

[kellyp08]

Actually 700 Euros a month is about half and in some ports less than half the going rate for a "mooring". However, it should be noted that a "mooring" in the Balearics is not a mooring ball with a mooring line. In Mallorca (and elsewhere in the Med), a mooring is a space along a quay or pontoon, for tying up stern-to (Med moored). Certainly, there are plenty of spaces in the various Calas of the Balearics where you can anchor for free but there are two major caveats: First, be sure to keep an anchor watch and sharp eye out for a sudden change in wind direction during the night. And secondly, don't blindly depend on your old trusty CQR for grassy and sandy bottoms, but consider a Spade, Manson, Rocna or even a Fisherman anchor. If your boat breaks free and ends up on the beach in a Tramontana, it'll cost much more than whatever you'll pay for a mooring.

[boatman61]

While its true that some old anchorages like Andratx are stopping anchoring by installing moorings there's still a hell of a lot of places to anchor around Mallorca and Minorca... doubt they'll ever kill it off... also... regarding the anchors suggested... Bruce held me pretty damn good in a Tramontana when all around me dragged and fled to the marina... but then I do use the much mocked all chain method 3.5 x length + depth in normal conditions... and add appropriate to increased wind strengths...

[kellyp08]

Hi Boatman61; Seems like you've had some experience in Mallorca. We've had a home on the Northwest coast for 22 years. I'll be bringing my boat over there next month. To my knowledge Port de Soller seems to be the only somewhat safe anchorage on the northwest coast of in a north/northwesterly. However, if you know of some other safe all weather anchorages on that coast, I'd really appreciate your insight.

[barnakiel]

Yep.

When Spanish govts were building harbours that never got used freaking ONCE while destroying all seagrass and attached sealife then nobody cared.

It is nothing about any seagrass. It is all about money. It is a move to push the boats to use the moorings and marinas. Just look at Spanish economic condition and you will have a clear picture.

The tourist IS the income in Spain. You want sun? Pay for it!

b.

[barnakiel]

BTW for anybody interested in this subject: there IS a decret of the rey in place (maybe very old, maybe outdated, maybe not) which says in Spain one can only anchor where there is a designated anchorage, NOT anywhere we like.

I have never seen this law enforced, but a fellow boater who is a lawyer (a Spanish lawyer) said this is indeed the case.

Cheers,
b

[sy_gilana]

Just to clear up a misunderstanding. The mooring I mentioned in the original post is indeed a swing mooring, a buoy, in the middle of a bay subject to bad weather, with no other services offered. it is NOT a dock with access to land, and electricity and water etc...

In Soller yesterday 5 boats were fined 3000 Euros each for having their own concrete block, chain, and buoy.



I have seen more boats sink in Port 'd Andratx than anywhere else I have ever sailed. Attached photo refers.
Port d' Andratx

I would not have mentioned this if the situation had not changed. This is NEW, and a stated objective, to make it too expensive for sailors in favour of powerboaters who tend to spend more money and be more dependent on shore power etc...We are actually here now, and not reporting what we have heard via some grapevine.

There are 12 wrecks in the photo. This was not a unique event. 2008 saw 48 boats lost here. 2009 6 and 2010 another 11. A great place to come if you cannot sell and you are fully insured.

[kellyp08]

SY Gilana

Thanks for posting these pictures and for all the pictures on your website. Looks like you and your family have had a great time cruising. I'd appreciate your advice.
We've had a home on the Northwest coast of Mallorca (Deia) for 22 years but don't live there year-round. All my sailing experience there has been on chartered or on boats owned by friends and in June - early September. I'm bringing my boat from Maine, USA to Mallorca next month and plan on leaving her in Port de Soller for a year or so (until VAT becomes an issue). However, the pictures you shown are sobering! I've never seen a waterspout in Mallorca- probably because I've never been at hand at the right time of year. I'm surprised by what you say about the fines in Soller - that's 2 months berthing charge for a stern-to mooring (berth) at the marina's docks! Nonetheless, from what you say, I'm now wondering whether or not to keep the boat somewhere besides the northwest coast after the summer season has passed.

PJ

[Prairie Chicken]

The disturbing pics SY Gilana posted above certainly demonstrate the wicked winds that flow thru Andraitx. We've been at anchor there for a few of those storms, and most recently on Club de Vela's floating quay in a storm with 40 kts sustained & a peak of 50 kts.

The damage those pics revealed is primarily the result of the floating quays built by the town (not the Club de Vela) breaking lose. They were on the West side of the harbour where the fish tanks are again. As was reported to us by locals, those floating quays were not designed for the winter storms but naturally people left their boats on them anyhow. When that bad storm came thru, it ripped the floating quays loose--and you can see the resulting damage. It hasn't been repaired, and the bottom of that harbour has got to be fouled beyond belief.

On the other topic, if I understand your post above correctly, five boat owners were fined for rigging their own mooring balls. I can't say this upsets me. It is a problem and I don't know the law or precedent but it is very discouraging to watch people go into lovely anchorages, drop concrete filled tires or other assorted weights, & chain, & buoys to make moorings for their own use. They don't care for them, often do a poor job of creating or marking the buoy, sometimes tie derelicts or dinghies to them which float there untouched for years, and generally create ground hazards which would turn any cruiser's hair grey. Again, I don't know the nautical law on this but it is rampant in the Balearics and I'd like to see some restrictions on it, or enforcement.

[micah719]

The more I hear from folks that have mediterranean experience, the less I want to go there. Pity, I'd have loved to visit all the historic places....I guess that's still an option, just as long as I avoid anchoring off countries like Spain....and Italy. And Portugal (ok, not Med.). And Libya. And Syria. And Egypt. Not Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, or France, either. Hmmm, that leaves Israel, Cyprus, or the various bits of former Yugoslavia.

[Prairie Chicken]

Well micah, it's certainly not as good as it used to be, but we've been there for 19 years now so it isn't tooo bad. Also, I'm not sure where you can go that pollution, politics, and people haven't despoiled the pleasures of cruising.

[micah719]

Yes, I suspect that would be difficult. In the sense of having to sail a long way. Now there's an idea for a thread....the most out of the way places where the fewest people of any kind go. Kergeulen springs to mind. Say, are there any islands still not claimed by any country?

[kellyp08]

I've now been in Mallorca about 2 weeks. I am at a mooring in Puerto de Soller on the northwest coast of the island. By "mooring" I mean Med-moored to a pontoon/quay. There is a steep learning curve in executing this maneuver in a sailboat with no bow thruster and a large left-handed prop (in forward) and great difficulty in backing to port in a cross-wind - far more difficult than picking up a mooring in Maine. Hot summer winds that carry red dirt from the Sahara cover your boat with grit that must (or should be) cleaned off daily. This is sure different than Downeast Maine where, 12-20 foot tides, strong tidal currents, 15 degrees of magnetic variation, pea-soup fog, cold drizzly rain and bird poop that must be cleaned off daily. One positive note, however, the people at Marina Tramontana in Port de Soller, Mallorca and Clifton Dock in Northeast Harbor, Maine are great and couldn't be more helpful. And the cruising grounds are spectacular in both places!

[Prairie Chicken]

The Sahara that falls as rain isn't much fun either!

Kelly, have a look at my recent post on the thread Balearics September 2012. I took some time for that chap & you might see something useful.

As for Maine, haven't sailed there, but we've friends with a Beneteau here in Nova Scotia & I suspect the challenges & pleasures are similar.