How to Anchor Safely in Mallorca: Seabed, Chain and Anchor

Before dropping the anchor: reading the place

The first thing is to look at where the wind will blow over the next few hours, not just where it blows now. A cove sheltered from the tramuntana can become fully exposed if the wind backs south during the afternoon. That is why the forecast is checked before deciding where to stop (we explain it in this guide on reading the marine forecast) and an anchorage sheltered from the most likely direction is chosen.

Then comes space. An anchored boat is never still: it swings around the anchor as the wind shifts, and that swinging circle includes the chain paid out plus the length of the boat. Check that there are no rocks, swimmers or other boats inside that circle, and leave room for boats already anchored, which have priority for arriving first.

Finally, depth. In the Mediterranean tides are practically irrelevant, but the real depth under the keel, the boat's freeboard and the chance of swell lifting the hull all matter. As a general guide, comfortable anchorages for mid-size and large yachts are usually in 4 to 10 metres of water.

The seabed rules: sand, rock and posidonia

An anchor only holds well in a seabed it can dig into. In Mallorca the best is clean sand, which you can recognise from the boat by its pale turquoise colour. Dark, irregular patches usually indicate posidonia meadow or rock. Rock can trap the anchor or chain, and posidonia holds badly because the anchor sinks into a layer of roots that offers no real resistance.

There is also a legal and environmental reason: anchoring over Posidonia oceanica is prohibited in the Balearics, and anchors tear out the rhizomes of a plant that takes centuries to recover. We cover this in detail in our guide to responsible anchoring and posidonia. In practice it means looking for the visible sand patch between the dark areas and anchoring there, even if that means staying a few metres further from the shore.

A trick skippers use is to approach slowly with the light behind you and look at the bottom through polarised sunglasses: the glare disappears and the difference between sand, rock and meadow becomes clear. Charts and the Govern's official posidonia viewer (IDEIB) also help, as they mark known meadows.

Chain, anchor and scope

The chain does not just connect the anchor to the boat: its weight keeps the pull almost horizontal, which is what lets the anchor dig in and stay put. That is why we talk about «scope»: the ratio between chain paid out and depth measured from the bow roller (depth plus freeboard). The usual reference is 5 to 1 in calm weather, and 7 to 1 or more if wind is expected. With 5 metres of water and 1.5 of freeboard you are working with about 6.5 metres of height; at 5 to 1, that means over 30 metres of chain.

The anchor matters too. Modern new-generation designs (Delta, Rocna or Spade types) dig in better and set faster than classic patterns, although any anchor performs badly if too little chain is paid out or the seabed is unsuitable. On larger boats an electric windlass is combined with an anchor sized by the yard for the boat's displacement.

When strong wind is forecast or you will stay overnight, more chain is paid out and, in many cases, an elastic element (an anchor snubber) is added to absorb the jerks and reduce load on the anchor and windlass.

The manoeuvre: drop, reverse and check

The manoeuvre starts head to wind (or head to current, if that dominates). The boat is stopped over the chosen spot, the anchor is lowered until it touches bottom and chain is paid out as the boat drifts back, without dragging. When the planned length is out, gentle astern power is applied to set the anchor and you check that it holds.

Checking is as important as anchoring. Reference points ashore are taken (two objects in line, or marks on the coast) and watched for movement; on board, the GPS anchor alarm warns if the boat moves more than planned. An attentive crew rechecks the position several times in the first half hour and again when the wind changes.

If the anchor drags, you don't insist: you weigh it and repeat the manoeuvre, paying out more chain or changing spot. Repeating the same attempt rarely works and can end in an unsafe anchorage.

Weighing anchor without harming the seabed

Weighing anchor well is half of environmental care. The skipper positions the boat right over the anchor, recovers the chain vertically and, once the anchor breaks free, lifts it without dragging. Hauling in by dragging the chain across the bottom, or sailing with the anchor hanging, is what tears up posidonia meadows and stirs up sediment.

When weighing it is worth checking that the anchor comes up clean and carries no posidonia debris; if it does, the anchorage was in the wrong place. It is also recovered without haste, with the windlass at low speed, to avoid damaging either the seabed or the equipment.

When a buoy is the better choice

Where there are ecological buoy fields, the rule is to moor to the buoy and not drop the anchor, because the whole point is not to touch the seabed. They are very convenient for the boat and very good for the ecosystem; we explain how they work in our guide to eco-mooring buoys in Mallorca.

In specially protected areas anchoring may also require prior authorisation or be limited. We summarise it in our guide to protected areas in Mallorca. And to choose where to stop depending on the type of cove, see the most beautiful coves in Mallorca by boat.

Frequently asked questions