The thought of squeezing in between two boats with nothing but your fenders to protect the topsides of all boats involved is rather painful. What makes it worse is the thought that you are backing up to a stone wall that will destroy your boat if you get too close!
No finger piers, no leeway, and no help from anyone until you are securely in your slip.
Sounds wonderful! No wonder they haven’t changed how they tie up in marinas in the Mediterranean for thousands of years!
Thankfully, this is the only place I have encountered this method of docking and just outside the Mediterranean, they don’t do it this way.
My first encounter with the procedure was in a marina in Spain, just inside the Mediterranean. I was given a slip that was 8cm (3.1 inches) wider than my boat (literally 8cm of leeway). Maddie, my wife, wanted us to tie up stern too so it would be easier to get on and off the boat, but this meant I had to reverse in a straight line with a full keel boat that has impressive prop walk; oh, and no bow thruster!
Our electric motor had the power to safely maneuver us into the slip but it was tricky! This is how I did it.
First: I accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to do this. There is no way I can back up in a straight line, so I made preparations for docking in a different way.
Second: I waited for the wind to be completely calm (thankfully this marina is in a place with no tide and no current).
As we approached, I jumped off our boat and climbed onto our neighbor with the spring line. Maddie stood on the stern and as soon as we were close enough she tossed the stern line to someone on shore. They pulled us in while I fended off and pulled us in at the same time to the boat next to us. Once in position, we then attached the bow mooring line which runs into the water ahead of the slip to tie us up and keep us from sliding back into the wall.
When we go to leave, we will simply untie and motor out of there with our little electric motor, but until then we are safely tucked away Med Moor Style!
When you encounter this type of docking, just remember to wait for calm conditions and take it slow. Know which way you walk and plan ahead for that so that you don’t end up walking your boat into someone else’s topsides!
