DO NOT ANCHOR HERE

Photo Bokissa Private Island Resort - No anchoring allowed!

Every year yacht anchors and chains destroy more coral reefs in the South Pacific

Corals grow very slowly and are, like all living creatures, are subject to infections after physical abuse. Over a thousand yachts cruise through the South Pacific islands every cruising season, all of them equipped with anchors and chains that can - and do - destroy significant areas of living coral. Year by year yachts are destroying the very beauty that they came to see.

photo - anchor damage to coral thicket

The coral in protected lagoon waters (anchorages) is typically very fragile and easily broken. The broken coral quickly fouls anchors and yachts that do anchor in these brittle corals often drag - causing still more damage to the reefs and sometimes to the yacht itself if it drags onto a reef.

A prudent captain will anchor in the sand or mud and make sure the anchor chain is also over the sand or mud bottom. Anchors are designed to hold in sand or mud - not in fragile corals. And if you anchor in massive coral head areas your anchor could easily become impossible to retrieve without diving. Often, in shallow tropical water, the reefs are clearly visible as dark patches. But in deeper water or water that is not very clear, a recording depth sounder can be a big help in locating coral-free areas. Every yacht cruising in coral waters should have a depth sounder that shows a tracing of the bottom. If you don't care about destroying the coral reef, you should at least care about not destroying your boat - anchoring in fragile coral environments will foul the anchor and your boat could drag in a strong blow. So anchor in the sand or mud, NOT in the coral.

 

Forbidden Anchorages in Vanuatu

The Reef Islands -

Due to a few careless yacht captains who anchor their yachts in living coral environments, all yachts are now forbidden to anchor anywhere in the Reef Islands - a small group of island just north of Vanua Lava in the Banks Island group of northern Vanuatu.

The entire Reef Islands area, including the lagoon and the surrounding reef to a depth of 60 meters is a marine sanctuary and under private lease. The owner of the lease, along with the custom owners, is very much concerned with protecting the marine environment of these islands. They report that visiting yachts this year have caused considerable damage to some of the reefs with their anchors and chains - not to mention spearfishing in the sanctuary!

The custom owners now stationed there are prepared to chase away any yachts that attempt to anchor in the Reef Islands or land on the islands. The owner of the lease is prepared to prosecute any trespassers.

Bokissa Island - Espiritu Santo -

Bokissa Private Island Coral Reef

The entire area surrounding Bokissa Island is a marine sanctuary and yachts are forbidden to drop an anchor anywhere on the reef shelf within the 60-metre depth line. Click on the interactive sphere image above to see exactly why yachts are not allowed to drop their anchors and chains here. Try the full screen view.

Bokissa Island is a private island resort and anyone wishing to visit the island, snorkel or dive on the surrounding reefs, must have prior permission from the resort owners.

Yachts can contact the resort on VHF channel 10.

 

 

Avokh Anchorage - Maskelyne Islands, Malekula -

In the cruising guide to Vanuatu we say there is a small sand area suitable for anchoring in 10m of water, 350 metres off the village at Avokh. We also say that the sandy area is small and surrounded by coral areas that have very poor holding.

According to a 2010 report by Tom Barnfield of Oceanswatch.org the sand area is no longer there and THERE IS NO SAFE ANCHORAGE at Avokh Village.

Tom reported,

"As we could not find the sandy patch we moved to the anchorage at Awei. Unfortunately other yachts did not do the same. We saw a number of boats taking two or three attempts to anchor before giving up and moving on, with the exception of one boat that thought they were set and subsequently ended up dragging over a kilometre throughout the night, narrowly avoiding the shallow reefs surrounding them. This is obviously causing considerable damage to the reef which is an important nursery ground for the fish the islanders rely on."

We have changed the information about this anchorage on the Cruising Guide to Vanuatu but if you are cruising in this area please do not attempt to anchor at Avokh and tell other yachts not to anchor at Avokh.

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