Edgar wrote:
That says it all! French yachtsmen, on entering a new anchorage, always
assume that the boat already there has gone in the best place, so they
anchor themselves as near to you as possible even if the rest of the bay is
empty.

I thought that was what Canadians did! One Sunday we entered "The
Basin," a beautiful inlet in Casco Bay, Maine. It was filled with about
30 boats on a rendezvous, so we anchored in a marginal space near the
entrance. Late that afternoon they all left, but we were well hooked
and decided to stay put. The next morning a Canadian came in and
anchored so close beside us there was only about 5 feet between the two
sides - we might as well have been rafted. It took about an hours of
listening to his life story, and everything he knew about our boat, his
boat, and the universe before he took our not so subtle hints that he'd
probably be happier about 400 yards away.


Although this is the worst such case, I've seen the same basic pattern
repeated many times.