Hello All!
This is my first time posting to this forum, so please be gentle with me
My boyfriend and I are planning to set off from Kent in the UK end of April/beginning of May to embark on what we hope will eventually be a complete circumnavigation (eek!). We've been planning it for years and are pretty excited and nervous to say the least.
However, we're already stumped. For years we've dreamed of sailing around the Med for a bit before crossing the Atlantic, but now the time has come and we're still not sure exactly what route to take to get down to the Med. I'm sure this question has been asked a thousand times, but please forgive me for asking again- I did look through the forums for information, but couldn't quite find what I was looking for. Please feel free to direct me to any relevant threads from the past.
We own a Southerly 38, which has a lifting keel, and so the French canals are a viable option for us. However, we also want to get some more offshore experience before our Atlantic crossing (which will be this November- we've signed up to the ARC), and so we thought crossing Biscay would be a good way of doing this, plus will get us south quickly. We already have friends, who are experienced sailors, lined up to crew for us, if we take this option.
But what to do?! Our priority is to get to the Med and enjoy sailing in SUNSHINE before passing through the Straight of Gibraltar around beginning of Sept. But I'm feeling pretty nervous about how little time we have to see the areas we're interested in: namely, French Med (maaaybe Corsica) and Belearics. Med coast of Spain holds very little interest for us- but if we enter the Med through Gib in June (we're thinking, given we'll depart Kent in May and gun it down there as quickly as possible), then that's the region that makes most sense to explore, navigationally and geographically speaking.
Dilemma! Am open to any tips or comments! Either option we choose will have advantages and disadvantages, and would be grateful for any thoughts. Hopefully I've been clear, but please ask any questions if you need clarification.
Thankyou!
Once you've managed the passages to the Canaries, I don't think you'll be all that bothered by the "extra support" offered by the ARC. It is one of the easiest ocean passages, and there are plenty of yachts crossing both in the ARC and out of it who could help in an emergency. I haven't done the ARC myself, but have to admit that the social life at either end looks fun.
That would be a great idea, except that we need to do a 500 mile qualifying passage (not 100 mile, as has been previously mentioned on this thread), and we'd like to do that early in the season so we have it "out the way". We've also spent the last two summers cruising Brittany and the Atlantic french coast down to la Rochelle. Beautiful part of the world! We'll definitely do it again, but not this year.
At this stage, we're thinking that the best plan would be a Falmouth (or thereabouts) to Baiona offshore passage, and then make an assessment from there. I think a leisurely cruise down the Atlantic Spanish and Portuguese coats sounds promising, but we shall see what the skipper decides!
The ARC is already committed, but I very much hope that come spring we'll still be happily island hopping in the Caribbean! Then, after a year or two, it will be the Panama canal and into the Pacific ocean. .. but I'm getting ahead of myself
