First Time Bareboat Charter in the Med.

[Railbob]

Well we've finally decided to look at chartering a boat for the first time in the Med in 2021 ( I know it's still a bit far off time wise ) We don't have any experience in chartering apart from the Canal Du Midi several years ago and I was wanting to ask those who have chartered what pitfalls to look out for and if you would suggest your favourite sailing areas, we are pretty open to suggestions as we haven't decided were to head.:encouragement:

 

[RichardS]

Greece and Croatia are probably the two obvious locations. You will have a great sailing holiday in either although a sailing qualification is needed for both these days. I haven't sailed in Turkey.

Anchoring is generally slightly easier in Greece than Croatia, whereas I find that the quayside lazy lines in Croatia are easier to use than the stern-to mooring in Greece but neither of those is a deal breaker.

Richard

 

[Railbob]

Greece and Croatia are probably the two obvious locations. You will have a great sailing holiday in either although a sailing qualification is needed for both these days. I haven't sailed in Turkey.

Anchoring is generally slightly easier in Greece than Croatia, whereas I find that the quayside lazy lines in Croatia are easier to use than the stern-to mooring in Greece but neither of those is a deal breaker.

Richard

Thanks Richard, I do have RYA Day Skipper Practical and Theory, would be a good idea to apply for an ICC ticket? I am thinking along the lines of either Croatia or Greece at the beginning of September, is it still warm or does the weather start to breakdown by then ?

 

[[3889]]

Thanks Richard, I do have RYA Day Skipper Practical and Theory, would be a good idea to apply for an ICC ticket? I am thinking along the lines of either Croatia or Greece at the beginning of September, is it still warm or does the weather start to breakdown by then ?

I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of Greek maritime law but when I worked as a professional skipper in Greece I was required to obtain an ICC, on top of commercially endorsed YM Offshore, by my employer.

 

[ashtead]

My recollection is an ICC is required. Do look at other locations though as Croatia is overpriced so maybe cheaper in next door countries ? Anyone tried Montenegro for example ? Ashtead

 

[RichardS]

Thanks Richard, I do have RYA Day Skipper Practical and Theory, would be a good idea to apply for an ICC ticket? I am thinking along the lines of either Croatia or Greece at the beginning of September, is it still warm or does the weather start to breakdown by then ?

If you can covert your RYA qualification into an ICC, then I would definitely do it. I tried to convert my Yachtmaster Theory + 30 years sailing experience into an ICC but the RYA rejected my application. I suspect that you will be more successful than me.

The beginning of September is, without doubt, the best time to go to Croatia or Greece. The weather is still beautiful but hopefully the mid-summer unbearable heat has passed, the sea is still at its warmest and the crowds have subsided and it's possible to find a quiet bay with just a few boats at anchor.

I've only sailed in the Greek Ionian and I think that wherever you start from, virtually the entire area is accessible. Croatia is larger so where you start determines what you see. My preference for a first charter would be to start from somewhere in the Split area rather than from Istria in the north or Dubrovnik in the south but it's not really that important as wherever you start from, you will find beautiful islands and great sailing, so finding a good deal with a boat you like is probably more important.

Richard

 

[davidej]

Greece and Croatia are probably the two obvious locations. You will have a great sailing holiday in either although a sailing qualification is needed for both these days. I haven't sailed in Turkey.

Anchoring is generally slightly easier in Greece than Croatia, whereas I find that the quayside lazy lines in Croatia are easier to use than the stern-to mooring in Greece but neither of those is a deal breaker.

Richard

Agreed but get lots of practice of reversing. \In particular learn to handle propwalk.

 

[mjcoon]

Thanks Richard, I do have RYA Day Skipper Practical and Theory, would be a good idea to apply for an ICC ticket? I am thinking along the lines of either Croatia or Greece at the beginning of September, is it still warm or does the weather start to breakdown by then ?

You can get breakdown into furious thunderstorms in Croatia any time! But it won't be cold, more like an outdoor shower...

I believe Croatia requires a VHF certificate as well as ICC or similar; please check.

Turkey is rapidly ceasing to be like Greece was 20+ years ago!

Mike.

 

[alex_m24]

I have a cousin who runs a Yacht chartering business in the Ionian in Greece, I'm sure they would be happy to give you some info on the area and qualifications required.

We have been out a few times and its a great place for sailing.

PM if further info required

 

[Tamar]

You can get breakdown into furious thunderstorms in Croatia any time! But it won't be cold, more like an outdoor shower...

I believe Croatia requires a VHF certificate as well as ICC or similar; please check.

Turkey is rapidly ceasing to be like Greece was 20+ years ago!

Mike.

Also you can get some serious storms in late September, scary when they hit you, but all over in around ten minutes.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I have my boat in northern Croatia. If you are a first time charterer without your own boat or lots of experience then if there is anything in the Croatian weather forecast threatening "isolated thunderstorms" - use a harbour or marina overnight. You'll be fine. I've only been hit at anchor twice at night by thunderstorms in 11 years but they are vicious, appear from nothing (you can see them building if it's still daylight) and are over pretty quick so the sea doesn't have too much time to build up - the problems may not be you but other boats in the anchorage dragging and the general chaos can be unsettling - an hour later you wonder where it all went. Go for a collision damage waiver for peace of mind.
September is quieter and a bit cooler generally but in recent years the weather has been getting less predictable overall, so there are no guarantees.

 

[laika]

Check certificate requirements with your charter company when you book. Practical requirements may differ from legal requirements. I would be amazed if there's a charter company which would accept an ICC which wouldn't accept dayskipper. In Croatia dayskipper is legally acceptable:

https://mmpi.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/MORE/More%207_19/TABLICA_ENG_srpanj2019%205-7_19.pdf

3 minutes of googling didn't throw up a government list for turkey and croatia but all the charter companies seem to say dayskipper *or* icc. Worst case scenario £45 for a year's RYA membership + free ICC but I'd be surprised if you need it.

If, like me, you go from RYA-taught solent sailing to med chartering here's what comes as a surprise:
Mooring, obviously. Read up about med mooring (e.g. RYA https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge-advice/cruising-tips/boat-handling-sail/Pages/mediterranean-mooring.aspx ) and accept that you probably won't get it right the first time.

Anchoring: The RYA teach you to anchor in 4-5m in osborne bay and leave plenty of swinging room. In the med the coast often drops off dramatically so in many cases you need to get used to dropping in deeper water that you may feel comfortable with and taking lines ashore to secure to rocks such that the pull of your anchor remains "uphill". We've discussed techniques for that here before. I have my own because the ones generally presented in books don't work for me except in a flat calm. And don't get stressed about swinging room or you'll never anchor. There is no expression for "swinging room" in Itallian. On my first charter (actually a friend's first charter but he delegated skippering to me) I anchored in Hvar on a lovely day with plenty of space. By nightfall I could probably jump to other boats. If it's calm don't spoil your night with an anchor watch. fender up and live with it.

Don't avoid anchoring because it seems too stressful. This is the best bit of sailing. And the ACI marinas in croatia are soulless, expensive places.

September is when I tended to go. Weather is great and sea warm but the ionian still seems crowded. The sailing-med-retirees here will have more experience but mine is that weather starts to be more unpredictable in october (we sat out a gale in Lakka for 2 days on our last charter which was in october). Having said that, we had the medicane during our last (land-based) holiday in Greece last september.

Per previous posters, I've been caught by the half-hour F2->f7->F2 squall in croatia in september. Reef quickly run off downwind, carry on with your day. At least the rain and spray are warm .

Do ask the people at the charter base about places to go: they will be more familiar with the area and how many people will be about at a given time of year than the writers of sailing guides that visit on one or two days.

Oh and if you don't have a boat don't buy one because then you'll feel you can't charter again and the pinnacle of your holiday experience will be somewhere like Dartmouth. (sorry...this has just made me want to go on a med sailing holiday again....)

 

[newtothis]

There is no expression for "swinging room" in Itallian.

I think you'll find it is "camera bunga bunga".

 

[laika]

I think you'll find it is "camera bunga bunga".

:encouragement:

 

[Old Bumbulum]

I'll put in a word for Turkey. Marmaris, Gocek, Bodrum area has a massive number of quiet anchorages many with attendant restaurants, you can always find shelter, the food is far superior and cheaper than Croatia and the people are delightful. There are archaeological sites and ruins everywhere you go.

There is a huge mileage of coast folded up into those gulfs so distances don't have to be large. Again Apr-May and Sept-Oct are the best times.

 

[SimonFa]

My one and only experience of bare boat chartering in the Ionian was in August and it was either too windy or not enough wind to sail and we motored everywhere, which was quite dispiriting.

That said, we found some nice anchorages and even got in to some of the busier towns. although you have to be very pushy something I didn't particularly like so let friends go in first and find me some space.

 

[Norman_E]

I'll put in a word for Turkey. Marmaris, Gocek, Bodrum area has a massive number of quiet anchorages many with attendant restaurants, you can always find shelter, the food is far superior and cheaper than Croatia and the people are delightful. There are archaeological sites and ruins everywhere you go.

There is a huge mileage of coast folded up into those gulfs so distances don't have to be large. Again Apr-May and Sept-Oct are the best times.

Absolutely. Its still one of the best cruising areas. The charter company will sort out the regulations for you. I sail my own boat there and until about two years ago had never been asked for any qualifications when renewing my transit log, but recently an ICC has been requested. Most charter companies will mark up a chart with the positions of restaurant jetties.

 

[duncan99210]

We’re based in Preveza and aim to spend most of the summer on board Rampage. We tend to avoid the Ionian mid July to the end of August as it silly busy. That said, we tend to avoid town quays and anchor off, so for the most part there’s never a real problem finding somewhere to stop even at the height of the silly season.
If you are happier on a quay, then the need to find a space drives early arrival at your destination which invariably means no wind. The wind usually starts to fill round midday from the north/north west so if you leave departing until after lunch, you can usually expect a decent sailing breeze most days. Be aware that the land has some startling effects on the wind speed and direction: there’s a zone off the eastern tip of Meganisi where the wind typically change direction by 180 degrees within the space of about 100 metres.
On a charter boat, you won’t have any choice about how much anchor rode you have but the boat should come with at least 60 m of chain for stern to mooring. That means you should be good to anchor in most places, albeit with most of the chain out. Be prepared to anchor in 15 metres of more in some places.
The weather in September is usually settled but this has been a funny year. May was cold and we’re getting some weird wind patterns just now, with winds blowing throughout much of the night in contrast to the normal pattern of dead calm by sundown. So be prepared to weather watch and plan accordingly. We find that the Windy app is pretty accurate along with grib files via PocketGrib.
Do check with your charter company about the qualifications required. The Greek coastguard are reasonably laid back but there’s a few of them who have taken to checking everything including your inside leg measurements over the past couple of years.
Enjoy.

 

[mjcoon]

The weather in September is usually settled but this has been a funny year. May was cold and we’re getting some weird wind patterns just now, with winds blowing throughout much of the night in contrast to the normal pattern of dead calm by sundown.

That was what we found in late June / early July fortnight circumnavigating Corfu. We could have done with night-time winds in the day to save all the motoring we did!

Mike.

 

[kayenox]

We don't have any experience in chartering ... and I was wanting to ask those who have chartered what pitfalls to look out for

Most charter companies are good and provide perfectly equipped boats. However, I would suggest that you have a checklist to work through. In my experience, they will want to rush through the handover (which is fair enough, given the number of yachts they need to process in a short space of time) but whilst not wanting to be slow and difficult, it's still worth making sure you are absolutely happy with the boat you are being given.

I write from personal experience, chartering in Mykonos several years ago. It started badly, with the shoreside manager promising us every 30 mins that the boat is "just around the corner and will be here in 10 mins" - it eventually turned up 5 hrs past the designated hand-over time! By this time, it was gone 9pm, we'd left early in the morning and just wanted to sleep and hence agreed to sort hand-over at 9am the following day. To cut a long story short, the handover (which subsequently started at 10.30am) revealed a) A non functional VHF (the manager kept refusing to do a radio check from his own boat) b) Flares that were 2 years out of date and kept in a plastic shopping bag c) Half of the first aid kit on board was out-of-date d) The water inlet was labelled with a "diesel" cap e) The mainsail in-mast furling line was frayed through almost half of it's length f) We found out later that afternoon that the holding tank was blocked, necessitating a detour to a port with facilities to sort.

As skipper for the trip, I stood my ground, despite a fair amount of pressure from the manager "it will be fine - the forecast is not dangerous"! and we eventually got the VHF repaired, a new set of flare and a new first-aid kit. The mislabelled caps remained (they were not interchangeable) and we just kept a close eye on the furling line.

I've chartered several times in Greece and this was the only bad experience, but I guess the takeaway message for a first-time charterer is just to be clear on what you consider to be basic in terms of safety and operational workings - don't just assume that all is fine. This was a later season (Sept) charter and care just hadn't been taken throughout the season (or previous seasons by the look of it!) to keep up with essential checks and maintenance.