Good stop offs on route to Med?

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jimboy

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I'm planning on heading from North Wales to the Med in late April/May (with small crew). Planning on heading straight to Channel Islands then a few stops on way down France, along Northern Spain, West Spain, Portugul, etc. Sailing Discovery 55 so long legs not a problem. Wreckon on anything from 50 to 400 NM per leg. Any suggestions as to nicest places to stop at that are not a pain to get in and out of (2.3m draft), don't dry out, etc.? Looking to get down to Gib within a month so not too many stops. All suggestions/help gratefully received. Cheers, Jimboy.
 
Las Camarinas (northern Spain) Lagos, Portimao, (Portugal) Lots of places in Northern Spain, dont know France atall. Missed it out completely when I came down into the meddy, straight Falmouth to Las Camarinas.
 
La Coruna is a great stop - marina right in town centre, interesting town, great bars and restaurants, beaches etc.
 
I would have thought the Channel Isles are a bit out of your way? How about a 'straight shot' from Cornwall across the bay, aiming to get south of Finisterre? You have the option of dropping into La Corunna if the weather turns against you. Bayonna is a good stop (I was there a couple of years ago), then maybe Lisbon and follow the coast? Lisbon is a couple of hours out of your way, but 13 years ago I stayed in Boca de Alcantara and it was a good stopover. The RCC book 'Atlantic Spain & Portugal' is an invaluable book.
 
Bayona is a stop that I don't think should be missed. Lovely medieval Spanish heritage, loads of great restaurants and bars, great cheap seafood and not an English lager lout in sight. Very nice. It was our favourite place going that way and all the other destinations we hit on the Portugese coast were a bit disappointing (although still good) afterwards
 
Agree that Bayona is the nicest harbour between Falmouth and the Med. Cascais just west of Lisbon is nice as well and it has a fast train into Lisbon. South of Cascais it gets uninteresting very quickly.
 
Agree with Troutbridge, CI seem a bit out of the way. One option would be to go across to, say, L'aberwrach for some mussels, beautiful spot then Brest is just round the corner with very good chandlers and boatyards if you find you need some new bits/someting fixed. I would be a bit wary of planning the route in too much detail before setting off, the danger is that the planned route becomes all important and gets in the way a bit of having a good time and enjoying what's around you. Bet you a beer and some tapas it takes more than a month to Gib, lots to see. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Considering the rather 'nice' yacht your sailing, suggest staying away from Figuera de Foz & Lexioes in Portugal.

Neither have much to recommend them & can certainly be 'scruffy'. Lexioes has a lot of debris, including dead rats in the closed in 'marina', but is convenient for Porto. Foz is a little better, but the entrance can be interesting with a strong river running across it.

North Wales to Brest, then La Coruna area (don't fuel from the yacht club) can be a welcome haven, then Bayona (Vigo for fuel near fishing dock), Casais for trip to Lisbon, Sines - good for fuel & good shelter, Cadiz, Med (Gib if you want a UK type supermarket & cheap booze/cigs)
 
Cangas de Morrazo,Ria de Vigo opposite Vigo on the port side as you go up the Ria,Small marina or alternative anchouring off beach pleanty of supers etc and a ferry ride to the heart of Vigo,not so up market as Bayona!!!!
 
North Wales to Ria de Muros have a good rest in Portasin. Portasin to Fig da Foz to Sines then Algarve Guadiana Cadiz then Gib
 
Why do you want to get to Gib' in a month? you'll be missing loads of interesting places and good cruising grounds on the way down. We planned to be in the Med by July last year, leaving Aberystwyth in April........only got as far as Portimao though. Still we will be in the Med' this year.


Anyway, I would think your best option would be to south to either Crosshaven or Kinsale (via Aberystwyth) and then direct to La Coruna, quick and easy.

From La Coruna, Laxe is nice, Camarinias, not to be missed. All of the Rias are good to visit and all have good anchorages and or marinas. Bayona, as said before well worth the visit.

In Portugal we stopped at Pavoa da Vasim, cheaper than Leixos (15€ per night all in) and a lot cleaner, only 45 mins in the Metro to Porto.
Fig de Foz only stayed 2 nights very ecpensive and not much to see.
Nazare, nice but different.
Cascais/Oieras, we stopped at Oieras as it was slightly cheaper, but you had access to a heated saltwater pool in the price.
Sines again was good and reasonable. Nice facilities and plenty to see and do.
Lagos, not my cupof tea but some people love it. You can anchor there for free.
Portimao, we spent the winter here. Cheaper than lagos and more room.

All short passages, we did all of them inside 14 hours with the average being about 12 in Portugal.

PM me if you want any more info and read our blog to see the route we took. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Be careful with Figuera de Foz - It's a nice place to visit, but I encountered breaking waves on the entrance. Don't try departing at any time other than slack high water... That could go for your entrance too.

IMHO, I'd skip everything between Porto and Cascais. I virtually day hopped (some days were significantly longer than others...) just a few months ago, and really don't have many great tales to tell.

Best to spend your time in the Spanish Rias, they're beautiful! (And then go direct to Lisboa!)

(Oh, and make sure you visit Lezardrieux, it's really lovely up the river, and there are tons of free buoys you can hang off which no one seems to care about)

n.
 
For the wstern Algarve there are four possibles. I for one would avoid Villamoura, very expensive the only marina where uniformed attendants are in atendance on the arrival pontoon. Lagos is very good for food shopping, there is a decent supermarket within walking distance and a bridge to walk into the town center. Potimao is as mentioned above very good but a long way from decent supermarkets and a stiff climb to the touristy bit and a good walk to the town center, but an excellenf food market there. There is a new marina in albafuera, very sheltered when you get in, cheapest, but centered on a massive hliday appartment complex. Last year it was not that busy but a fair distance to supermarkets and the town center. For all the summer three months are high season and prices are about triple the low season prices
 
Many thanks to all for replying with so many suggestions. It'll take a little while to consider them all with charts, pilot books, etc in front of me. In meantime, answers to a couple of questions raised. I did consider heading straight to Gib (Gib as it's sort of knocking on door of Med) with consideration to bolt holes in case weather turned, then slowing things down once in Med. Then thought why miss out on nice places along the way, hence original question. Reason for Channel Isles is because I've never been there and they're not too far out of way. Any thoughts on Channel Isles? I notice that most missed France out altogether. Is that purely and simply to reduce distance by cutting across Biscay?

Jimboy
 
Reason for Channel Isles is because I've never been there and they're not too far out of way.
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A couple of days up & a couple back though!

& too many to cover in just a 'pop-in' visit.
 
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