Greece: Night sailing out of Piraeus port

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KFrank

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Hi,

Im planning on chartering in Athens mid-June and head to the Cyclades. I would prefer to make the first leg a night time passage out of Piraeus arriving in the island of Sifnos the next morning.

Any recommendations/ warnings would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks
 
First passage on an unknown boat in unknown territory where the ferries have a bit of a reputation, in the dark ?. I wouldnt do it. Get familiar with the boat on arrival, food and beer up, go to a restaurant, meal, beer and chill, ands start in the morning. There are many many stop oiff points on the way to the syclades.
 
Are you sure that you will be allowed to sail at night under Greek charter insurance. We have always been asked to make sure that any night sailing was covered by 'force majeur' otherwise major problem.
 
Agree not a good idea. Charter insurance may forbid it anyway. Very busy area going east from Piraeus, although most charter boats are based in Kalamaki marina a bit further east and away from the most congested part.

As others say, get familiar with the boat and have a leisurely day sail first day.
 
presume, that you will start your voyage from marina alimos.
the total distance to sifnos is about 80 nm or based on avarage 5 kn, you will need about 16 hrs.
sail, early in the morning about 4-5 o'clock and estimate arriving in sifnos about 2100 ! the sailing will be during the day light!
in case something go wrong, you will have two places before to reach sifnos, kithnos & serifos, where can take a rest for the night!
what i can recommend or advise you - one thing to take in mind, is weather or meltemi blowing usualy from N, NE with force 7-8-9 during this time of the year ! it is not constant but once start, can be a few days !!! otherwise the sailing should be straight, first costal sailing up to sunio or about 25 miles , parallel to the shipping trafic separation zone, but inshore, so no crossing of ferries or ships! next is crossing the shipping line and need more attention for about 2 hrs and so on!
in case you need more info / details, pls advise as i am very close to this marina !
regards and enjoy the sailing !

http://www.neatcss.com/
 
Kfrank,
Dolphins advice is very sound. If the weather or boat problems cause you any problems, then there are marinas to pop into all along the Athens shore or once past the temple of posiedon, round the corner at Lavrio.
Kythos has a great anchorage (Kolonna) if you choose to bail out half way.
Leaving in the dark wouldn't be my worry, arriving in an unfamiliar port in the dark would cause me more concern, all taking second place in the decision making to the weather forecast.
Whatever your decisions, you'll be sailing in a wonderful area, so relax and enjoy.
 
Thank you all very much. I had no idea that insurance might forbid night sailing.

I will be chartering for 1 week only and looking to maximize my time in the Cyclades. I am aiming to make it down to Ios as soon as possible, spend a few days cruising the nearby islands and then return. I realize this involves very long passages but im willing to go for it. It does however start to seem like a very tiring itinerary and I might have to reconsider.

As far as the meltemia are concerned my understanding is that at this time of year (early in the season) they are unlikely to be very strong.

Thanks again
 
Gardenshed that was exactly my thought. Avoid arriving at night. Charters usually start at 1700 so a few hours of daylight to clear the shipping lanes and arriving in the Cyclades by daylight.
 
Agree with Dolphin, very ambitious, and challenging sailing enough, even without night passages. We had 2 weeks last May, and only got as far as Paros. And although the Meltemi may not be so fierce at that time of the year as to keep you harbour-bound, it could make for an uncomfortable return to Athens. We wish now that we'd chartered out of Paros.
 
As others have said you need to check whether you will be allowed to sail at night in a charter yacht; many forbid it due to insurance.

We run a milebuilding trip to the Cyclades in May and October for students who want to get qualifying passages for RYA Yachtmaster. We do a round trip in a week so it is possible, but it involves two long night sails.

I don't know how many of you there will be or the size of yacht. When we do this we have a crew of nine, operating three watches of 3 hours each under a suitably experienced watchleader, and we are in a 51 footer.

We leave Alimos Marina late afternoon and sail to Kythnos, usually Loutra on the NE of the island, arriving about midnight, then sail down in the daylight the following day.

We know the route well and are not entering any unfamiliar ports at night.

If you are not confident at Med mooring you might be better to anchor in Kolonna as someone suggested. Arriving tired, in the dark, in a possibly crowded harbour to carry out an unfamilar manoevre is not the best way to start your cruise.

We don't normally go to Ios but it would be possible. Watch the weather well in that area though - we've been stormbound there for several days in the past. Our preference now is to head across to Milos from Sifnos.

The route we take to come back is to sail overnight from Milos to the Peloponnese coast or sometimes to Hydra. This means you do not have to beat against the Meltemi. (Yes it is usually not so strong in June but it is not predictable.)

You can then easily get back to Kalamaki via the Saronic Gulf.

Chartering from Paros would save you a lot of hassle but if you have sufficiently experienced crew and a suitable yacht it is possible to cover a long distance in a week.
 
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