How to get from Ireland to Greece (sailing) on a budget (Small)

[LadyStardust]

Hi, I have my 30ft Cutter sitting in Ireland and I want it to be somewhere hot, Have decided on Greece. I want to leave this year and get there in 2 - 3 years time. I only have 6 weeks summer holidays to sail in so will need to leave the boat somewhere next winter and possibly the winter after. First thoughts are to spend this summer getting close to Gib and leaving the boat there for winter and next year pushing across the Med. I have a preference for Spanish ports. Does anyone have suggestions for a possible route that takes 5 weeks, takes in interesting ports and anchorages and leads to somewhere I can leave here for the winter. Costs need to be quite low and I know the Med is very expensive. We stopped in Las Palmas a few years ago and the marina charged Council rates which were very good, I don't know if there are many places like this on the Spanish mainland, or even in Portugal. Also If I sailed straight to Santander or San Sebastian at the bottom of Biscay, is it a hard slog back to La Coruna in the summer months?

Thanks,

Paul C.
SV Lady Stardust
www.lady-stardust.co.uk

 

[Mrnotming]

what is the draught of your vessel? A trip via French Canals might appeal? use "Grehan" as a search term on the forum to find interesting threads often discussed on this forum. Wishing you the best of good luck!

 

[absit_omen]

I appreciate your plan. However - 6 weeks sailing leaves 46 weeks sitting idle and racking up marina bills. Multiply that by your three years! Are you happy to leave her unattended for that length of time? If not, are you planning to fly/drive to visit?

Sounds all a little stressful to me. I would be tempted to sit back for a while and think about selling here at some stage, and buying over there.

The smart guys thinking with the head will say 'charter out there'. They would probably be right.

 

[LadyStardust]

Well I will be running up marina bills where ever I have the boat, and a solid six weeks, with possible some Easter sailing in a hot region will do me for now. Hopefully the kids will be out of my hair soon and I can get some more serious cruising in.
The last two years sailing in England and Ireland have been dire. I'm hoping to find somewhere to leave the boat over winter that is not that much more expensive than the UK or Ireland.
Just talking to my crew/partner and we are thinking perhaps one trip straight to Greece might solve the issues.

 

[alandee]

I will reply when I have more time in the morning. However, on a Robert Perry Baba 30 you can go anywhere you want in any weather. I am a real fan of Bob and his boats so I would be interested to talk with you sometime. P.S. Boat in France, heading for Greece.

 

[Cariadco]

Hi, I'd recommend you sail the boat to Gib, (easy in 4 weeks)or if you have the time, take it up the spanish coast to Almerimer.
Gib, I thought was a dump, but Almerimer was great and safe.
You can make Corfu in about 10 days from there, on your next session.
Neither option will be dirt cheep, though.
Good Luck.

 

[mike_bryon]

Given the small budget I would be tempted to do it in one 6 week hit. We did UK to Venice in 2 months and had 3 weeks of that time on beaches sight seeing etc and went to a good few places off the most direct route. Ok we are twice your size but I would think you could cover as much as 4,000 nm in six weeks (non stop) so you could get to Greece in that time. It would be a ‘delivery’ in that you would have very little time ashore and it would depend on you liking that kind of thing and being up for the challenge. Years ago I sailed a 40’ boat from Crete to the UK almost non-stop in 23 days so I think it is possible. You can always do the sightseeing bit on your return if you ever decide you have had enough of Greece.

 

[ThereAndBack]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi, I'd recommend you sail the boat to Gib, (easy in 4 weeks)or if you have the time, take it up the spanish coast to Almerimer.
Gib, I thought was a dump, but Almerimer was great and safe.
You can make Corfu in about 10 days from there, on your next session.
Neither option will be dirt cheep, though.
Good Luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sail from Almerimar to Corfu in 10 days???
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
1200 miles in a straight line, a lot more by sea.

 

[ccscott49]

My bruv did Gib to Corfu in ten sailing days days. So it is possible.

From Barcelona to Corfu, 1 1/2 days to menorca, 1 1/2 days to sardinia, 1 1/2 days to tunisia, 1 day to capalderia, 1 day to malta, 1 day to scicily, 1 1/2 days to Italy, 1 1/2 days to Corfu. Add a day just in case.
Thats the liesurely (refueling) route for me. so much quicker direct from almerimar, missing tunisia etc.

 

[tri39]

Paul, I "only" had 6 wk holidays in the nineties. In 89 I sailed from Brighton to Gib in 21 days, stopping about every other night apart from the four day Biscay crossing. Still had plenty of sightseeing in Spain/Portugal in places like Bayonna, Lisbon and Lagos. After a crew change in Gib, I continued, mostly motoring, to Almerimar, well inside your 5 wk limit, and the boat wintered there. It's a sensible achievable plan.
If you were held up you could winter in Lagos or Portimao on the Algarve.
I continue spending around six weeks every summer onboard still, with a shorter spring trip for fitting out. I try and have the boat hauled and stored ashore over winter.
You could consider the Canal du Midi from Bordeaux to the Camarge but winter storage would probably be more expensive.
I wrote the trip up and could send it to you.

 

[alant]

Sail from Almerimar to Corfu in 10 days???

1200 miles in a straight line, a lot more by sea.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why rush & miss all the interesting bits in between?

 

[absit_omen]

[ QUOTE ]
Just talking to my crew/partner and we are thinking perhaps one trip straight to Greece might solve the issues.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you have the sort of lady who is happy to get on the boat in Ireland and off it in Greece you have a treasure indeed.

The problem with the One Hit Wonders is that they often spend too much time studying the Phillips School Atlas and not enough studying the bottom of the sick bucket.

However, good luck.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Study my web site for comments about all the places en route (sorry, excepting Morocco and Tunisia, both cheap places, work in progress!). I give general comments only about costs.

There are big savings to be made by leaving the boat in places where there are few charter vessels. And once in the Western Med, if you don't do the African coast, find places which will store you on shore, much cheaper.

The north coast of Spain and the Galician rias have some excellent value for money layup spots (away from A Coruna and Bayona) and are good cruising grounds. The Algarve is pricy, but the Ria Guadiana (Spain/Portugal order) has good value marinas.

Finding value in thw west Med is not easy, unless you store ashore in the summer months. Once in Greece, there are many very cheap options indeed.

You'll need to do a lot of reading, but even with travel and the Euro, you'll find savings and sun. Take it slow, there are some lovely spots en route. Winter in Seville; why not?

 

[charles_reed]

I did the trip in 2000-2002 and didn't use the canals. Nearly all single-handed in a 31'

Leg From To Travel Time Berthing Cost
1. Pwllheli le Conquet 1 day £0
2. le Conquet Marans overwintered £25/month
3 Marans/la Rochelle Donostia/S Sebastian 2 days £0
4. Donostia Bilbao 2 days £28/night
5. Bilbao Ribasdella 1 day £0
6. Ribasdella Gijon 1 day £25
7. Gijon Ribadeo 1 day £0
8. Ribadeo Viviero 1 day £14
9. Viviero Cediera 1 day £0
10. Viviero la Coruna 1 day £0
11. la Coruna Corme y Lage 1 day £0
12. Corme y Lage Muros 1day £0
I spent about 6 weeks cruising the Rias Biaxas, using a marina for 1 night.
13. Villagarcia Bayona 1 day £0
14. Bayona Viana do Castello 1 day £12/night
15. Viana Nazaré (oversummer) 1 day £180/month
16. Nazaré Cascais 1 day £0
17. Cascais Sines 1 day £12/night
18. Sines Lagos 1 day £18/night
19. Lagos Olhão. 1 day £0
20. Olhão. Tavira 1 day £0
21. Tavira Vila Réal do S Antonio 1 day £11
22. Vila Réal Chipiona 1 day £140/month
Chipiona longer than intended as spent 2 weeks in hospital Sanlucar and another month recuperating from general septicaemia. I then spent 6 weeks up the R Guadiana.

23. Chipiona Sevilla Puerto Gelves 1 day
Overwintered out of the water at Gelves @ £110month on the hard, then returned to Chipiona
24. Gelves Chipiona 2 days Anchored @ Bonanza
25. Chipiona Cadiz 1 day €18/night
26 Cadiz la Linea 1day £0

If you require more detailed info PM me.

Some points - through the canals rejected for cost (mast 13.9m needed road transport and Canal du Midi had insufficient air-draught). The Rias Biaxas alone are worth the trip, better cruising than anywhere in W & Central Med. You have to get to the Adriatic to find anything to compare. Mostly anchored usually FOC.

Your 5 weeks is too tight to enjoy the getting there (it's better than the Med). You'll need to break the trip - suggest la Rochelle area O'Leary flies there. Sevilla is fantastic city, but impossibly hot July-Aug. La Linea better than Gib, could anchor, instead of dodgy, overpriced marinas, short dinghy ride round runway-end. The trip Donostia-la Coruna perfectly feasible as non-stop 2 days, but that coast can be dodgy.

 

[bluevelvet]

PAUL GOOD TO HEAR YOU ARE STILL SAILING THE BABA.I DID THE NORTH COAST OF SPAIN IN MY FIRST BABA "MRS MUIR" IN 1989 AND THE PLACES THAT CHARLES REED RECOMMENDS WHERE GREAT THEN. I WOULD SUGGEST YOU SPEND YOUR FIRST SIX WEEKS ALONG THAT COAST AND THEN MOVE ON.IT IS THE BEST PART OF SPAIN FOR YACHTS.REGARDS JOHN

 

[Grehan]

Picking up Pauls' suggestion, you could consider going through beautiful rural France rather than around. You could save costs by mooring for free in quite a lot (not all) places. PM me for specifics. However, looking at your website you obviously enjoy sailing a lot and you'd miss out on a lot of Spanish (and Portuguese) places by 'cutting through'.

 

[Cariadco]

I'm speaking from personal experience, actually the trip took me 9 Days.

Does that make you laugh??

 

[Eeyore]

[ QUOTE ]
Sail from Almerimar to Corfu in 10 days???

1200 miles in a straight line, a lot more by sea.

[/ QUOTE ]

Easily 'do-able'.

Delivered a friends boat from Barcelona to Cyprus in July last year, left Barcelona in the evening of the 18th, had two days and one night in Malta and arrived Cyprus early morning of the 31st.

Thats 11 days and 13 nights total. Distance covered: 1,863 miles.

See our route here.

 

[absit_omen]

An average of 169 miles a day and 7.06 kts maintained throughout. Impressive.

How much motoring?

 

[ThereAndBack]

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