Lousy Med summer weather too

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Maybe there are a few UK boaters feeling a bit glum after the dreadful summer we've experienced in the UK. If it makes you feel better, it has'nt exactly been great weather in the Med either, particularly the Balearics
We've managed 4 trips out to our boat this summer. Whitsun week at the end of May found us in north Majorca; most days were very breezy and the evenings were cold enough to warrant long trousers and a thick jumper. I managed another long weekend at the end of June and whilst the temperature was warmer, it rained on 2 days out of 5
We had 3 weeks at the end of August for our main holiday. It bucketed down on our 1st and 2nd days and our plans to cruise further afield in our 2nd week were wrecked by high winds and storms. One evening, we went out for dinner in Palma and sat outside on a terrace. It was that cold that the waiters were handing out table clothes to women and children to wrap themselves up in to keep them warm
I've just returned from another long weekend. We saw sunshine just one day out of 5 and it rained on 3 days. I drove the boat back from Cala d'Or to Palma from the lower helm because it was so chilly up top. It was absolutely chucking it down when we left yesterday. Still, it gave me an excuse to catch some rugby matches on telly
Maybe I've been unlucky but talking to a few locals, they confirmed it had been a lousy summer weather wise. It's not been all sunburn and sangria in the Med this year

 

[EME]

R U sure your boat is in the MED?

It hasn't rained here ( South of France) since June 25th ..... it's currently N/E/W/S Force Zero ... and blue skies

Boy am I confused ?? !!

 

[captainalex]

Seconded..South of France has been beautiful this summer and not a jellyfish to be seen!!

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

in Malta this was one of the best Summers IMO
I've had the boat for 12/13 years and we had one of the best seasons
I only missed 4 weekends including yesterday cause it rained in the morning since end of April when I launched
I am more then satisfied and even my 12 day holiday was perfect without much delaying or anyting cause of weather.
I risked a bit in this one cause I made a trip in a Force 5 Southern Tyrennian but the rest was all ok.
Weather was not very hot but it was fabolous

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

[ QUOTE ]
R U sure your boat is in the MED?


[/ QUOTE ]

Mmm, you've got me thinking now. Maybe Easyjet fly to Palma, Scotland instead of Palma, Majorca?

Could be I've just been unlucky this year but I reckon I've seen more rain in Majorca this year than all the other years combined that we've been boating in the Med and it's definitely been cooler too although, to be fair, I don't mind that too much
There were loads of jellyfish around in May/June but I have'nt seen one since. Maybe they got pissed off with the weather?

 

[Nautorius]

Mike,

My Parents live on the Coata Blanca near Altea and it has been an awful Summer there as well!

Bad luck

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[EME]

Mike

It just goes to show how 'fickle' Med-weather can be.

I am dead serious about the 'no rain' ... I have sprinklers on every day after about 5 pm. I may not have many plants but never seen anything like this! 'The Pond' is a metre and a half down ---- first time in 15 years at least.

Even more stupid it's supposed to snow at Valberg / Isola in the next couple of days but we have no rain forecast !!

Stay where you are ...lightning doesn't strike twice !

 

[jhr]

Greece in August was blistering, though I did get woken up by 5 minutes of drizzle coming in through the hatch one night, during a bit of a blow.

Has it ever occurred to you that someone up there is picking on you? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Phew, it's not just me then. Given the comments of other Med forumites I was beginning to think that I had been hauling my own personal rain cloud around with me

 

[Nat]

Hi Mike
I have to agree with you. I cruised over to the Balaerics last week in June first 2 weeks in July & we were plagued with high winds & the odd deluge of heavy but warm rain, the sea was horrible with that short steep swell that is all to common in the med in fact we copped one over the top which filled the tender up & bent a davit. Also in mid August I only got out of the harbour (mainland) twice such was the wind & seastate. I'm over again next week & the plan is to cruise up to Calpe, Moraira & Denia. Long range forecast looks good but who knows. Locals tell me the on shore wind has not stopped for ages & there are large piles of seaweed on every beach. Its certainly not normal for the time of year.

 

[mjkinch1]

Well you know my thoughts on this - we took an extended break this year in the med, and whist we got out, every calm day at sea was followed by 3-4 days stuck in a marina waiting for the winds to drop.

I am off to Majorca for 2 weeks from Wednesday and the forecast until the weekend is 18c, rain and winds. I hope it does pick up the weekend, forecast is back to 24c,but still windy.

This is my second year in the Med and I cant pretend not to be dissapointed with the weather. Son Vida has done more hours than me, and he is based on the Irish sea!

I have heard locals say that this type of weather appears in 10 year cycles, so perhaps the next 9 years will be better, although 2006 didnt seem so great, good days and bad days.

Where are the long lazy wind free days that everyone talked about before I ended up there! Mike - what was your best year for boating in the Med?

I am told the weather has been better in France and Croatia, but move there and you can be assured Majorca will get the best weather.

 

[Nautorius]

Mike,

On the plus side with UK boaters facing increased mortgage costs and the bad summer down there am sure I can pick up a bargain! Shall start talking to the Balearics brokerage teams...there has to be a deal or two!

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Coupe]

That's great Mike - we're off to Pollenca next week /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Seriously, this year at home has been a mixed bag - great weather up to mid June, crap in July & Aug except for good days here and there.

The advantage of having the boat near home is being able to take advantage of the good days when they arrive.

We have 180 + hrs on SV2 now after sitting in the marina for most of 2005. We have logged 60 + hours from Aug 06 to March 07 and 90 hours since then.

Looking forward to logging at least another 50 from now to Mch 08 (fingers crossed).

 

[glenndraper]

well we have been down in Duquesa costa del sol every mth for about 10 days and apart from it being a bit more windy than last few years the weather has been gorgeous - my wife likes it windy cos she says she has her own climate!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[wakeup]

Try a decent part of the Med where it is more predictable in terms of winds etc try SoF, or have you already?

 

[Coupe]

Didn't I see something on Sky News about hailstones at Marbella so big that they broke car windows ?

Can't blame that on global warming - maybe climate change /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[EME]

[ QUOTE ]
Well you know my thoughts on this - we took an extended break this year in the med,, every calm day at sea was followed by 3-4 days stuck in a marina waiting for the winds to drop.

I am off to Majorca for 2 weeks from Wednesday and the forecast until the weekend is 18c, rain and winds. I hope it does pick up the weekend, forecast is back to 24c,but still windy.

This is my second year in the Med and I cant pretend not to be dissapointed with the weather.
Where are the long lazy wind free days that everyone talked about before I ended up there! Mike - what was your best year for boating in the Med?

I am told the weather has been better in France and Croatia, but move there and you can be assured Majorca will get the best weather.

[/ QUOTE ]


The weather in Summer 2007 on the Core d'Azur is exactly as I have reported above. I have not lied about it , the inference that I and others have is incorrect.

Well .... I think I've done 16 years ( on-and-off' ish) and others like CCScott even longer . I have no problem if you prefer UK -climes , Go home !!

I suspect that many who claim 'things/weather aren't what they expected' are really referring to their inability to cope with the differences in culture and language. Over the years you see that as 'a recurring hidden theme' on this forum ( and I am NOT referring to Deleted User) .

BTW - 'wind-free' is more usual around the Cote d'Azur ... have a gander and look at the difference in 'Rag n Stix' v 'MoBos' in the different areas. Marseilles v Antibes being a great example ... ( and Frejus as a 1/2 way house)>>

Again ... no problem ... I enjoy the UK too !

BTW - we're off to Suisse for the weekend .. we want to see rain! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Nat]

Well this is coming up to my fithe year in the med. Last year was much better although we almost got wrecked in the storm Ibiza Aug 7th2006. I remember sitting out with no shirt last January. The previous years were much more settled with normal med weather so hopefully you may be right about the 10 year cycle

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Nat, yup, I did'nt mention the swell. There seems to have been a persistent E-SE-S swell which has made many anchorages unpleasant or even untenable. We've just spent 4 days in Cala d'Or with the intention to explore some of the anchorages on the east coast of Majorca and did'nt have one day without a swell which made virtually all of the cala anchorages impossible save for the larger ones like Petro and Colom

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Martyn, our best season weatherwise was 2003 in SoF but that year was too hot (remember the heatwave in the UK, it was a lot hotter in SoF). 2004 was v good also. We had 2 lovely cruises to Ibiza/Formentera and that made up our minds that the Balearics was for us. In 2005 we were in SoF again but further west (we had taken delivery of our current boat) and that holiday was somewhat spoiled by mistral winds. Our 2006 trip around Menorca was again affected by mistral winds but at least it stayed dry but 2007 has been the worst of the lot. OK, it's loads better than the UK in terms of general weather but it's definitely not been as advertised in the brochure