Mediterranean - can it get really nasty?

[cmedsailor]

I am currently reading a book ("Surving the storm") and it has real stories of people who faced extremely bad weather near New Zeland. Mountains of seas, breaking waves, 70+ knots of wind, capsizes, loss of lives...really scary thing.
I live and sail in the Med and I will be more than happy if I ever manage to sail as many parts of the Med as possible. From your someone else experience, or from things you have read or heart could the Med become really nasty? Could it be possible to find your self anywhere in the Med (from Lebanon/Syria side to Portugal) in surving conditions? Is it possible in a rather closed sea those extreme conditions to be developed?
I understand and know that it can get windy (for example 50+ knots in the Greek Meltemi) which can rip off your sails or even bring a mast down. But what about these big and breaking waves that could capsize a boat? Do they exist in the Med?
I also understand that when crossing an ocean there could be thousands of miles to run into a shelter whereas in the Med could be maximum 100-200 miles. But even a distance less than 100 miles is quite a lot of distance in very bad conditions.
Your comments.

 

[armchairsailor]

Whilst I understand there have been significant developments over the past 1500-2000 years(!), the Roman empire banned merchant ships from travelling over the winter months in the Med because of the safety risk.

 

[bazobeleza]

Whilst I understand there have been significant developments over the past 1500-2000 years(!), the Roman empire banned merchant ships from travelling over the winter months in the Med because of the safety risk.

But the Romans were generally understood to be more land friendly and not keen on the sea at all.

Would like to know the forums take on the OP's original question though

 

[jimi]

Would'nt like to be in the Med if a caldera exploded!

 

[Kelpie]

I remember reading somewhere a truly horrific tale about a large cat which inverted in the Med some years ago, and there was only a single survivor. Worth reading, sorry I can't remember any more details. It made me realise that the Med is not all sun and fun.

 

[brianhumber]

Have left Egypt on fully laden 250,000 ton tanker in Jan in bright blue sunny conditions.

24 hours later we were bows on to a force 10, all of deck and bows under water with only king posts visable forward. It was snowing as we passed Malta and I paid off in Fos s Mer with Palm tree fonds bent double under snow.

Have also been betwen Sardina and France in G8 trying to change main shaft plumber block bearing which was not a good exprience and have many memories of short sharp violent

The Med seas can get really nasty in a blow rather like N Sea. In contrast Biscay is a pussy cat.

Brian

 

[capnsensible]

It certainly can kick off. A year or two ago, a 'cattlte ship' came into Gib for bunkers and was subsequently lost off the coast of Tunisia a couple of days latere. I recall most of the 40 odd crew perished, plus the cargo of sme 25 thousand or so sheep. Thats a fairly big ship.

My own experience of bad weather was a few years ago, delivering a Gibsea 96 from Gib to Corfu. We had a strong wind warning, but the wind rapidly went to storm force with large seas running between Sicily and Pantellera. Probably the biggest waves Ive seen. Luckily we were able to hand steer along with it, small headsail ony and later put into Malta to dry out.

Found the Manu supporters club too!

Its fairly easy to pick good weather though, its a relatively small place and lots of 'safe havens'.

A frequent look at sites like passageweather.com give a good picture.

Happy voyaging!

 

[Spyro]

Seems it can!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzvaxOOpj24

Watch around 1 min 50 secs, a real biggy.
Usually videos don't actually show how bad the sea state is but in this one it certainly looks pretty bad.

 

[Sybarite]

Could it be possible to find your self anywhere in the Med (from Lebanon/Syria side to Portugal) in surving conditions?

Yes

But what about these big and breaking waves that could capsize a boat? Do they exist in the Med?

Yes


I was holed up in Bonifacio in Corsica when over 80 knots was recorded.

 

[Boomshanka]

A quick search on Youtube brings up quite a few examples:





I think my concern in the Med (as opposed to a large ocean), were I to get caught out, is not having enough sea room to avoid being caught on a lee shore

 

[Reverend Ludd]

It doesn't matter if you have 1,000 or 1 mile to run if a squall hits you.

 

[Liz_I]

I remember reading somewhere a truly horrific tale about a large cat which inverted in the Med some years ago, and there was only a single survivor. Worth reading, sorry I can't remember any more details. It made me realise that the Med is not all sun and fun.

Yachtsman Richard Charrington. Article was in The Sunday Times on 2nd May 2010.
I had a copy in my bookmarks folder but can't seem to access the article. Very sobering and tragic.

 

[pampas]

The first aircraft carrier HMS Eagle a converted cruiser left Gib. for Malta and buckled the front of the flight deck when she dug her nose into a rough sea, Father was a stoker on her at the time

 

[r_h]

I think my concern in the Med (as opposed to a large ocean), were I to get caught out, is not having enough sea room to avoid being caught on a lee shore

+1

 

[jimbaerselman]

Nastiest conditions are short and transient - usually related to the passage of a vigorous thunderstorm, tornado or cold front. Local winds can then reach 100kts, but only for a short period (tens of minutes), so no big seas accompany these. Similar short duration are the strong gusts in the lee of mountain ridges where there are persistent winds; 40kt to 50kt brief bursts of white water.

Big and persistent winds can be found in four areas, marked by pink arrows on the map on this page. Mistral, S France, is the strongest, most extensive, often lasting for days, so big enough to generate big seas. The other areas are less dramatic - either less extensive or less powerful.

The "Weather" section on the page linked above gives more.

 

[mjcoon]

I remember reading somewhere a truly horrific tale about a large cat which inverted in the Med some years ago, and there was only a single survivor. Worth reading, sorry I can't remember any more details. It made me realise that the Med is not all sun and fun.

Not the same story (because both husband and wife survived), but the current YM ("Feb 2012") cover story is of a cat that inverted in a Med harbour!

I also offer this photo of a ragged mainsail from July 2009: Shredded mainsail, Skopelos harbour. Our yacht, in the same harbour, got well salt-encrusted from the spray coming over the breakwater. But the waves were really not that huge.

Although I witnessed a late-summer storm there that went on for three days in the 1970s and stopped the ferries from running, my impression is that most storms are comparatively brief and this limits the height of waves that can build up.

Mike.

 

[bbg]

I haven't sailed much in the Med, but as others have said bad conditions can happen there. But, I would say there are differences between the Med and the middle of the Atlantic.

Distances are shorter, so you are more likely to have a reasonable weather picture for your whole trip before you leave port. You have the option of remaining holed up if you don't like the forecast. Not so in an ocean crossing - you will have to deal with what you get.

I have only faced a F9 once, and that was mid Atlantic. I suspect the conditions could be worse in the Med in the same wind speed due to shallower water.

Once I got the boat set up for the conditions (3 reefs in the main and no headsail), I was quite comfortable, because the nearest land was 2 days away. You say that 100 miles is a long way to run for shelter in bad weather. I would look at it the other way - 100 miles is far too close in bad weather.

I would rather have 500 miles under my lee than try to run 100 miles for shelter. Waves and wind can sink boats in really (emphasise REALLY) extreme conditions, but rocks can sink boats in much milder conditions.

 

[NPMR]

Some years ago, we left Corsica for Antibes in a brand new Beneteau 48, return portion of her maiden voyage. Flat calm when we left and after motoring for a while, elected to turn back and try to sail next next.

Wind came along soon after and it became possible to sail so we resumed course for Antibes.

Suffice to say that the next 16-18 hours became the worst conditions I've ever sailed in and I was not wholly convinced we were not going to die!

The seas became very large and breaking, way above the cockpit; I'm guessing, to about half way up the mast but even if less they were truly powerful and on a couple of occasions broke under the boat and she fell off the wave with an almighty crash that I can still recall clearly. But importantly, the boat stayed in one piece.

The anenometer was consistently reading 60+kts. All the crew apart from me got seasick (I am not an ironman but think I was too scared to think about it!) and we stormed towards France with no thought as to a lee shore but just to try for some shelter.

As we approached Antibes it abated somewhat and we got in with no hassle, secured alongside, threw off wet clothes and slept.

On waking, the decks were a mess, with any loose stuff either gone or tangled up in something where it shouldn't be. Locals were a little shocked that we had been out in the weather. It was not from choice!!

In amongst this, I have one indelible image in my head from this trip. Some time during the night, there was a huge flash of lightning (took out the Loran as I recall) and in the light, I turned and saw a couple of dolphins jumping out of a large wave to my right. Just playing! It was really lovely.

The rest was horrid!!

 

[westernman]

Every year down here (close to the end of the Pyrenees) we have strong winds during winter. At least once a year we will have winds with a sustained speed of over 90 knots inside the marina. These are serious catamaran flipping conditions, and survival conditions for most of us.

Winter 2008/2009, the anemometer on the capitainerie in my marina measured over 160km/h for several days continuously and hit 183 km/h at one point.

Summer time is calmer. Normally you won't get more than a F9 for a few days during summer. However, F7/F8 is pretty common and that can kick up some really horrible sea state. It can also come out of nowhere and catch you by surprise. In certain areas weather forcecasts are often notoriously inaccurate.

I have heard some one call up Cap Bear signal station on the VHF and ask for the latest weather forecast. They read it out, F3 winds, slight seas, etc etc. At the end they said, oh, by the way, outside here it is currently F8 and rough.

Waves will be very close together, very steep and confused. They can also be surprisingly big if the weather system has been stable for a few days.

 

[lenseman]

If you think the Mediterranean is benign, look at this video, from November last year, of a very sudden tornado in what, until then, was thought to be one of the safest anchorages in the Mediterranean, :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSB8zE-guFs&feature=player_embedded

Note the wind direction in the early section of the video and that the wind blows right to left and at 2: 55 as it changes very dramatically and swings 180°, a classic sign of a tornado!