New to sailing in the Med

[garyb]

I'm a new sailor and particularly new to the Med. I live in Canada and am presently doing some pre-retirement planning for my wife and I, that would include an extended sail in the Med. We had a very good experience in the Aegean last year and I'm thinking that I would like to spend a few months in the Med. Any thoughts, suggestions, intersting Ports and those to avoid would be more than welcome. I don't yet own a boat and would charter for my time there so any charter suggestions for up to 40 ft (13 metres) would also be most welcome. We are very flexible in our timing and Port of departure. I would be particularly interested in times of the year to avoid the crowds if possible and your best sources of weather info.

Many thanks for your interest.
Gary

 

[MedMan]

Have a look at the Passage Reports and Port Reports on my website - link below.

 

[tcm]

the big crowds are july and august. 13m boat size is ideal really - almost all ports will take you. Eastern med les developed and likely to be more "dead" november to easter. Be careful about making big plans nov-easter - altho small the med delivers cruel sea conditions and high unmanagaeable winds.

 

[MedMan]

[ QUOTE ]
13m boat size is ideal really.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really! You must either need a huge amount of storage space or have large numbers of guests. We have been cruising the Med for 8 years in our 10.7m Trident Voyager 35 and have found it quite big enough for two. We have also found that many marinas, especially in the Western Med, have charge bands which jump disproportionately above 12m. For this reason, if you want to charter a larger boat, 11.99m would be a good length to go for.

 

[chrisc]

Agree

we were in med for two years in Bavaria 34 (which is actually ,and strangely,10.8M) this boat was certainly big enough for two (with cycles etc.,etc.) and any bigger would have been embarrasing in some harbours ,not to say more expensive .we seriously considered buying a 40 centre cockpit before going away and are very glad we did'nt.

 

[TonyBri]

Re: Agree

I agree - we were there for a season in our 34 and there were plenty of times we squeezed into an 8-10m mooring as nothing larger was available. We were onboard for 10months - also found it a very good size.

 

[TonyBri]

We recently did the Western Med. Can't recommend mainland Spain as a cruising ground but there are some worthwile places to visit inland (e.g. Granada). Ballearics are great but very crowded in summer season (July/August) - to the point of insanity! Corsica and N.Sardinia are stunning and fabulous cruising grounds. South of France also good but need to avoid the main season.

 

[steve_cronin]

I must agree David.....

...as we rattle around in our 44footer.

It is nice to have your own heads & shower though AND a cabin to stow a washing machine, two bikes and a generator.

Then when the boys come out with appendages....??

Steve Cronin

 

[frenchsailor]

Amazing Mediterranean sea

Gary, you probably know that the Mediterranean sea is the cradle of civilization.
So sailing in the Mediterranean sea is something magic because you can discover how our civilization has been built and even why C.Colomb had discovered America.

When you sail from north to south Mediterranean sea you can see the world and people changing, but you can realize also that the Mediterranean sea is their common link, and they are part of the same history.

There are so many beautiful place with nice people (but speaking english is very rare) and I cannot recommand particular place, but the most beautiful island in the Mediterranean sea is Corsica. This island is one of the jewels of the world and sailing in Corsica in june is like discovering the Paradise, with amazing mooring place and smooth wind most of the time, dolphins, whales, cristal clear sea ..... The life of a man is not enough to discover the whole Corsica island, I use to say !
But some other places are really interesting like Sardenia, Sicilia, Italia (Imagine you arriving in Venezia by the sea !!), Croatia, Greece .....
Several month are not enough to have a real trip in this sea. Several seasons would be better.
Sailing in Med could be difficult. You need a good boat you can stand on, and particulary to reduce the sail quicly. It's cold in winter. Don't really stand to sail at this time. You can have quick jumps beetween 2 places, but most of time people wait march to really sail again. Winter is a good time to visit inside, repair and spend time with friends.
There are so many things to say.
I have a 43 foot for me and my wife. The ship was based in Corsica till this year, and will move to Tunisia next winter. We leave tomorrow for one month sailing around Sicilia.
If you need any information you can contact me, but you probably won't have any answer from me before mid september, as internet is not working properly on the boat at this time
Good luck for your plans

 

[garyb]

Re: New to sailing in the Med - aug post

I've been remiss in not thanking all for your kinds responses and suggestions to my earlier posting - inching ever so closer to decision time - hope to be able to do so in the spring as the season is nearing an end here. Florida seems the most likely source and a week in the sun walking the docks doesn't seem so bad after all.

 

[Shearwater]

Re: New to sailing in the Med - aug post

So ??? Did you do it??

posted May 2007 !!