Passage planning UK to greece

  • Thread starter Thread starter RJJ
  • Start date Start date
R

RJJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 Aug 2009
Messages
3,159
Visit site
Hi

We are setting off next summer on our long year away with kids, building up to ARC in November 2020. Stage 1 will be me taking the yacht from UK to Greece without the family; I am doing preliminary passage planning which includes lining up possibly interested crew (message me if interested!).

The point of this post is to ask for any advice from those who have done this before. Including but not restricted to:
- how long would you allow? Boat goes 7-8 knots in most conditions.
- where would you plan to stop? Slightly leaning towards delivery mode but there will be fuel/food/water stops and they might as well be pleasant. Or just leave it flexible?
- how many crew do I want/need? I am leaning towards trying for two watch-keepers plus myself plus 2 crew who can be less experienced, but I may not find all that...I may also be persuaded to get a pro skipper on board for a few days in coaching capacity.
- tips on pilotage resources/charts. I have navionics on plotter plus marine navigator on a tablet; I will buy large-scale paper. What almanacs, blogs, tidal charts are required?

Any thoughts welcome! I am of course doing lots of work/thinking on boat prep this winter but do pipe up on that sort of topic as well.
Thanks in advance
 
UK to Greece and back out to the Canaries for the ARC in one season is a mad rush if you ask me. Take the family along and make it a three year trip instead. So much to see on the way that you'd be rushing past blindly!

The Rias, Portugal's big (and small but beautiful) west coast cities, the Algarve, the Rio Guadiana, Cadiz, Gibraltar, maybe even Morocco or at least Ceuta/Mellila if not. Then the Baleares, Sardinia (ok, we didn't like it there, but many do), Sicily (don't miss the active volcanoes of the Aeolian), and finally Greece, which can easily take up a season, or as many as you like. Then you can still go back west, maybe see some of Tunisia and whatever else you've missed on the way east.
 
We do long passages with just the two of us. 3 - 4 hour night watches, both available during the day seems to work for us. We did a trans Atlantic crossing with just 3 of us, quite enough to manage the boat. So unless you’ve got a monster of a boat which needs 2 or 3 people at a time to manage her, then 3 should be fine ( skipper plus 2)
Look at the blog in my signature block for details of our trip out to Greece which took the best part of a year.
I’d also be wary of expecting to maintain 7-8 knots as a speed. We use 5.5 - 6 knots for planing purposes and it works out pretty accurately.
 
Yngmar said:
UK to Greece and back out to the Canaries for the ARC in one season is a mad rush if you ask me. Take the family along and make it a three year trip instead. So much to see on the way that you'd be rushing past blindly
Click to expand...

As an ARC 2018 participant I would give this a big +1.
U.K. to Canaries via Gibraltar is a substantial cruise but many do it in their ARC year. However it’s a heck of trek to add Gibraltar to Greece and back. It’s possible, but delivery mode the whole way, and who wants to do that (other than Vendée Globe and Clipper crews ;)
Possibly better to skip the Med or plan on ARC 2021.
 
If I may say , this doesn't sound like a plain that's going to work , it could all end in tears , family kids add on the miles ,
I hope they are all very keen sailors .
Take advise from above .
 
Family not on board for the outward journey. Hence delivery mode to Greece. The return via Sicily, Sardinia/Corsica, Balearics, Spain seems to be ok for period Jul-Oct allowing between 2 and 4 week sojourns in each.

I fully appreciate (thanks) all the excellent suggestions to enjoy Brittany, Spain and Portugal, and I am gutted particularly to miss the Rias, however the wife is totally set on this plan.

I am not fazed by the delivery, in fact I will enjoy it. Can I please revert to the original ask - advice on the passage planning to Greece? Thanks
 
RJJ said:
Hi

- how long would you allow? Boat goes 7-8 knots
- tips on pilotage resources/charts. I have navionics on plotter plus marine navigator on a tablet; I will buy large-scale paper. What almanacs, blogs, tidal charts are required?
Click to expand...

1) It is c.2,500 to 3,000 miles. 3 to 4 weeks in “delivery mode”. Plus another 1,500 miles to the Canaries to start the ARC. A boat your size will average c. 5-6 knots as stated above plus stops along the way. You will be motoring more than sailing probably. For the Greece leg allow £500 to £1000 for diesel plus a similar amount for provisions.
2) With respect, if you need to ask this you probably need more experience and training before asking strangers to accompany you.

I admire your ambition but I would recommend listening to the advice given above and take the direct route to the Canaries.
 
Thank you, 3-4 weeks was about what I had in mind.

Diesel expenditure sounds sensible, thank you. When you say "motoring more than sailing", assume light airs ... where, all the Med? Atlantic legs?

I consider myself sufficiently experienced and qualified; I could of course just do my passage planning privately and not seek any advice. I think it is prudent (not a mark of lack of experience) to sense-check my own thinking and to ask for tips particularly from those who have done this trip before; I am still hoping somebody might offer some response to the original set of questions. Resources, tides, major weather considerations etc.

Presumably, if people might be interested in joining me, they can take the chance to inquire about my experience and I will happily tell them, with references.

I really appreciate constructive advice.
 
Motoring more than sailing because of the need to maintain average speed in a straight line to prevent trip becoming even longer.

1) Wind on nose, particularly for the UK to Gibraltar leg
2) Patchy Med winds during a day
3) Periods of light airs

A mate delivered his shared boat from Portugal to the Canaries last year and spent 12 hours sailing during the whole trip because of wind direction and the need to keep to a schedule.
 
Dutch01527 said:
Motoring more than sailing because of the need to maintain average speed in a straight line to prevent trip becoming even longer.

1) Wind on nose, particularly for the UK to Gibraltar leg
2) Patchy Med winds during a day
3) Periods of light airs

A mate delivered his shared boat from Portugal to the Canaries last year and spent 12 hours sailing during the whole trip because of wind direction and the need to keep to a schedule.
Click to expand...

As a sometime delivery skipper, what he said. Plan your stops around motoring range and treat the saily bits as a bonus
 
Dutch01527 said:
1) It is c.2,500 to 3,000 miles. 3 to 4 weeks in “delivery mode”. Plus another 1,500 miles to the Canaries to start the ARC. A boat your size will average c. 5-6 knots as stated above plus stops along the way. You will be motoring more than sailing probably. For the Greece leg allow £500 to £1000 for diesel plus a similar amount for provisions.
2) With respect, if you need to ask this you probably need more experience and training before asking strangers to accompany you.

I admire your ambition but I would recommend listening to the advice given above and take the direct route to the Canaries.
Click to expand...

Great info Dutch and you not far wrong if every thing was on your side .
but as nearly everyone with any experience know , when you set your self to a time table that's when it all goes tits up .

We just waiting two weeks to cross from Sardinia to Malta 340 nm 68 hour trip if we didn't take that weather window it would had been another week at less and that was heavy going , we two very experience sailor who are use to sail in heavy weather , needed a good rest after that one .
so just the give the OP some sort of idea their the 3 to 4 weeks from the UK to Greece gone for a burton . :)

It must sound that we all trying to put the RJJ off ,
but looking at most prople who's replied knowing some of them and reading posting of others in the pass posting ,they all been there and done it, so it's all good advise your getting .


Good luck .
 
Last edited:
RJJ said:
I fully appreciate (thanks) all the excellent suggestions to enjoy Brittany, Spain and Portugal, and I am gutted particularly to miss the Rias, however the wife is totally set on this plan.
Click to expand...
She obviously has no idea what she will be missing. Hey-ho...
 
Her main argument, which is not unreasonable, is that we don't want to put the kids off by doing Biscay rather early in our travels. But I agree, so many people have said the Rias were the highlight of am entire year away. Boo hoo. Maybe I will pause there and arrive in Greece a week later!
 
...but what I am still hoping someone might help with is the constructive advice on weather patterns, tides, almanacs, charts etc. Thanks.
 
I had a similar plan, cicra two weeks for the Rias. Four months later....
And her-in-doors? I walked her to the train station. Result - no more sailing to a schedule. I'm not suggesting you do the same, but as others have said, Spain and Portugal are just wonderful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

Refueler
Navionics Boating gives me river nav coverage .....
Replies
8
Views
286
Refueler
Refueler

Share this page

Top