sailing in warm clear water

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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Joined
28 Mar 2005
Messages
12,954
Location
Buckingham
www.keepturningleft.co.uk
here is a confession

on a couple of accasions I have been offered the chance of sailing a boat in the med

just a flotilla or a charter

I have always turned it down

the reason....

fear

I am frightened that if I took up the chance to sail through some of those crystal clear med waters where the spray is warm I would place my Uk sailing at risk

every time it was cold, or the water murky, or it rained for the third time that day I would think about those perfect sailing conditions

I am frightened of the flashbacks

is this irrational?

Katie L has now been in my garden for six weeks - I need to rig the main but the wind has been too strong for too long for me to make any progress - aaaaaagh!

still waiting for the Plastimo RR to appear

still at least it is not costing me any money to not go sailing - when I am paying for a mooring not sailing costs serious money

oh hang on - 30 yards of halyard and six snap shackles arrived from ebay - must hide them in the garage from Mrs W

Dylan
 
Entirely rational thinking - just don't do it.

Couple of reasons - firstly you start noticing that your comfortable and easy handling boat is actually a smelly little hole compared to a charter boat and you start wanting a different experience.

Secondly the scenery, sailing challenges and new experiences in the Med make your normal UK sailing seem like a weekend commute between mucky faded yobbed-up towns (Pin Mill, Fowey, Yarmouth IOW etc.)

But sooner or later you'll run out of new countries in the Med, realise the brilliant alfresco meals were all the same, miss the sense of achievement after a miserable sail and bring the boat home so you can sit inside a warm cabin with rain pounding down, a curry takeaway and the knowledge that you've just done something really brave out on the iron grey sea.
 
The videos just wouldn't be the same, no more atmospheric meanderings among the mud, just sun, dolphins, or not (according to this forum), pretty little villages and bikini clad blondes.

Nope, wouldn't be good at all.

And could you keep turning left, or would it be called 'going clockwise' ?

Dave
 
dylanwinter said:
here is a confession

on a couple of accasions I have been offered the chance of sailing a boat in the med

just a flotilla or a charter

I have always turned it down

the reason....

fear

I am frightened that if I took up the chance to sail through some of those crystal clear med waters where the spray is warm I would place my Uk sailing at risk

every time it was cold, or the water murky, or it rained for the third time that day I would think about those perfect sailing conditions

I am frightened of the flashbacks

is this irrational?



Dylan
Click to expand...

After three years you will miss the mud. Well I did!:D
 
Ah Dylan...... don't get envious.

I have been to the Med with the idea that it would be wonderful (and maybe a springing off point for longer distance stuff), and found myself longing for the ever changing landscape of the British coast, with tides, mud, sand, estuaries, sea birds and marine wildlife. I longed for consistent winds, and long passages without worrying about whether the wind would change or a storm blow up from nowhere, or the wind die down and have to motor for 24hrs (most of the time). I think i used my cruising chute three times in two years in the med, and each time the wind changed. As for wind vane steering .. forget it!

British/Atlantic sailing is , IMO, just hand over fist better than the Med. Do you want to motor 75% of the time, or dodge huge winds for the rest? Do you want to swelter in 35-40 degrees of heat? Yes, crystal clear blue water.. but at what cost?

In the (nearly) five years I have had my boat, the most memorable sails have all been in the north atlantic.. Isles of Scilly, Brittany coast over to SW ireland, round the west coast of Scotland & up to the Hebrides and Orkney (on another boat).... (and there are crystal clear blue waters and glorious coral white beaches there too.. but with wildlife and glorious views and .... oh I could eulogise)...

IMO the med is great for places to visit, but **** for sailing. I tire of the sameness and touristy nature of much of it. Maybe I am 30 years too late to have gone there. Maybe I just like more adventurous stuff....

(think of long distance solo riding versus trekking holidays....)

KTL is where its at!

Carol
 
Last edited:
well written

Carolwildbird said:
Ah Dylan...... don't get envious.

I have been to the Med with the idea that it would be wonderful (and maybe a springing off point for longer distance stuff), and found myself longing for the ever changing landscape of the British coast, with tides, mud, sand, estuaries, sea birds and marine wildlife. I longed for consistent winds, and long passages without worrying about whether the wind would change or a storm blow up from nowhere, or the wind die down and have to motor for 24hrs (most of the time). I think i used my cruising chute three times in two years in the med, and each time the wind changed. As for wind vane steering .. forget it!

British/Atlantic sailing is , IMO, just hand over fist better than the Med. Do you want to motor 75% of the time, or dodge huge winds for the rest? Do you want to swelter in 35-40 degrees of heat? Yes, crystal clear blue water.. but at what cost?

In the (nearly) five years I have had my boat, the most memorable sails have all been in the north atlantic.. Isles of Scilly, Brittany coast over to SW ireland, round the west coast of Scotland & up to the Hebrides and Orkney (on another boat).... (and there are crystal clear blue waters and glorious coral white beaches there too.. but with wildlife and glorious views and .... oh I could eulogise)...

IMO the med is great for places to visit, but **** for sailing. I tire of the sameness and touristy nature of much of it. Maybe I am 30 years too late to have gone there. Maybe I just like more adventurous stuff....

(think of long distance solo riding versus trekking holidays....)

KTL is where its at!

Carol
Click to expand...


well written

as you would expect from people who write a bliog as good as this one about taking on the French canal system

http://art-of-remembering.typepad.com/wildbird/

great writing....

truly great images

http://art-of-remembering.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834cfa71569e20176151fa940970c-800wi

http://art-of-remembering.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834cfa71569e2016306155055970d-popup


Dylan
 
Carolwildbird said:
British/Atlantic sailing is , IMO, just hand over fist better than the Med. Do you want to motor 75% of the time, or dodge huge winds for the rest? Do you want to swelter in 35-40 degrees of heat? Yes, crystal clear blue water.. but at what cost?

In the (nearly) five years I have had my boat, the most memorable sails have all been in the north atlantic.. Isles of Scilly, Brittany coast over to SW ireland, round the west coast of Scotland & up to the Hebrides and Orkney (on another boat).... (and there are crystal clear blue waters and glorious coral white beaches there too.. but with wildlife and glorious views and .... oh I could eulogise)...
Click to expand...

Thank you, Carol Wildbird, for looking beyond the conventional notions! Having spent some time in the Med myself, as well as on an Francisco Bay, I came to exactly the same conclusion. I have friends with boats in Greece etc. but experience has taught me that I would rather keep my old boat nearby, up a muddy East Anglian creek, than in any of the so called paradise places. That's true even this "summer".

Sometimes we are so preoccupied with what is out of reach that we are blind to the wonders in our own places. The grass isn't always greener.
 
dylanwinter said:
I am frightened that if I took up the chance to sail through some of those crystal clear med waters where the spray is warm I would place my Uk sailing at risk
Click to expand...

You are not frightened - just plain jealous!

I exchanged Brightlingsea/Tollesbury mud for white sand, grey muddy water for crystal clear (if you cannot see the bottom it is too deep to anchor), foul weather gear for shorts & tee shirt. Where going overboard is not a catastrophy but the chance for a cooling swim in 26 C water.

I read on this forum of crowded waters and debates on the collision regulations. I went out yesterday and only saw one other boat all day and that was full of tourists who had stopped for a swim!

Perhaps you are frightened of mooring stern on to a pontoon, something that UK marinas could copy instead of rafting up boats and charging stupid prices.

Do I miss the east coast? Not for one moment.

John
 
Greatest cruising gounds in Europe are West coast of Scotland, West coasts of Ireland, and if you want nicer climate but more holiday atmosphere, Biscay France. For pilotage exitement, of course, Channel Islands and nearby France, but I guess GPS has removed much of the adventure there.

But when you grow old, and the joints creak, the knees won't bend etc, by all means consider warmer climates. Meanwhile, stick with it. North is (relatively) unspoilt cruising. And a wonderful adventure - all the better for those lovely days when the sun shines. Such a lovely contrast . . . as apart form the boredom of trying to escape the Mediterranean heat in hig summer.

CarolWildbird put it beautifully.
 
I can't wait

jimbaerselman said:
Greatest cruising gounds in Europe are West coast of Scotland, West coasts of Ireland, and if you want nicer climate but more holiday atmosphere, Biscay France. For pilotage exitement, of course, Channel Islands and nearby France, but I guess GPS has removed much of the adventure there.

But when you grow old, and the joints creak, the knees won't bend etc, by all means consider warmer climates. Meanwhile, stick with it. North is (relatively) unspoilt cruising. And a wonderful adventure - all the better for those lovely days when the sun shines. Such a lovely contrast . . . as apart form the boredom of trying to escape the Mediterranean heat in hig summer.

CarolWildbird put it beautifully.
Click to expand...

I cannot wait to get there. I have spent two summers in the E boat on the West Coast of Scotland.

Brilliant if you can choose to sail when the weather is right

frustrating if you cannot

So no idea as yet how to make the logistics work

combining earning a living with sailing is always a fine balancing act

Dylan

PS Wildbird should write more often
 
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