The Med - ??

[Guest]

I believe tides in the med are virtually non-existent , does that mean you never get short steep waves ? And what happens if you run aground with no high tides to get you off ? Are there any significant currents in this big pond? I'm heading there next year ... forewarned is forearmed ..

 

[charles_reed]

Answers to your questions:
1. Virtually none
2. No you get lots of them - far worse than N Atlantic
3. You stay there, if you're stupid enough to run aground
4. Yes several - varies according to wind direction.

 

[ccscott49]

Now that is a definitive answer! succint and to the point.

 

[Guest]

Re: Golfe de Lion

We're in the western med. True, no tides (the french use med sea level as a datum) but plenty of wind. Generally, the med is monstrously deep tho. But all sorts of short steep waves, plus some quite long steep waves, though without tides there's a lot less "confused seas" and the wind speed can be read fairly relaibly off the sea state and vice versa. You will have to try quite hard to find somewhere to go aground with large areas of coast having massive depth only 20metres out.

One area of special interest is the Golfe de Lion, thru which most med travellers find themselves passing at one time or another, spanish-franch border to Marseilles, and east to cap Sicie. Firstly, the forecasts are somewhat hopeless, unlike UK forecasts where generally the lows can be forecast with reasonable accuracy (!). The NE wind blows from time to time with "no warning" as per the pilot books and time from a gentle 2-3 to 7-8 can be under 15 mins, which I have experienced (looks like a large flotilla of racing dinghies 3 miles away). The local forecasts are also a bit misleading - such as neighbouring areas with separate forecasts of an easterly 2 and the other NW 7-8. If morning breeze is gentle easterly, this encourages one to use the forecast as a regional positioning system ("yes I'd say we are definitely in the Ligurian- it's easterly") but unreliable. However, in summer on the coasts, the bloke with the colossal wind machine doesn't usually turn it up above a 6 until after midday, but always shuts it off at 7pm sharp.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I've experienced currents of up to 1.5kts between islands in the Adriatic coast, and a tide of one foot in the Aegean. Plus winds that go from f2 to f7 in the time it takes to read this msg. And seas so steep that it feels like the boat is dropping onto concrete. There does seem to be a general rule about the med - either there's too little wind, or too much.

Heikell has an 'overview' book on the Med which is worth buying/borrowing - beleive it is called Mediterranean Cruising Handbook?

 

[Gordonmc]

Although there is a tidal effect in the Med, it becomes virtually insignificant in relation to catabatic wind systems which can be localised, but fierce. The effects of sea temperature intensify what is going on above, so even in the middle of the pond there are fast moving mini pressure systems with changing wind direction and, consequently, chop.
The same seems to happen underwater with convection pushing warm water away from the shallows and pulls in cold water from the (very) deep. I have experienced 2.5 knot currents while diving in the straits between Malta and Gozo but the current drops to almost nothing below about 15 meters.
What do you do if you go aground?
St. Paul had the right idea... prayer!

 

[ArthurWood]

No tides and no pump-out stations. ...............nice combination.

 

[Guest]

Re: Golfe de Lion

Thanks for the info ... very interesting .... less confused seas sounds welcome and looks like I won't need to wind up those keels as often as I do on the East Coast .

 

[cynthia]

Re: The Med - and pump out.

Have you seen the size of the fish?

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Golfe de Lion

I watched a Swiss Gin Palace come to a sudden halt when he tried to cut inside the buoys at the mouth of the Rhone.

 

[ArthurWood]

Re: The Med - and pump out.

No, but I have a good imagination!

 

[Wensum]

Hi John,
Tides in Med one or two feet, currents run broadly anticlockwise in west Med at half to one knot, thought to be driven by water coming in through the Straits of Gibraltar (about 1 million tonnes per second) to replace evaporation. In the Aegean the stream is a bit less, going southerly from the Black Sea, though it can be more between islands.
The Med is deep, you'll hit a cliff before you run aground. There are a few reefs eg just off Kalamaki, unbuoyed. Heikel's Pilot is reliable. If you want to run aground, such as in a shelving bay, perhaps to swim or hit a taverna, just mosey in gently until you touch, then back off a bit and drop the hook.
In the Aegean the Meltemi, a northerly katabatic caused by a low over Anatolia and a high over the Balkans is a much feared wind. It generally runs over a cycle of several days, starting in late morning, reaching a peak in mid-afternoon, then diminishing in the evening. Occasionally it blows night and day. At peak it usually reaches F5 but can hit F7.
The Meltemi doesn't generate big seas because of the short fetch, but they can be short and steep. So beating is tough, better to lay off a point or two. Unlike our Atlantic and Channel blows the Meltemi comes with a blazing sun from a cloudless sky and wonderful visibility; in a well found boat reefed down it offers exhilerating swim-suit sailing, the best opportunity to have dolphins playing alongside. Enjoy!

 

[Wensum]

PS Sorry, I should have added that the weather forecasting for the Aegean has been improved enormously in the form of the Institute of Oceanography's "National Center for Marine Research" which you can get on www.ncmr.gr/weather.html