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airbubble

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Finally managed to organize the office so that we can slip off to the Saronic Gulf the first week of September as we hired one off the new Beneteau Cyclades43.
Does anyone has some suggestions for easily downloadable weather forecasts for these water, if needed. Hands-on experience also welcome, as these waters are new to me, and used to the north sea and atlantic, i prefer to have some early morning weather updates /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
many thx, paul
 
Poseidon is a good choice, but I prefer the weather charts of the National Observatory of Athens: http://www.noa.gr/~telefleu/bolam/index.htm Click "Sailing Forecasts" and you will be presented with lots of choices.
They do have a service to download GRIB files for a fee.
Both of these (Poseidon and NOA) are accessible via SMS as well, but you will need a Greek mobile phone number to have access to this service. Check their web sites for details about how to use this service.
BTW the NOA people were the ones providing the sailing forecasts for the Olympic Games, and the head of the program is a keen sailor as well.
If you do understand meteorology well, they also do other models than the BOLAM, they do the MM5 and now the WRF as well.
Apart from the wind forecast you can have access to wave forecasts via the TRITON Wave Forecast System of the Ocean Physics And Modelling Group of the University of Athens. Check their website at: http://www.oc.phys.uoa.gr/dok1.htm
Have a nice holiday!

P.S.: Don't worry too much, the Saronic Gulf is a relatively "easy" sailing area.
 
Indeed, in the Saronic Gulf area lots of motoring is propable.
BUT, beware of the meltemi!
The winds can easily pick up to more than 25 kts true. And the statistics (average wind during 24 hours) can be misleading, because the wind usually drops during the night.
If you are not used to frequent changes in wind strength and direction, better reef early... Three weeks ago on a passage from Paros to Serifos (that's Cyclades area not the Saronic), I had winds varying from 12 kts to 28 kts and +- 20 deg during a short period of a couple of hours, so if you think the wind will be picking up, do not hesitate, reef!
One last point: In Greece you will be mostly mooring stern to, so remember to pay out as much chain as possible. It is a common mistake of the foreign charter people to use relatively short lenghts of chain. Try to use almost all you've got.
Have fun!
 
The site I use most frequently is http://forecast.uoa.gr/ramsindx.html - select Winds at 10m then either Athens for north Saronic or Attiki for larger area.
I find this quite accurate (more than Poseidon) but wind speeds are in m/s rather than knots so you need a conversion table handy.

This year we've had some weeks with light winds, and others with almost too much wind. Today we have a very stiff breeze from the west that's been blowing all night, so it doesn't always drop down.

If you want quieter anchorages I'd head towards the Argolic Gulf - usually good southerlies there and some lovely bays.

Cheers

Melody
 
I sail there every year the first week of November with Vernicos Yachts racing in the Blue Cup - here are some must see places to visit: Perdika, Poros, Idhra (a magical place), and Spetsai (especially Baltiza Creek where there is a stunning collection of life sized sculptures on the shore and a taxi boat will take you across to Spetsai town). Rod Heikell's West Aegean pilot book is excellent. Have fun!
 
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