Need some help crossing the med

[zaco]

Originally Posted by calin1967

Hello Zaco,

Share with us more details about your plan: where are you starting from, do you want a pleasant journey or a delivery, how much money you want to spend, how much you know about your boat...

I have a boat in Thassos and I think the most pleasant way to do the trip is to allocate 3-4 years for it... wandering around from island to island, especially in Greece, where the harbors are very cheap or free, the views are wonderful and the lifestyle is relaxed (do not forget to go to the port police and ask for DEKPA when you arrive in Greece - it's a kind of permit to sail in Greek waters and costs 50 euro).

I'm Starting in Bodrum and it's meant to be a pleasant and relaxed journey. Ok, I can't take 3 years, not even close, but I can spend 2 months. Regarding DEPKA I was told by the previous owner that is paid.

Can anyone tell me if I need to have my sailing license translated or anything else translated into greek?

I have no experience with the boat yet. I'm spending 2 weeks preparing her and also sailing her to get to know the boat better.


cheers,
zaco

[inchcailloch]

Originally Posted by zaco

I'm Starting in Bodrum and it's meant to be a pleasant and relaxed journey. Ok, I can't take 3 years, not even close, but I can spend 2 months. Regarding DEPKA I was told by the previous owner that is paid.

Can anyone tell me if I need to have my sailing license translated or anything else translated into greek?

cheers,
zaco

Yes, definitely require Greek translation and best look under NOONSITE as there have been various new fees, permits required to sail in their waters just recently introduced

[sailormed]

Originally Posted by stewie

Mediterranean Cruising Handbook by Rod Heikell would be your best bet. .........

I found this comment of the book on Amazon, plus it dates a little, it is from 1985.

"I was very disappointed in this book. Almost half of it is filled with boating information like first aid, knots, different fish etc...If I wanted to Learn about seamanship I would have bought a copy of Chapmans. The information in this book about different ports in the Mediterranean is not very detailed. Not a good book for someone looking for information on marina's good ports verse bad ones etc...especially for the price of the book.defiintly not worth the money."

[Lserpa]

Contrate um skipper profissional.

[calin1967]

Greek authorities are quite relaxed, I would not translate anything as long as it's not in Turkish...

Regarding Santorini, it is absolutely magic, but there is no good marina or mooring place (it is a former volcano and anchoring is delicate). I would stay in Ios and take a ferry to visit it, then pass through it by boat.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by zaco

Thanks for all the details, Marc. Valuable stuff there!

I'll be heading to Lisbon. I guess the west coast of Portugal will be the most tiring.

I'm planning to leave turkey (I'll be in Bodrum) in late September/early October.

I guess I'll spend 5 days crossing the cyclades until the south of the Peloponnese peninsula (@ Elafonisos).
I hope this is slow as it's meant to be slow in order to get to know the boat. I'm stopping in Kos, Amorgos, Milos and finally Elafonisos. Maybe I'll diverge from the original plan in order to visit other islands like Santorini, as you kindly mentioned.

From Elafonisos we'll sail to Pylos, Killini, Lefkas and Korfu.

From Korfu we'll cross the Ionian to Le Castella.

Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Zaco

at the end of september you generally get your first severe gale from the west in greek waters,
if you want to visit corfu you are probably better going via the corinth canal,then,after corfu head for malta,from malta with a good window head for the southern tip of sardinia,then cartagena in spain.

after that from cartagena you will find in october you generally get 4days of westerly winds/gales,then 2 days calm,then 3-4 days easterly generally starting off as gales.

best not to hang around taking the scenic route in october when the vweather is good,as F9 winds are very common throughout the med from the end of september.

things to watch for are low pressure over morocco/sahara that will bring easterly gales,and also every 5 days or so low pressure systems entering the biscay will bring westerly gales, then,mistral,bora,tramontana as it passes over mainland europe

not for the faint hearted sailing in october in the med as the short steep waves can make progress very difficult to windward,and quickly become surfing conditions if from the east.

as another poster said load up on fuel,wait for a window and go like hell!

[robertsquire]

if you can tell me where you are in turkey and where you want to go in portugal i can send you a sail plan

[RedHeather]

Originally Posted by zaco

Thanks for all the details, Marc. Valuable stuff there!

I'll be heading to Lisbon. I guess the west coast of Portugal will be the most tiring.

I'm planning to leave turkey (I'll be in Bodrum) in late September/early October.

I guess I'll spend 5 days crossing the cyclades until the south of the Peloponnese peninsula (@ Elafonisos).
I hope this is slow as it's meant to be slow in order to get to know the boat. I'm stopping in Kos, Amorgos, Milos and finally Elafonisos. Maybe I'll diverge from the original plan in order to visit other islands like Santorini, as you kindly mentioned.

From Elafonisos we'll sail to Pylos, Killini, Lefkas and Korfu.

From Korfu we'll cross the Ionian to Le Castella.

Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Zaco

This is 'the slow scenic route' and you're leaving too late in the season for that. You'd need tremendous luck with the weather. My advice is to potter around in Turkey and Greece and leave your boat there till spring next year. You're not likely to use it much in Lisbon during winter anyway and it'll be cheaper to leave it in Greece than to pay a marina in Lisbon.

[RedHeather]

Note that Sagres to Lisbon (or Setubal if need be) is a very short distance. Just wait for the right weather window and you can motor it in roughly 24 hours. That part won't be the most tiring one.

[SoundOfSilence]

Originally Posted by RedHeather

This is 'the slow scenic route' and you're leaving too late in the season for that. You'd need tremendous luck with the weather. My advice is to potter around in Turkey and Greece and leave your boat there till spring next year. You're not likely to use it much in Lisbon during winter anyway and it'll be cheaper to leave it in Greece than to pay a marina in Lisbon.

Yes, this is definitely the best you can do. Do you plan to sail alone?

[Deltasailor]

Originally Posted by stewie

Mediterranean Cruising Handbook by Rod Heikell would be your best bet. Heading to Mallorca would not be a very good idea as you want to go west and soon there will be more westerly winds. Going through the straits of Gibraltar, study the tides as there are several currents and they can be used to help speed you through. Good luck.

I think you will find the current will almost always be against you exiting the Med as the Atlantic flows into the Med.
There is a current in the Straits of Mesina but I have never found it too difficult.
As others have pointed out make sure both the engine and fuel are OK before you leave.
Have a great trip and don't try to do too much.

[zaco]

Originally Posted by robertsquire

if you can tell me where you are in turkey and where you want to go in portugal i can send you a sail plan

Actually I have always to stop in kos, Greece. So let's consider this the starting point.

Thanks.

[David B]

Originally Posted by SoundOfSilence

Hi zaco
Congratulations with your new boat! As you are new to sailing, I recommend you to take your time and don’t rush. If you do it right, you will have some of your best experiences in life in this boat. But if you do it wrong, you may also have your worst nightmares.

Stay close to a good chandlery and a boatyard at least the first week while you get to know the boat and start to fix stuff which doesn’t work. Get help to do service on the engine, sails and rigging before you leave. Focus on the most important and don’t worry if unimportant stuff breaks, it is part of the sailing experience. Write back to the forum if you get stuck, there will always be somebody ready to help you.
There are many good sources of info on the web, but you should at least know about these:
JimB Sail | A Cruising Guide for European Coastlines
https://sea-seek.com/
Noonsite.com —

Let us know how it goes, and remember the best is sometimes just to sit down and have a beer and not get overwhelmed if the problem seems too big to fix.

Good luck!

Could not have said it better - nice, helpful response!

[jmorrison146]

Santorini Hans a marina on the south end but it's full of commercial boats. The water is too deep for a small boat to anchor. During a recent charter, we moored to the quay at IOS and took the ferry to Santorini for an overnight stay.

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by atoll

where is it currently,turkey has some pretty good marine supply shops,and cheap anti-fouling.
the boat yards in most of the marina's are well run with good fabrication facilities etc
perhaps you should contact CF member" yeloya" who runs a marina nr marmaris for local knowledge/advice

Cruisers & Sailing Forums - View Profile: yeloya

I would second the recommendation for Yeloya - he is based in Marmaris and the marina is Albatros. Marmaris has everything available in terms of what you would ever need for parts, repairs etc and workmanship is excellent.

TwT