Considering Sailing Europe (Not sure where)

[1978marcello]

Originally Posted by beirutsailor

Sorry, but I have rarely seen so much bad advice in a thread. Brittany: spend your holiday on studying tide tables and atlasses. 6 knt tides. Not for beginners.
Malta etc.: charter implies a round trip. Horrible marinas north of Syracuse.
Sardinia is indeed fantastic, but even achoring in open bay often means obligatory bouy with electricity. Beautiful Corsica, especially Bonifacio: horribly crowded. Long way back.

If you want to relax and not jeapordise your relationship, the Ionian is your best bet. Easy distances, easy to plot a circular course without repetitions, plenty of charter bases and companies. I spend 5-6 months there (since 2015), and do not share the comment about strange Greek ways. Easy to get water, often for free supplied by municipalities. Does it matter that it is also the cheapest - flights, marinas and municipal docks, food..?

Can’t agree more.. I live in Italy, in Naples with beautiful islands like Capri and Ischia.. but I do prefer the Ionians

[Hartings]

The Ionian Sea is lovely (northern Greece) but the norm is motor-sailing......

[StevenMeredith]

My wife and I did 2 weeks in Kornati, wonderful time in anchorages, moorings, and in small marinas. With 2 weeks, the normal 1 week charters were ahead, then behind us so it was very pleasant. We arrived into Split, chartered from Murter, really cool sailing between islands, you can sail for a day or for an hour. Everyone super nice.

[carraigdog]

West coast of Ireland! challenge of the Atlantic Ocean , beautiful scenery and great pints of Guinness

[DavidMRea]

Well, according to '50 places to sail before you die' - one of the best places is Southern England. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Place...9520093&sr=8-1

It's my home patch and where I learned to sail. But, I'd recommend Greece. As a beginner, you'll need the South Ionian or possibly the Sporades. The Ionian is crowded but safest of all. The Sporades - you can get a long way away from everyone else.
Don't go to the Cyclades in August (the Meltemi is just no fun at all). Can't speak for Spain, France, Italy except to say the Med is much more costly to the West. Turkey? nice, but very little wind.

[klaaskootsra]

In that period, and if you are not in the need of 25 deg. Celcius and sky blue seas, you could consider also holland or denmark.

In holland you have a large inland lake, ijsselmeer, with accompanying protected coastal waters (waddenzee, world heritage area) and access to the north sea. Provides you with plenty oppertunities for short (2 hour) to day sails. Cosy harbours, anchorages, sandybeaches, fresh and saltwater, tides or steady water, locks, etc...

In denmark the water is larger, with larger distances between harbours. No tides or strong currents, but plenty islands, harbours, anchorages, etc...

July and August is het main holiday season and high season. Best period to visit this area is june in my opion, just befor high season starts. In general the weather should be good and days are long.

[aguenther]

Definitely two.

[Hesti]

How about the baltic? Great places there.



http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ir-224445.html

[YandiahII]

Originally Posted by 1978marcello

Can’t agree more.. I live in Italy, in Naples with beautiful islands like Capri and Ischia.. but I do prefer the Ionians

+1 from me for these posts.

The Ionian, particularly the bit known as the inland sea is great beginners cruising ground. Head south out of Lefkada, 1 or 2 weeks you'll easily find a new port each night, plenty to see.

Use Manos yachting in Lefkada. Small family run business with a fleet of 6 or 8 well cared for yachts. Evita runs the office and couldn't be more helpful.

[jmorrison146]

We chartered in the Aegean for one week in late September / early October with some of my wife's MBA buddies and had a great time. Flew via Athens to Mykonos, relaxed there for a couple of days, then took a ferry to Paros to pickup the boat. Provisioning was easy in Paros. Sailed to Fologandros, then Ios, took a ferry for an overnight in Santorini, then sailed to Koufonisia, Anti Paros, and back to Paros.

Santorini is a "must see" but the waters are too deep for anchoring and the only marina is full of commercial boats.

If we had it to do over, we would fly into Santorini, hang out there for a couple of days, then ferry to Paros to pick up the boat and, perhaps, include Mykonos in the sailing itinerary.

Aegean sailing is easy island to island and it's gorgeous there. Med moored some, anchored out some. Food, wine (whites anyway) and people were all great. If you go, don't miss Captain Pepino's taverna on the bay on the south side of Anti Paros. Great anchoring, great food, great people.

We used Dream Yacht Charters and were happy with them, but there are others.

Stayed a couple of nights at the Grand Britannia hotel in Athens on the way home.

[David B]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Portugal isn’t really cruising territory. The anchorages are mostly in estuaries so the water is a nasty green colour. You’ve also got a 3m plus tide. The beaches are beautiful though.

The Balearics are beautiful but very crowded, though it’s rarely a problem. It’s a full days sail between the island, and another day the mainland.

Sardinia is fantastic. There’s everything you might want there, especially with trips to corsica too. It does get windy towards the end of summer though.

Greece probably has everything you want but you certainly need to be able to adapt to the Greek way of doing things. Need to fill up with water. Ok, call a guy who knows a guy, whose brothers son will bring the water truck.

My tip would be a tour of Malta, eastern Sicily taking in Siracusa, Taomina, and up and around all of the Aoelon islands. That way you get ancient towns and villages in. Party beaches, remote beaches, cliff, volcanoes, and fantastic Italian food. You get a little challenge in the Messina strait.

I think that's a good recommendation - Malta, and east coast of Sicily at least.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by David B

I think that's a good recommendation - Malta, and east coast of Sicily at least.

Probably does need more time than the OP has though.

There were charter boats up in Lipari so it must be possible to charter not too far away.

Originally Posted by beirutsailor

Sorry, but I have rarely seen so much bad advice in a thread. Brittany: spend your holiday on studying tide tables and atlasses. 6 knt tides. Not for beginners.
Malta etc.: charter implies a round trip. Horrible marinas north of Syracuse.
Sardinia is indeed fantastic, but even achoring in open bay often means obligatory bouy with electricity. Beautiful Corsica, especially Bonifacio: horribly crowded. Long way back.

If you want to relax and not jeapordise your relationship, the Ionian is your best bet. Easy distances, easy to plot a circular course without repetitions, plenty of charter bases and companies. I spend 5-6 months there (since 2015), and do not share the comment about strange Greek ways. Easy to get water, often for free supplied by municipalities. Does it matter that it is also the cheapest - flights, marinas and municipal docks, food..?

Hmm you mention horrible marinas, then go on to suggest a region almost devoid of proper marinas. Presumably the OP doesn't want to be in a marina for two weeks.

I do agree the Ionion is a good bet, I disagree, it is not easy to get water due to the lack of marinas, fuel stations, and general infrastructure. That won't matter for the OP though if he hires in Lefkas with full tanks, he'll be fine for a week or two depending on the boat.

There are lots of town quays, many don't have water or fuel. Almost none of them are protected from the South where the majority of the stronger winds come from, in fact some are down right dangerous in a southerly. I've seen plenty of smashed transoms. Almost always much safer to anchor off. northerly winds are no bother at all.

Many of the anchorages are deep, but the water is nice, especially Meganisi.

There is a good curry severed in Paleros. Fiskado is a nice visit, anchoring with a line a shore.

[Alita49DS]

Originally Posted by saltyjournals

Hi, my partner and I are thinking about embarking on a small sailing adventure for a week or two next August/September. I'm going to be doing my yachmasters in the coming weeks and will be sailing weekends on the run up.

1) Any ideal passages/trips for the first timers in Europe?
2) Any hire companies we should be looking out for? Any you would recommend using?
3) Also welcoming tips!

To a large extent this question might as well have read "How long is a piece of string?". Rumour has it that many Americans had no idea where Iraq was before they decided it was a good idea to invade it!

That said, it has been fun reading the replies. Most of which, predictably, boil down to "these are my favourite places". The only common denominator being the good advice not to go in August when Europe is on holiday, everything is crowded and mega expensive. Oh, and in the Med jolly hot.

The only concrete advice I think that I can give is: -

1. Try the new, free C-Map Embark app. https://letsembark.io/core/map That will give an excellent idea of where things are in a huge area stretching from the Outer Hebrides/Norway at one end to Turkey/Israel at the other. It's a very long piece of string.
2. Go on line and download a free copy of such as Yachting Monthly. Or get the app on your phone or tablet and get the sample. There is a 30 day free trial. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/yachti...uk/id530107169 Because it is European and in English. Go to the back. The charter companies advertise there. If you speak another language then try a Yachting mag in that one as well.
3. Contact the companies operating in the areas that interest you. Avoid July (if the Med) and August anywhere and everywhere. Unless you like paying more to be surrounded by everyone else's family holiday.

[Hartings]

Originally Posted by Alita49DS

To a large extent this question might as well have read "How long is a piece of string?". Rumour has it that many Americans had no idea where Iraq was before they decided it was a good idea to invade it!



That said, it has been fun reading the replies. Most of which, predictably, boil down to "these are my favourite places". The only common denominator being the good advice not to go in August when Europe is on holiday, everything is crowded and mega expensive. Oh, and in the Med jolly hot.



The only concrete advice I think that I can give is: -



1. Try the new, free C-Map Embark app. https://letsembark.io/core/map That will give an excellent idea of where things are in a huge area stretching from the Outer Hebrides/Norway at one end to Turkey/Israel at the other. It's a very long piece of string.

2. Go on line and download a free copy of such as Yachting Monthly. Or get the app on your phone or tablet and get the sample. There is a 30 day free trial. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/yachti...uk/id530107169 Because it is European and in English. Go to the back. The charter companies advertise there. If you speak another language then try a Yachting mag in that one as well.

3. Contact the companies operating in the areas that interest you. Avoid July (if the Med) and August anywhere and everywhere. Unless you like paying more to be surrounded by everyone else's family holiday.

I don’t see why you would expect people from another continent to have anything but a rudimentary knowledge of the Med ? Why should they ?

If you want guaranteed good/hot/sunny weather then July / Aug is the obvious time to go and hence why it can get busy. That said we have often been at that time of year and had an absolute ball without crowds - there are plenty of quietish anchorages to be found and much livelier places as required.

The OP asked a genuine question and wanted first-hand recommendations which have been willingly given by those who have contributed.
The problem is that they are spoilt for choice which is a lovely dilemma to have.

[Alita49DS]

Originally Posted by Hartings

I don’t see why you would expect people from another continent to have anything but a rudimentary knowledge of the Med ? Why should they ?

If you want guaranteed good/hot/sunny weather then July / Aug is the obvious time to go and hence why it can get busy. That said we have often been at that time of year and had an absolute ball without crowds - there are plenty of quietish anchorages to be found and much livelier places as required.

The OP asked a genuine question and wanted first-hand recommendations which have been willingly given by those who have contributed.
The problem is that they are spoilt for choice which is a lovely dilemma to have.

According to your profile Cruisers & Sailing Forums - View Profile: Hartings you are in Marina del Rey on the West Coast of the US.

If I asked a question as broad as "Where and when do you think I should charter in North America and the Caribbean" with nothing more, I trust that you would think it too broad to be meaningful. If I asked you about California I am sure that you would be of massive assistance.

I have kept boats on both side of the Channel, on the Atlantic coast, on the Iberian peninsula and islands, in France and in Italy. I have sailed in other parts of Europe as well. I could not begin to answer the question as posed. I doubt that the wonderful people who write the pilot books could either.

That is why I felt that the most helpful thing to do was give a pointer as to how to narrow down the questioner's search. Which in turn would give an idea of cost, qualification requirements and possibilities.

If the question had asked "Where is your favourite place in Europe" then I would have given the sort of non-answer that the question elicited.

BTW, I have just (September) sailed to Elba and anyone will tell you that you really, really do not want to be there in August unless your work or family commitments give you no other choice. Same for the Balearics and a load of other places.