Alicante to Fethiye

[Ray Lewis]

We are planning a trip from Alicante to Fethiye in a 38 ft Sailing yacht and would love to hear from any of you out there who have already done all or part of the trip.
Things we need to know include almost everything: Good stopover places, is it best to go via the Corinth Canal or via Crete and around the Pelopponese; what weather have you experienced and YES as I said almost everything
Look forward to hearing from you
Ray

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Ray Lewis

We are planning a trip from Alicante to Fethiye Ray

Hi Ray,

What a wonderful trip!!!!!! You have options a plenty to chose from.

All the lumps of land in the Med are unmissable! Palma de Mallorca, Malta, Crete, (haven't been to Sardinia - cruising fee is high these days I hear) and each and everyone of the Greek Isles and all the Turkish coast. Marmaris and Bodrum are treasures, and you can't miss Oulodinez (check spelling) between Marmaris and Fethiye. Its a go slow and drop the pick anywhere cruising from Fethiue to Izmir (or Bodrum really).

Don't worry about the bulltwaddle you hear about the Med. Its great sailing. It blows hard and soft, on the nose and everywhere else and the sea can get lumpy, but you're sailing.... if you prefer a coach tour there are plenty


Have fun!

[swagman]

Hi Ray,
We bolted through from mainland Spain to Turkey three years back but most of the logs on our blog have since been removed. But last year we returned from Kemer (Turkish Med coast) spending one month in W Turkey, then another in Greek Islands, a month in Croatia (honest - not to be missed) and onward via Italy, Sicily, Sadrinia, Balearics, Denia then Portugal.............
And all that is still on our blog with pictures etc. You'll need to go back maybe 15 pages to get to that part of our voyage. Hope it is useful.
Enjoy the trip.
JOHN

[JimB]

Probably the best route, is through the Balearics, through Corsica/Sardinia (choose your landfall and route according to how much time you have), Sicily, the Aeolian Islands, Syracuse, Greek Ionian, go S round the Peloponese, north up the Greek E coast to the Saronic, cross the Cyclades to the N Dodecanese, then S through the Dodecanese to your Turkish destination.

All thos areas are covered in some detail on my website, including charts, 'must sees', where's crowded and when and so on.

JimB - Google 'jimb sail' to find my site

[Jackstee]

Hi all
Will be doing the Majorca or is it Mallorca, to Turkey route in September. Not to sure where in Turkey now but going in May to look at properties.

Should be exciting as although we have owned Patricia Mary for over a year, this will be our first sail in her. Still a week or so of practice and then we have another month to do the trip.

Jim B, good to see your still around. Lost your site but now have it back.

All the best and have a good sail Ray and let us all know how it goes. Please feel free to give me the info on my e.mail. May need it.

Steve

[graeme]

I would love to know how you are getting on with this trip as I am starting to plan a trip from north east england to Marmaris

[swagman]

Hi Graeme,
A nice toy to play with on planning is Visual Planner II. Google it for a test run.
Cheers
JOHN

[Ray Lewis]

Originally Posted by graeme

I would love to know how you are getting on with this trip as I am starting to plan a trip from north east england to Marmaris

Hi Ggraeme
Thanks for your interest in our voyage. the trip was great no real probs apart from waiting for fuel,water etc in some places.The journey took 18 days which included 5 overnight stops which in order were Ibiza,Villasimus in Sardinia,Reggio de Calabria on the Italian side of the straits of Messina Argolis on Cephalonia then on through the Corinth Canal (a great experience).to Aegina,then the wind deserted us and we motored nonstop for 33hrs to within 5nm of Fethiye when we hoisted the genoa and
sailed in.
The only downside was that the wind was easterly for most of ths trip not the norm for the time of year.Most sailing was done during the night passages when at times we buzzed along at speeds up to 9.5kts,very exhillarating.If you do the trip I would recomend Apil/June as the marinas are not busy then.If you need more info you can contact me again

Happy sailing

Ray Lewis

[Jackstee]

Hi Ray.
Good to know you had a good trip.

We just bought a small town house in Fethiye last week and intend to take the boat down in September

Steve

[swagman]

Confrats Ray for completing the passage so safely - and indeed swiftly in a 38 footer.
Well done and enjoy Turkey!
JOHN

[Jackstee]

Hi Ray
Not there now
Jackie will be back in September to put the basics in the house, fridge, bed etc. and I am hopeing to sail down in mid September. But I hope we can meet up after that. Do you have a pad on theC Calis side or the Fet side.

Steve

[migot1]

the only nasty place for sailing is...CRETE. the wind can be up to 45 kn and more. we almost lost our boat out there....Force 8 it was . from NW, waves up to 4.5 Meters, .running with a working jib, we made 7 kn, and down the waves we hit 10 kn! we had to change on the helm every 30 Min. it was hell. get a true forcast BEFORE you cross this area. Mike

migot1

[Alondra]

The east part of the med is somewhat tricky due to most of the times (summer and fall) meltemi winds from the Norht west. Be carefull ther and plan your harbours well. Some do not have good protection allthough they look good.
Coming to Fethiye (where we stayed for three winters) you have three options. One is the marina which is ok but the most expensive, two is for anchor or the third is to go to one of the small hotel Jetties like Yeni Yacht Hotel (yat plaza) Cheap and very well protected. Fethiye is (according to us) the best place to be in the winter. Easy acces to the town, everything is open and available, friendly atmosphere and very good protection. Better than Marmaris yacht Marina! Good LUCK!

Rene at SY Alondra

[sailor0646]

Originally Posted by Ray Lewis

The journey took 18 days which included 5 overnight stops which in order were Ibiza,Villasimus in Sardinia,Reggio de Calabria on the Italian side of the straits of Messina Argolis on Cephalonia then on through the Corinth Canal (a great experience).to Aegina,then the wind deserted us and we motored nonstop for 33hrs to within 5nm of Fethiye when we hoisted the genoa and
sailed in.

Hi Ray,

I am sorry to say so, but you missed out on a lot of interesting places in the western med going so fast. I suggest for everybody else to take your time and visit much more places and sail along nice coastlines e.g. the corsican western coast line which is very pretty. See the south of France with its interesting cities, Elba Corsica, Sardinia, Sicilly, and much more.