Can You Cruise the Med without Marinas / Paid Moorings ?

[witzgall]

Hi all;

I ahve spent very little time exploring the idea of cruising the Med. I think it is because I got it in my head that you cannot cruise there without staying in marinas, or on paid mooring balls, the majority of the time.

Is this correct? Can you cruise the Med on a (smaller) budget?

Chris

[Ti' Punch]

I've been following this blog of a gent on a Yarmouth 23 that seemed to do the Med on a budget. He seemed to have plenty of fun too. Check it out:

A Yarmouth23 Sailing Blog - “Eileen of Avoca” – The journal of a small sailing yacht.

You'll have to go back a couple months as he is back in England now.

[maxingout]

From the time we left Turkey, we never stayed in a marina until we arrived in Trinidad.

The Med is extremely big, and there are lots of places to anchor in Turkey and Greece. In other places it is often hard to find a place to anchor.

It all depends on what part of the Med you want to cruise. I know people on a tight budget who have cruised the Med for years. They just take their time and plan the trip so that they aren't forced into marinas.

[swagman]

I'd suggest it is a lot easier to find a spot for a 23 footer than a 32 footer but as others have said, Turkey and Greece, Balearics and Portuguese Algarve you'd not have a serious issue anchoring full time. We found the Spanish east coast the most barren for anchorages and despite what others might say we found (in 2007) Croatia to be one of the best.
Cheers
JOHN

[MarkJ]

It also depends on how much of a nancy-boy you are. Is a rolly anchorage a rOlL_ily anchorage? Or is it just a bit of movement?

We have only just arrived in the Western Med so for us its far too early to tell. However when we wanted to stop at the volcano Stromboli there was some moorings and I thought it was because it was a lava rock bottom. The guy raced over to us and said the mooring was 40 euros per night.... so of course we left... and went 200 meters away around a corner to where there was 20 or 30 boats all anchored for free.

in a day or 2 we go to the Isle of Capri No, not to the marina but to the anchorage on the south side. Now thats sure to be mega rolly with a million dick-boats driving past as max speed. By the way, we had a boat go past us the other day and his wake was 3 breaking waves. Being side on to that in an anchorage would not be nice!

Our other trick has been to compress the land based travel and do it from a cheaper or free location: We are in Salerno 4 nights @ 60 Euros per night (OUCH!) but we then hopped the train and did Pompeii and then Rome, stayed the night in Rome (75 Euros) walked Rome in a day and back to Salerno in the night train and now have 2 days here relaxing, watering etc before another anchorage.

It will be anchorages again now another month.

The point being that as a whole experience the med may be acheivable, not for free, but at a realistic cost. Its certainly, thus far, been cheaper than what I thought it would be. Basic groceries, veges etc are quite reasonable.

Most importantly if you are sailing past some place that has interested you since you were a kid you just gotta stop in....

By the way, if you can't find an anchorage the new town of Pompeii has a fishing marina that had a few yachts in it. It must be cheap and only a short walk to the ruins! 40° 45.115'N 14° 26.805'E we saw it from the train.


Mark

[witzgall]

One of the reasons I am asking is that we currently have a 32 foot boat, but have our eyes on a larger one - gasp 46ft.. (31 ft waterline 12 ft beam , not really a big boat, at least compared to modern 46 footers)

If we did it, I would not be adverse to staying in marinas occasionally, but not as a matter of course.

What kinds of rates per foot (or meter) will we see?

What about France and England?

Chris

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by witzgall

What about France and England?

Chris

The Mediteranean portion of England would be quite expensive, except for Gibralter that just outright told me there would never be dockspace for any boat as small as us! And that was with 6 months lead time!!!!!!!!!!!

[anglooff]

Its a much harder exercise, than in times past, but still very doable with some careful planning. (Caveat; I have been away from Europe for 14years so things could have changed). The med is enormous and for thousands of years water travel was facilitated by large and small harbours. Croatia, Turkish, Greek, Spanish and Italian islands all offer short term anchorage possibilities, if away from the main sailing centres. A number of CF members as has been stated above have blogs… which have lots of suggestions.

Place like Oporto have/had a landing right in the centre of town by the Eiffel bridge for a few pennies a night(used to be a maximum of three nights). The area around Lorien/ La Rochelle/Brittany has an enormous water area and England has many estuaries where you can “gunk hole”.

Europeans like most people are helpful. When you are at Customs ask their advise and use their local knowledge. For a few days at each place there shouldn’t be any problem. In Britain and some other parts of Europe there are ‘Sailing Clubs” not “Yacht Clubs” a google search will locate them. They often have river or estuary moorings. Mid week they are quiet even in summer and I have always found them generally accommodating and helpful.

So as others have stated do the research before you go and enquire from locals when you get there.

Regards

Alan

[Roaring Girl]

We have been in the western med for four years and only go into marinas for very specific reasons and limited periods. In partiuclar, if we want to visit a place and there really isn't a safe anchorage - it seems madness to come to such interesting places and sail on by - eg Rome is an excellent example, where you must pay someone somewhere!

There are four tricks to good, cheap cruising here: be aware of teh weather and be prepared to mvoe if bad weather is imminent. There are very few safe all-weather anchorages. Two - trust your ground tackle! Three - provision away from expensive hotspots and isolated islands - eg the Iles Porquerolles off the French Riviera are delightful but buy the food in Toulon! And four, use the money to see the really fantastic stuff you want to visit.

On that basis, the Riviera and the Maddalena Archipelego are amongst the cheapest sailing we've ever done.

The British coasts are immensely varied, and a lot will depend on timing and just how rugged you are.

[goboatingnow]

recently sailed the fench,corsican,sardinian,iltalian and greek coasts

for a 42 footer marinas were from 50 to 70 euros a night, the quality not always matching the price. I noticed that heikels guide pricng was a bit out if touch and places he indicated cheaper werent. the worst was regio calibra near the straits of messina, a dump for 50 euros a night

dave

[MarkJ]

We are in the most sensational FREE anchorage right in the centre of the Cote D'Azur, France at Villefranche. Its a 3km 1 Euro bus ride from Nice, and about 10kms and 1 Euro from Monaco. Cannes and Antibe are by train and the station is just down from the dinghy dock.

The Frech food is to truly die for! Brie is 2.15 euros for 350 grams and Roqufort is 2 euros per 150 grams. Pork roasting meat 6.50 Euros per kilo. Wine is 3 Euros per bottle for the good stuff and 5 litres for 5 euros for the plonk.

We are surrounded by super yachts and the most bizzare thing:

We are the ONLY international crusiers here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Theres Fench and Italians, of course, and a few English flags of convienance, but nary another colour fluttering! We would stay here for weeks if the visa allowed. As it is we will stay far longer than expected.

Whats the final funny thing about it? All the locals are squished up against this beach over yonder we we have no preasure to get a good anchoring spot right next to the village.

Villefranche. remember it.

043 42.167 N 007 18.926 E


Mark (with the brand new lard ass!)

[James S]

Wow...that is amazing...we were there about 4 or five years ago on a big ship and found it quite empty...but I guessed that was due to high costs...wow...

[Roaring Girl]

Hi - yeah, Villefranche is a great spot. We spent nearly 3 weeks there in 2008 and stopped there last year too.

Two points. In a southerly it can get very unpleasant with a strong chop into the bay which sets up a nasty pitching motion which is hell on your anchor set. (Yes, this was pre-rocna, but it really gets rough) - so run round the corner to Cap jean Ferrat in that situation. Second, on an August w/e it becomes unbelievably crowded with day boats..Villefranche is where we saw the ultimate lunch anchor. Boat motors into middle of the crowd, cuts of engine. Crew swim off back of boat, climb back aboard and eat leisurely lunch. Siesta and tanning time. Last swim, then putter off. At no time did they put an anchor down at all! Boat drifted quite comfortably, and ddin't touch any other boat. We sat on our deck, jaws agape, awed by the insouciance.

Villefranche has a sweet Saturday market, including selling short dresses/long tees that are three times the price in the shops and make great nightclothes for those cool pre-dawn hours.

Enjoy the food.

[shadow]

Man, it ALL sounds GREAT!!! can't wait to do it ourselves with our yacht!! Been all over europe, but on land.. Now we need to really see it from its proper perspective, the water!! Hope to get some advice from MarkJ and others when it's our turn...

[sobriyah]

Roaring Girl's giving good advice. The wind can be so variable in the Med; the anchorages can be good one night and untenable the next. If you want to avoid marina fees you need an exit plan if the wind shifts and/or very good ground tackle. A bit of planning is all it takes. Generally the further east you go the easier and cheaper it is to live on the hook. Fair winds, Richard